Your View of Voting is not Good, by S.L.

By Paul Miller

May 1, 2020

To Whom it May Concern,

I do agree with some of your articles, like the one on homosexuality, but your view of voting for our country is not good. If you say that you are being a good citizen by voting, will you feel the same way when asked to help our government in other areas? If we get someone in office by our votes, and that person would decide to go to war, how could we say we want to be exempt from helping if we elected this person? The more we get involved in the government, the more will be expected of us. We can be good citizens by praying for our government and letting God take care of that. God never made any mistakes and never will (including who gets elected). — S. L., PA 

---

S.L., Thank you for your letter and for expressing your concerns. The Bible does not teach us not to be involved in government, but simply that this world is temporary. Jesus told us to occupy until He comes. We are to do what we can while we are here. Jesus told us to give to Caesar what is his, and to God what is His. We see Joseph, Nehemiah, Ezra, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, Mordecai, and others used by God in government. We can see godly men such as William Wilberforce who served God in politics to help end slavery. There have often been godly leaders who helped oppose evil and promote good.

Let’s look at this another way. What if God gave you the opportunity in this nation to choose your own leader, and you had a choice between a candidate who persecuted Christians and one who supported biblical principles? What if you could vote and choose a candidate who worked to oppose abortion, but instead you did not vote, and the pro-abortion candidate won by a few votes. You might just be held responsible by God for not doing what you could to save the lives of those babies.

Certainly you should pray. However, if your house was on fire on a Sunday, and I drove up in a fire truck and got out and prayed, would I be pleasing God and doing what was right? Of course not. I would be foolish, uncaring, and letting legalism and self-righteousness prevent me from doing what I should.

Long ago, Noah Webster wrote an American history book in which he gave the children some advice: “When you become entitled to exercise the right of voting for public officers, let it be impressed on your mind that God commands you to choose for rulers, 'just men who will rule in the fear of God.' The preservation of [our] government depends on the faithful discharge of this Duty; if the citizens neglect their Duty and place unprincipled men in office, the government will soon be corrupted.”

God gave us the freedom in this nation to choose our own leaders. If Christians do not vote, wicked people still will - and they will vote for wicked leaders. Those wicked leaders will promote sin and evil. Imagine if you had the opportunity to cast a deciding vote as to whether a man like Hitler would be elected. Would you vote and save the lives of millions, or would you sit home and refuse to take advantage of the freedom that God gave you to do good?

Voting does not obligate you to take part in all parts of government. It does not sign you up for military service. It simply allows you to cast a vote (while we still have the freedom to do so) for godly leaders and to vote against wicked leaders. It allows you to take a little step in opposing abortion and homosexuality and other sins that are supported by wicked leaders.

God sends the rains, and causes the crops to grow, and you trust Him to do so; yet you still go out and plow and plant and harvest the crops. What would you think of someone who never plowed or planted, but said that he was only going to stay home and pray, because God will provide food if it is His will? As Puritan Richard Sibbes said, “No man should pray without plowing, nor plow without praying.” If you want freedom, if you want leaders - good leaders, then you must both pray and plow. Pray. Pray fervently. Pray often. And vote. We should not complain about our leaders if we do not do our duty. We ought to vote. We ought to pray. We ought to do what we can to tell the ungodly about Jesus so that they will turn from sin and turn to Him. Are you praying and plowing?               

— Paul Miller

 

« Back to Articles