I know we are all tired of the political news, ads, texts, and emails with all their vitriol, name-calling, and half-truths. We want it to all just go away and leave us in peace, unbothered by people and actions that seem so far removed from us. We may have lost confidence in the fairness and accuracy of the election process and wonder if it is even worth it to make the effort to vote.
I want to encourage you to “gird up your loins” and cast your ballot with wisdom and knowledge, according to biblical principles and values and the leading of the Lord, because it is not only your right as an American citizen but it is also your responsibility as a Christian.
We all know we are called to pray for those in authority, and hopefully you do so every day. We may be tempted to think that that is all God expects us to do and if the rulers lead us in a direction that is contrary to God’s laws, well, we knew it was going to get bad in the end times and this just proves it. It must be God’s will that children are sacrificed to the gods of abortion and bodily mutilation and war because, after all, I prayed and this is how He answered. There is nothing else I can do.
They work for you!
That may have been true if you lived as a conquered people in the Roman Empire, but it is not true in the United States. According to our founding documents, our government serves at the will of the citizens. They work for us, and if we don’t like the job they are doing, if they are leading us into depravity or war or poverty or any other condition that is contrary to God’s stated will for His people, it is our responsibility to fire them. And the mechanism for doing so is the voting booth.
If your father built a business from the ground up, creating a thriving enterprise that he passed on to you when he retired, how would you steward it if you wanted to also pass its success on to your children? Would you be satisfied to simply sit at home praying for its prosperity and for your employees to have wisdom and to do their best for your business? Would you hire whoever was recommended to you by your friends without checking their resumes? Would you continue to keep paying them if they were ignoring their written job descriptions, stealing from you, making faulty products, trash-talking your father, trying to bring division to your family, and ignoring your attempts to manage them?
If you let your employees run roughshod over your beliefs and plunder your business, you will have nothing left to pass on to your children. And if you were not actively involved in overseeing your organization, it would be totally your fault. In a representative republic such as the United States, the same thing is true.
Seek the peace of your city - even in captivity
I said earlier that it might have been acceptable to “just” pray for authorities if you lived in the Roman Empire. However, Jeremiah would not have agreed with that. Jeremiah preached to the Jewish people in exile in Babylon saying, “Seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the Lord for it; for in its peace you will have peace”(Jer. 29:7 NKJV). The word for “peace” here includes safety, soundness, welfare, health, prosperity, peace, quiet, tranquility, and contentment. Isn’t that what you long for for yourself and your children?
The Lord through Jeremiah does tell them to pray for the peace and prosperity of the city, but He also says to “seek” it. According to Brown-Driver Briggs, this word means “seek with application, study, follow, ask for, require, demand.” It is more than just hoping and praying for your nation to prosper and be at peace. It is finding out how that can happen, applying what you learn, and demanding it. It is not a passive word but an active one.
Be an informed voter
To me, as an American citizen responsible for the selection of the employees who oversee the legislative and executive activities of my town, county, state and country, that means that I am responsible to cast my ballot with knowledge and wisdom in every election. I can’t just walk into the voting booth and press the lever for the person whose name I have seen on the most signs or who affiliates with the party my parents supported or who seems to be the most likable. I need to study before I vote. I need to know exactly who and what is on the ballot, find out exactly what they individually stand for, pray for wisdom, and vote according to the Lord’s leading.
If your jurisdiction does not send out a sample copy of your ballot, you can find it online at https://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php?title=Sample_Ballot_Lookup&Source.... This website will give you a lot of information about the candidates, but I recommend that you also do a web search of each candidate.
- Read their campaign website.
- Look at news articles about them.
- Find out what groups have endorsed them.
- If they have been in office before, look at their record.
- Compare what they support with biblical laws and principles.
No candidate is perfect, obviously. (Neither are you.) Probably no one will completely meet biblical standards. But the Lord can give you wisdom about who will govern most closely according to His will.
You may really dislike one or both of the candidates as people. We must look past the personality to the policies. We might not like the words someone uses but if they will guide the nation toward greater godliness, that is more important than their rhetoric.
Ballot initiatives and constitutional amendments
Perhaps even more important than the individual candidates, who will only be in office for a few years, are the ballot initiatives and amendments to the constitution of your state that may be on the ballot. These are laws that will be on the books forever. Florida has a proposed amendment that will allow abortion at any time under any circumstances. New York has an amendment that will destroy the rights of parents. You must research what is on your ballot and make your voice heard for justice and righteousness.
Take on the responsibility God has given you with the blessing of being a citizen of this great country! Require, demand and seek the peace, prosperity and welfare of your city, state and nation. Pray to the Lord for it, for in its peace, you will have safety, health, prosperity and contentment.
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