Christians - Let's Talk 24.07.06

Updated: Aug 4

•• Then those who feared the LORD spoke with one another.

~ Malachi 3:16 ••

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In 2022 only 7% of evangelicals bothered to vote.

That means that we have the country that 93% of evangelicals have chosen.

I really believe that evangelical Christians and godly Catholics could turn our nation any direction they wanted to, if only they wanted to. They are the single largest voting block in our nation. We don't need the Pope or a dynamic evangelical leader to tell us who to vote for. But we do need Christian political involvement and people we can go to as resources in each and every Biblical congregation.

I have been somewhat involved in politics for around 35 years, and I have heard - again and again - directly and indirectly - why evangelical Christians don't vote. That's me. I am one of those evangelicals. But I do vote, and much more. I will let the Catholics speak to other Catholics. And I certainly cannot speak for every denomination. There are 45,000 protestant denominations.

Please give me a few minutes. Let me give you a list of what I've heard why some Christians don't vote. I think the list is incomplete, but it will get you and I started thinking in the right direction.

• I'm tired. I'm discouraged

I became a Christian around 50 years ago. One of my greatest struggles is with discouragement. I understand. Another view of discouragement is the "grasshopper complex" of Numbers 13:33. The Israelites saw themselves as grasshoppers besides the Nephilim of the nations God meant for them to conquer. They saw the problem, but they didn't see God. Whether the problem is bigger or God is bigger in our minds will determine our next course of actions.

We also have the story of David and Goliath. What is one of my favorite parts of this story? I like when David confronted Goliath with these words: “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied." David saw God as bigger than Goliath, even though David only had his sling.

I also like the story of when the king of Syria surrounded Elisha with chariots and horses. What did Elisha see when his servant pointed our the surrounding army? He told him to not be afraid. He asked God to open his servant's eyes. Then, "behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha" (2 Kings 6:17). Elisha saw the earthly army. He also saw the heavenly army. Elisha saw both realities, and he saw God as more powerful.

Sometimes when we are tired and discouraged, we need to do the obvious. Rest and eat. There's much advantage in getting enough rest and eating nutritionally. In 1 Kings 19:1-8, God provides an angel to comfort Elijah by allowing him to eat and rest during a stressful time.

We need to fill our internal beings with these types of stories so that we can know our God. Think of the Hebrew word 3045 yada, meaning experience. We need to experience God.

• Politics is Dirty

For four of the last thirty-five years I became involved with a third political party. I knew there was no chance I would win, but I thought to myself, "Why am I constantly voting for the lesser of two evils?" Even though my four year experience was mostly a positive experience to me, I look back on it and blush a little bit.

Why? Because every time we choose between two people we are choosing between the lesser of two evils. We are all created in the image of God, but we all have our fallen nature. We need to little by little, decision by decision, make the best choices we know how, politically and every other way.

• Rapture-itis

I have seen so many Christians convinced that we do not need to worry about the world because the rapture is coming very very soon. Before long Jesus is going to straighten it all out. If we Christian have no work to do on planet Earth, then I can't think of a single reason why God doesn't rapture us off the planet just as soon as we convert to the faith. "Do you believe?" "Yes, I believe." ZOOM!

It doesn't happen that way because God still has a plan for us here.

• Sovereign-titis

I have heard well over a hundred times someone talking about a bad event, then saying, "Well, God is sovereign. That couldn't have happened without His permission." So, in their minds, Satan has no say on the events on our planet, and our fleshly desires have no say on the planet. God equals Satan and God equals our fleshly desires. In the deepest sense then, all evil flows from God and God has no moral standing to judge right from wrong. After all, God permitted all of it.

This erroneous reasoning gives the person saying these things full permission to not be involved in making our community a better place. We can be as bad a neighbor as we want to be. Not only do we have permission to not be involved, but to feel really, really spiritual while we're making that decision. We can, with this reasoning, fully negate the part of the Lord's prayer where we say, "Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

Of course, of course we cannot be involved in correcting every evil we hear about. But we can do something to make other's lives better, and we should not neglect doing something politically, even if it is only our vote every one or two years. Let us become good neighbors.

• Optimists and Pessimists

Dennis Prager from PragerU was once asked by his audience if he was an optimist or a pessimist. He replied that there is no practical difference. The eternal optimist sees everything as going to work out okay, so does nothing. The eternal pessimist sees that nothing is going to ever get better, so he does nothing.

Whether we are optimistic or pessimistic about the future is irrelevant.

Our call is to duty.

• Christian Nationalism

The history of our own nation tells us that we should do our best to form "a more perfect union." That can be maligned as the much-dreaded Christian Nationalism, but it is simply good citizenship. Think of the story of Queen Esther and Mordicai. They were useful and effective leaders in an otherwise pagan culture. They protected the Jewish interests. Is it wrong for Christians to protect Christian interests? Who else was useful in a pagan culture? We could list Joseph under Pharaoh, and Daniel, and Shadrack, Meshack and Abednego.

• Fear

Some churches fear that if they get too involved in politics, they will lose their 501(c)3 non-profit status. You should know that there are some politicians that feel that the church has already been regulated - owned by the government - because of their 501(c)3 status. To some politicians we are not one nation under God, but many gods under the jurisdiction of one nation.

As to fear, please remember or notice something for the first time. Toward the end of the book of Revelation (21:8), there is a list of those who will burn in the lake of fire. The first on that list is the cowardly or the fearful. In a sense, we cannot afford to be afraid.

• The Prayer Warrior

Being a prayer warrior is much needed. Much needed. Jesus once drove out a demon that the disciples could not. When asked why, Jesus said to his disciples “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer” (Mark 9:29). Prayer is very important. But prayer without action is as bad as faith without deeds. After being defeated at Ai, Joshua desperately sought the Lord in prayer. How did God respond to Joshua's prayer?

The LORD said to Joshua, “Get up! Why have you fallen on your face? Israel has sinned..."

~ Joshua 7:10-11

We need to once again carefully examine 2 Chronicles 7:14. You know it. It starts "If my people" and ends with God's promise to "heal our nation."

It's time to quit praying and just do what God is calling us to do.

I believe God wants to revive us again.