God and the Ballot Box

If God came to earth today, what political party do you think He would join: Republican or Democratic? Who do you think He would vote for in November: George W. Bush, Al Gore or some third party candidate? Or would He refrain from voting because “none of the above” meet His standards?

You may have wondered if God has a strategy for the culture and politics of our nation. I believe the answer to that question can be found in the example of Moses in Scripture. Moses was called by God to political action. The Lord commanded him to lead His people out of oppression into a new land.

Eventually, Moses would return to the site of the holy mountain, where it all began, to receive the Ten Commandments. These are the same directives we as Christians desire to see hanging in schools across the United States. The political implication of the Mosaic Law, in an age when people lived under the definitive power of earthly monarchs, is significant.

The laws Moses presented were for all people–not just Hebrews. In fact, the Mosaic Law established basic human rights, making all citizens equal under the law nearly 13 centuries prior to the birth of Jesus Christ.

There was a time when the Egyptian political system allowed the Hebrew people to be murdered like cattle; but Moses held the radical view that the commandment, “Thou shalt not kill,” (see Ex. 20:13) pertained to everyone. He reminded the people that there was no power that could claim dominion over a life, except God.

In stark contrast to Mosaic Law stand the theories of Niccoló Machiavelli. He was the exiled Italian statesman of the early 16th century who served 14 years in the chancellery of the Florentine Republic and spent the rest of his life writing political theory. In his legendary book, The Prince, Machiavelli contends that a political leader should be governed by principles entirely, separate from morality.

Machiavelli concluded the last thing anyone would want is the scenario God presents to Moses in Exodus: “‘You shall be to Me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation'” (Ex. 19:6, NKJV). He believed religious faith must be absolutely separate from politics.

Stated plainly: “A prudent ruler cannot and should not observe faith when it is to his disadvantage.” Machiavelli insisted that the secret to politics was the ability to gain and maintain power.

“A prince should have no other aim or thought, nor take up any other thing for his study, but power…That
is the only
thing that is
necessary to one who
commands,” he wrote.

Is the United States a kingdom of priests, a holy nation? Or have we traded our birthright for a form of religious and political liberalism that inflicts government over the sovereignty of parents in the home and a nation that gives pornographic material free reign over the airwaves. Or maybe we are a nation that chooses good jobs over good values and civil rights for homosexuals instead of sexual morality.

According to Michael L. Brown’s book, Go and Sin No More, it is time for Christians to do some serious soul searching and ask ourselves a tough question: What kind of “born-again” experience have we had if it calls for almost no personal sacrifice, produces virtually no separation from the world and breeds practically no hatred for sin?

Some of us are immoral, wicked and corrupt, and we convince ourselves that if we obey some of the commandments, we are not as bad as other people. No wonder the world is in the immoral shape it’s in today. In effect, Brown warns us that God is looking only for yielded vessels–vessels suited for Him.

These vessels must be emptied of selfish ambition and dead to human agenda. They must be men and women who will not count their homes, vehicles, bank accounts or their lives more dear to them than God. They must be willing to give of themselves unselfishly to save the world.

So, whatever label you give yourself–Democrat or Republican–ask yourself, Am I a godly vessel?