My choice to not vote isn’t because I don’t think God wants to see a government that honors him. Rather, I don’t vote because Christ has set a clear example that we are to be caught up in another kind of work.
We are in the middle of a series on three myths Christians believe about God and government. The first myth is that “Because Jesus affirmed the faith of government and military agents, he set an example to us that God works through the government and that we should be involved in bringing about the kingdom of God through political reform.”
Simply put, we cannot draw from Jesus affirming someone’s faith that he wants us to be involved in government. He’s simply affirming their faith. So, we need to see what else Jesus says (and what he exemplifies) to figure out what example he is setting.
The second myth is this:
Jesus did not live during a time when people could vote, so of course he didn’t talk about it.
Actually, Jesus lived under ancient Rome, as did Paul and Peter. Rome was one of the earliest republics known to man where free people could vote. If you were a citizen of Rome, and if you were a man, you likely had the freedom and the right to vote. Jesus would have been well aware of political issues and interacted with all kinds of people who could have voted.
Now Rome may not have let Jewish citizens vote, but Paul’s ministry was largely to the Gentile world. There were no doubt people in the churches he started who were legitimate citizens of Rome with the right to vote. Yet we never hear any of his letters talking about “getting out and voting.”
The first century church lived under some of the most ruthless leaders. If they thought the kingdom of God could be advanced through government, then would have been the time to do it that way—especially considering the explosive rate at which Christianity was growing. But there is absolutely no evidence within scripture that Christ or Paul—or any of the apostles—call believers to vote or try to reform their government.
In fact, we see just the opposite.
The Kingdom of God is antithetical to kingdoms of this world. When Jesus came, he was not making right a government that was out of alignment with God. He was making right a humanity bent on doing things their way instead of God’s way. No matter how many laws he could have passed, no matter how many freedoms the early church could have campaigned for, nothing other than the redemptive work of Christ on the Cross could right this humanity with their Maker.
Here is the crux of the Christian faith—the lost call of our Messiah: we must lay down our lives, absorbing evil, so as to penetrate the hearts and motives of those hostile towards God.
Instead of telling us to get out and vote, the apostles tell us to expect persecution (Matt. 5:10-12, Jn. 15:18-19). Actually, they tell us to rejoice in it (1Pet. 4:12)!
The Kingdom that Christ ushered in is a Kingdom that seems totally backwards to the minds and perspectives of this world. I believe Jesus did not talk about voting because the work of advancing the Kingdom of God does not happen through voting our people into political power.
The third myth is this:
Yet, Romans 13 clearly calls government “God’s servant.” We are to obey government authorities because God has clearly ordained the government and uses government leaders.
And here is where we pause and wait for the next post. 😉
Again, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below.
