What’s the most pressing need of America today and in the coming election year? One candidate answered that Christians must get involved in politics, uphold Biblical values, and take back their country. “Nothing is more important in the next 18 months than that the Body of Christ rises up and that Christians stand up—that pastors stand up and lead,” he said. Sen. Ted Cruz made that comment last Tuesday, April 11, as he stopped by the studios of AFR Talk Radio Network, a ministry of the American Family Association. “There are 90 million evangelicals nationwide; 54 million stayed home” in 2012, he said. “Is it any wonder we have the government we have, the leaders we have, if believers stay home and leave electing our leaders to unbelievers?” “We get exactly what we deserve,” he said. He told Today’s Issues hosts Tim Wildmon and Ed Vitagliano that America will only return to the right path after “people of faith stand up and just vote our values – vote Biblical values – and that’s how we turn the country around.” (You can watch the whole interview here.) There’s no question how the other side stands on values issues. Election officials in two states objected in 2012 when Christians told others in the voting booth to “Vote the Bible.” It’s odd that anyone would take umbrage at a phrase like that. After all, the Bible as such wasn’t on the ballot. But everyone knows the definition of Biblical values, which candidates embody them – and which candidates don’t. They know, that is, unless pastors refuse to teach the whole counsel of God. Frequently, pastors will shy away from “getting political” in the pulpit – leaving their people to guess what God’s Word teaches about the cultural issues facing their flock. Ted Cruz’s father, who is a pastor and evangelist, has harsh words for those preachers, Cruz said. “He’s got actually a very hard message that he delivers. He will tell pastors: ‘Listen, God really laid upon my heart that no one bears greater responsibility for the condition of this country today than the pastors, because if the flock stumbles into a ditch, you don’t blame the sheep. You blame the shepherd.'” Once the shepherds do their job, Christian voters are not done yet. They must research the issues and the candidates in contention. In 2016, the Republican presidential field has no shortage of candidates who speak openly about their faith and embrace the right to life, traditional marriage, and restoring religious liberty. The GOP has an embarrassment of riches. Then again, the Republican Party also has some embarrassments. The only way to know the wheat from the chaff is to closely and carefully examine, not just their rhetoric and proposals, but their record and staff, donors, and advisers. That’s something we do every day at this website – provide Christians (and anyone who embraces traditional values, for that matter) with the intelligence necessary to make an informed choice at the ballot box. No amount of research or exhortation makes any difference, though, if Christians do not register to vote, or if they stay home on election day – and that includes state primaries and caucuses. A lot of those 54 million evangelicals stayed home in 2012, because they felt that neither candidate embodied their values. But they had an opportunity to select a candidate who did in the primaries. You have the power to affect the outcome. Get educated. Get active. Get ready to make a difference and take back America for our Savior.
