Every American citizen has, among other things, the right and responsibility to vote.

If too many fail to take this responsibility seriously, it allows for a few, with bad intentions, to transform the state into an oligarchy or dictatorship!

Christians’ first loyalty is to God, and many, without thinking it through, have assumed that this means they must do whatever elected officials say, and that they have no other political responsibilities.

But this is a tragic error. If you are a Christian, I suggest that before you come to that conclusion yourself, “read the fine print” of your “contract” with God, which is His Word, the Bible.

Yes, as Christians we are to submit to Him and His Word, and yes, the Bible commands that we be “subject to the governing authority,” Romans 13:1. Do you affirm that as fact? Doing so may lead you down a different path than you expect. The error comes because many Christians have a faulty understanding of America’s “governing authority” to which they are required to submit!

Our governing authority, unique in history, is the Constitution of the United States, NOT elected officials! Under the U.S. Constitution, elected officials are our servants, not our masters. It is illuminating that they have been generally referred to as “public servants.”

If you are one who has avoided political involvement because you believe the Bible teaches such, will you be as passionate FOR political involvement if you discover, as I believe you will, that the Bible, in America’s case, mandates political involvement of Christians, as you were formerly passionate against it?

I do need to clear one thing up before we move on. The U.S. Constitution is based upon a multitude of biblical principles and could be called “Christian” in spirit; but it is not the Bible, and we are not a theocracy.

I repeat: America is emphatically not a theocracy, and never was one!

One only need study the history of the Catholic Church’s ascent to power as the theocratic government of much of Europe to understand the threat that such an idea holds. Absolute power attracts wicked men, and the Catholic Church was quickly corrupted, producing the thousand-year Dark Ages!

Our Constitution places the ultimate political power in the hands of “we the people” who drafted the Constitution, placing it at the apex of political power, and then elected fellow citizens to represent them and their will in the decision-making of the country. Thus, it is that we, now, are to “rule” over “politicians,” and not vice-versa.

While we are given the constitutional ability to amend the Constitution itself, it is, by design, a difficult task to accomplish. Thus, we are intended to live by the Constitution and not the will of elected officials. The President, senators, representatives, and others who hold titles do not govern this nation; we do!

And therefore, we fail God, the Founders, and our children if we do not wisely participate in the political process of this country.

If one of your siblings passed away and left you guardian of his or her children, would you shrug and walk away? I think and hope not! In a larger sense, the Founders died and left you and me in charge! Under the “Law of the Land” you and I are the bosses; and to reject that responsibility is to disobey God Himself!

He said to “submit to the authority” and that authority left the decision making to us.

The Constitution is, of course, imperfect, hence the amending process. And the people who have been elected to implement the laws of the land have been imperfect. But the Constitution and the subsequent laws passed under it have produced the best and freest nation in the history of the world!

We do not need to change the Constitution to do better for those who have not benefitted as they should under the laws, but rather enforce it. Those who currently seek to change or ignore the Constitution, contrary to their professed intentions, do not seek to lift the poor and oppressed, but rather to render us all poor and oppressed.

Therefore, we Christians have two primary reasons for knowledgeable and wise political participation: to be obedient to God Himself, and to protect and benefit every American by fully implementing the liberties and opportunities provided under the Constitution that are the birth-right of every citizen.

It is said that John Wycliffe wrote in the flyleaf of his 1382 English translation of the Bible, that “the Bible is for a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.” 

It is his words that Abraham Lincoln quoted at Gettysburg as he summarized his desire that America would experience a “new birth of freedom” following the Civil War. I am quite confident that Lincoln envisioned a nation where all people and all races would enjoy the “blessings of liberty.”

History is largely the story of one tyranny after another, but America is the exception and has been a thorn in the side of tyrants and would be tyrants for a long time.

Those who seek to rule over people understand that so long as America exists it is an example, a “city on a hill,” a beacon of hope, for people all around the world who also desire to live free as we have for over two hundred years. For that reason, would-be tyrants have been seeking to destroy our country and our way of life, and to render us all powerless.

They are closer to achieving their dream than many realize. In human terms, a primary hindrance to their success is the traditional, Christian voting bloc in the United States. If those wicked men succeed, the suffering that characterizes citizens in North Korea, China, Venezuela, Cuba and other totalitarian countries will come here as well.

Why would we ever think that transferring power from the people to the hands of a very few elites would provide a better culture or protect anyone? It has never done so in the past! Power does not corrupt; it allows corrupt people to destroy the lives of others. Therefore, power must be kept in check by law and by the people who live under it, which is all of us!

History paints a very bleak picture of people living under the power of the few.

For that reason, we especially, who understand the spirit of love and freedom must accept our responsibility under God and the Constitution to wisely and intentionally vote in every election. To do less is to fail in our responsibility to God, the Constitution, and our posterity!

It has been well said that “eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.” It is unfortunately true because of some men’s bent toward tyranny, and other’s willingness to be bought by the tyrants for temporary “security” or a monthly check.

It is doubly vile in that it is not the villain’s own money he spends to buy his way to power over us, but ours!

Never-the-less, God rules supreme and He has yet given us the responsibility and opportunity to make our wills and principles known. If every Christian were to do his or her duty to God and country, upholding the great principles of Scriptures, we could even yet make a great contribution for the good of America, her children, and her future.

I do not have space to articulate how Christians should vote on every issue, but a quick scan of the Scripture’s “Big Ten,” that is the “Ten Commandments” (found in Exodus 20) cover a lot of territory:

The first four commandments place God above and before all else. We are to worship and obey Him in all things. His will is always best for us; though, like children we often do not see or understand, and thus resist Him, to our own hurt.

Commandment five requires submission to one’s parents which implies, among other things, traditional marriage, respect for those in authority, humility, and self-discipline.

Commandment six forbids murder, which includes abortion from conception on, and euthanasia, among other things.

Commandment seven forbids adultery, which again implies God’s establishment of traditional marriage and disapproval of any deviation from it. In other words, sexual activity is confined to monogamous, heterosexual, life-long marriage. 

Commandment eight establishes the principle of personal property, which thus proscribes communism, socialism, “legalized theft,” which is what is required to support a welfare state. When able bodied people are subsidized by wealth taken from those who earned it, all are hurt. Every person has the God-given right to hold personal property secure from seizure by anyone.

Commandment nine, requires the truth from each of us, regardless of the cost. No society can survive where lying is routine. Stability and security depend upon the ability to trust each other’s words.

The tenth Commandment forbids one from casting envious eyes upon the possessions or opportunities of others. We are to be content with what we have or can legitimately obtain ourselves.

God’s commandments do not forbid any legitimate and good thing.

They provide for a healthy, stable, safe environment for all, especially for little ones who are unable to speak for or defend themselves. America will not be improved by taking away the so-called “privileges” of some, but by expanding the bounty afforded by personal responsibility and true liberty to all.

To vote in every election in America is not only the privilege of every citizen, it is also the responsibility of every child of God.

It is a sacred duty to be handled prayerfully, carefully, and is not to be shirked!