God and Government, Part III: Stewardship of Opportunity and Privilege

If you have not yet read Part One or Part Two of the God and Government blog posts, please read before reading this post. The first two posts lay a Biblical framework for this post. This is the final post on the topic. 

God has given American Christians the most remarkable privileges, privileges that the early church could not have imagined. Here are a few examples: we have the ability to freely worship. We should not take that for granted. We have the freedom to tell others about the Lord Jesus Chirst. We should not take that for granted. We have freedom of speech, which is something many contemporary Christians in many parts of the world, can not imagine. We also have the ability to vote and in doing so, to choose our elected officials and the policies we believe are best for the nation. 

Can you imagine trying to explain this to the early church? I imagine the response would be something like: 'Wait...you get to choose your Caesar? You can worship freely without fear of persecution? You can choose policies that will shape the direction of your nation? What are you doing with these great blessings?'

What are we doing with these great blessings, indeed. The Parable of the talents has a lot to say about stewardship and what the Lord requires of us, His children. We want to be good stewards of our time, talents, treasures, and I would also include...our opportunities and privileges, and one of those great opportunities and privileges is our ability to choose our leaders and their policies. So, what are we going to do with this great blessing, this privilege, this opportunity?

I understand that some Christians do not feel they can vote for either candidate or party. I can see how some Christians might get to this position, and while I disagree with it, I am also to respect the convictions of my brothers and sisters in matters that might be disputable (Romans 14,15). That said, we have never had such a contrast in both candidates and policies. 

First, let's say it up front: neither candidate is a paragon of virtue. Both are highly flawed humans. Both need to repent and turn to Jesus Christ for salvation. I pray that both come to saving faith. Instead of focusing on the personalities or person, I am focusing on policies. There are two very different visions for America. 

Second, let's also be honest: there is only one party that has celebrated and is doing all it can to undo God's created order. There is only one party that strongly argues that 'gender is 'fluid,' and there is only one party that wants to normalize giving life-altering 'gender surgery' to children and teenagers and emotionally vulnerable people. God created us male and female.

Only one party has deliberately sought to subvert God's design for marriage as well. Marriage has not only been redefined, it continues to be redefined by this party.God gave us marriage between a man and a woman and said it was good.

Only one party celebrates abortion as a sort of secular sacrament. God says that He forms us in our mother's womb. We are not 'fetuses,' we are human beings, image bearers and therefore we have inherent, God-given dignity. Each and every person. Each and every baby in the womb. 

Only one party wants to 'monitor' religious speech.

I could go on. I hope that you understand the crossroads we are at as a nation and culture. 

There may come a day when both parties are so far from the Word of God, that Christians cannot vote. 

It is not yet that time. 

So, I will vote. I will pray for this nation. And, no matter who wins, I will continue to pray for this nation because I absolutely believe that unless the Lord renews His works in our day, we have no hope. I will keep my eyes on King Jesus and trust in Him alone as my Sovereign, and I will, in the grace He provides, seek to run the race well that is set before me. 

All that to say: my ultimate hope is not in any candidate or party (see the first blog post). My ultimate hope is in Jesus. 

It is my conviction, that I am to be a good steward of the privileges and opportunities He has given me as an American Christian. I believe this is true for all Christians. I pray we steward this opportunity and privilege well. 

For the King and His Kingdom,

Pastor Kevin