I listened to Oprah on an audiobook. She talks about a man who was able to vote for the first time. This is a true story. The law had just been changed around 1869 to where black men could vote for the first time. An African American man decided he was going to vote asap. When it came time to vote he went to a local ballot center and they told him he was in the wrong area, only whites could vote there. So he walked to the next voting area and they told him he was in the wrong area for his county and he wouldn't be allowed to vote there. So he walked again to the next area and you guessed it he couldn’t vote because they closed early. So he walked again and by the time he got to the correct area to vote for his district they had closed as it was late in the day.
It was his first chance to vote 4 years after slavery was ended. He didn’t even get a chance. America has come a long way from only white men voting to all races being able to vote. We vote because for so long just white men decided laws, ideas, and how our government was run. Now we can all put our voice in and it's amazing to think about where we came from to where we are now. Just to put this into perspective. If you read in history they usually had monarchs or king/queens who made all the decisions. If the people decided that the leader was not doing well they had to revolt and start a war. Throughout history, there has been uprising after uprising. But we can simply vote with paper. We are a nation of peaceful change. Change might come at a price but so far it doesn’t cost our life to change.
In other countries and even in our past in order to change we had to go to war. In today's America, we just vote. It’s a beautiful thing when it works. It's why I love America. We have a good system of endless possibilities that are much better than where we were. However, voting is not simple. There are a lot of issues that affect people in different ways. It’s too complicated to simply vote for Republicans or Democrats. Especially for Christians. I've been seeing this thing lately where people have said I am voting my Christian standards. Mostly because the person they are voting for is not the greatest option.
So what does the bible say about voting? First of all the process of voting isn't in the bible. They didn’t get to choose. Our democracy is new and different. The Jewish people knew one crazy dictator after another. When it comes to how you choose leadership in history, Christians have not chosen the best people. The first king of Israel was Saul. God even warned them about who they would pick. 1 Samuel 8:7 And the LORD said to Samuel, “Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them. When they wanted to pick a king God said they rejected him. The reason they wanted a king was that every nation had royalty and dictators. Israel wanted to be like everyone else. So when you are voting it's really important to understand we are not trying to be like everyone else. It's the issue I see in Christianity today. Our lust to fit into republican or democrat circles is spiritually deafening. To be sure we need to be active in these circles but we are not going to fit in with everyone and everything this world has to offer.
We don’t need leaders to dictate us. We have God to lead us. We need leaders for other things that are not spiritual matters but it's important we don’t let a vote replace our spiritual direction. We mustn’t think that our choice for voting is an admission of spiritual paths. To be sure no person in our presidential election comes even close to the requirements that God has or the ability to follow morality as close as Jesus did. Jesus is our king. Presidents are necessary but we as Christians are never meant to give allegiance to anyone. I've seen some Christians swearing up and down that God’s man is trump or Biden and I can safely say God has chosen Jesus. He has not chosen any other. Vote for whoever you want, Jesus is our King. Voting doesn’t decide allegiance to our eternal home. Romans 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
When it comes to if we should choose a candidate on their superior morals or stances. Please understand that we can’t choose that completely. We don’t know the heart of any man. When Israel chose a leader they chose Saul. 1 Samuel 9:2 And he had a choice and handsome son whose name was Saul. There was not a more handsome person than he among the children of Israel. From his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people. Christians make choices based on looks and from how it went with Saul it never goes well. Saul was selfish. Only cared about his legacy. He would say he loved God but then acted in his own self-interest. He would say he obeyed God but then leave out one or two things. When he was confronted about a mistake he blamed the people. That's a leader for you. To be sure Saul was not good for a first leader.
Who was a better leader? King David. Although he was better he still made very big mistakes in relationships. But he kept God first so God used him. My point in saying this is God had to choose David. No one, not even his own dad would have chosen David to be the leader of the Israelites. Today's Christians would never pick the right candidate to lead us. The way our primaries work in America King David wouldn’t even make it through to try to become president. We just don’t have a system in America for Godly leadership. Trying to make voting a spiritual act is very risky and somewhat biased as there is literally no spiritual leading from most people chosen. They are good at politics, not spiritual lives. I'm not saying we shouldn't care about their spiritual life, I’m just saying it's a stretch. As a people, we have always chosen Saul to lead us. Whoever looked good and sounded right. God chooses David who no one in our political system today would have ever chosen. So please stop trying to make political people into Godly figures. They are just people. They suck but they are God’s suckage that He will use for his will.
Someone might say that a leader's voting points are why they vote for them. Well, Christianity doesn’t fit into any one person's points. Christianities requirements are extensive and crazy. It's why we needed Jesus. No one person could fulfill all the requirements of the old testament law. Remember we follow the laws of God before the laws of man. If you are voting because of your Christian faith then understand it's extremely complicated and no one candidate can be all-encompassing of everything that God requires of our Christian faith. The Phrases in the old testament felt this. Jesus never rebuked the roman political system of his day. He did however rebuke the religious leaders repeatedly and harshly. They were Christian leaders of their day and they couldn’t understand Jesus, who we now follow.
Am I saying we shouldn't vote? No. What I am saying is we can’t allow voting to be our identity. Our relationship with political systems is complicated and our faith doesn’t fit into any specific political system. It wouldn't matter what political system we had, God does not fit in any man’s political system. The kingdom of God is very different from any system man can come up with. Although democracy might be close it is still extremely behind the curve of God's grace system. Also, there are some things in the old testament that are better than our democracy. For example, there was a year of jubilee in the old testament. This was a time when all debts were canceled and men were absolved of things they owed. There is no system like this in America. Credit is here till death due us part in our democracy and it's killing a lot of people.
In the old testament, God wanted to be our president. He wanted to be our leader. He wanted to be our congress. He wanted to be our local government. And we couldn’t wait to replace Him. Never be so excited for a candidate that you lose sight of our real leader who is Jesus. He is the king of kings. President of presidents. God of gods. Israel wanted someone else to be in charge and it's the same problem with Christian Americans now. We can’t wait to pick a side instead of picking our neighbor. We can’t wait to pick a system instead of a kingdom. We can’t wait to act like Israel and fit in with every other kingdom but Gods. Some people tend to think that God will choose only the best candidate.
But we must remember that God chose Pharoah who put Egypt in slavery for 400 years. God uses evil men every day. God will use anyone to get his will done. He used the Babylonians to execute judgment on Israel in the old testament. They were one of the worst political systems ever recorded. God has no problems choosing the worst candidate in the American political system to bring about real change in the hearts of his children. Whether your candidate wins or loses please know God is still on the throne. He doesn’t share power. If you think you are the one deciding where the greatness of our country is going please step back and realize we are here because God has led us here. We are who we are because He is. Not your political party.
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