Exercising Our Civil Responsibility of Voting:

The heart of God is expressed in the Bible as to His concern for government leaders and leadership by telling us, as Christians, that we should pray in this vein when we look at the admonition in the following verses:

1 Timothy 2:1-4 “I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.”

Should we not assume that if the Lord would have us pray for leaders, would He not also want us to use every opportunity to assist in electing the leaders that would be the best ones for promoting peace and righteousness? Yes, Jesus, himself said to “…Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s.”

Matthew 22:16-21 “And they sent out unto him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest thou for any man: for thou regardest not the person of men. Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not? But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, ‘Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites? Show me the tribute money.’ And they brought unto him a penny. And he saith unto them, ‘Whose is this image and superscription?’ They say unto him, Caesar’s. Then saith he unto them, ‘Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.'”

Caesar was the Roman emperor at that time, so Jesus was telling them they were to pay their taxes, as well as support the work of God. These scriptures tell us as Christians that we are to be good citizens and pay our taxes as well. If government is abusive in over-taxation, we have a way to change that by electing people who are concerned about the burden that excessive taxation puts on the people. As good citizens in our government structure here in the U.S.A., we should not leave the operation of the government to ungodly men. How can we prevent that? One way is to use our one vote wisely. We will be accountable before God as to how we voted. Another issue will be did we spend the time in study and prayer so that we could vote wisely for the proper candidates, as well as the right issues?

As Christians we should consider how the candidates stand on the issues and not get caught in the trap of voting strictly along party lines. Check voting records to see which candidates most closely follow Biblical standards. Some Christians just vote along party lines because their parents voted that way. We should vote for the best man or woman for the job. They should not only be qualified for the job but should be moral people with good character traits. Voting for someone just because they tell us certain things that sound good is not the way to vote. Voting records are important as actions speak louder than words.

The fact is, that many Christians have not voted in recent elections, much less informed themselves on the issues. In 2004, just under half of America’s 60 million evangelicals voted. More recent figures show that as many as 40 percent of Christians are not registered voters according to Dr. Rick Scarborough, the founder and president of Vision America.

If we have complaints about those in leadership that are immoral and the new laws that have been passed that are offensive and anti-Biblical; we might lay the complaint at the steps of the church. What about our responsibility as good citizens? Are you registered to vote? Will you take the time to study the voting records and lifestyles of candidates? Which candidates most closely follow Bible standards? Will you set apart some time to pray about who would make the best leader? Will you take time to study the propositions? How will voting “for” or “against” an issue affect God’s plans for humanity? Then, most importantly…

WILL YOU VOTE?

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This article is republished with the kind permission of author Betty Miller.

Betty Miller has written several books on other topics as well. To view titles or purchase those books visit the Bible Resources Bookstore.

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