It has taken me a few days to adjust to the events of Tuesday, November 6 so I have put off blogging about it. It was not until the end of last week that I was able to think about the outcome of the election with anything close to clear thinking.
Like many other Christians I was unhappy about the re-election of Barack Obama. Romney was not my first choice either but I saw him as the best option. To be clear, this is not a racial thing with me. I could care less if either candidate were green with yellow spots. It is not a "religion" thing either, as neither man espouses the biblical beliefs I hold.
As my sweetheart and I were discussing this the other morning he made a great observation. He said to me that while the outcome of the election causes problems, it is not the real problem. The re-election of Obama is a symptom of the real problem.
I hold a firm believe in what Scripture says in Mark 7:15-16:
there is nothing outside the man which can defile him if it goes into him; but the things which proceed out of the man are what defile the man. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear."
And in Luke 6:45:
the good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.
We got a big eye full of the condition of the hearts of the people of the United States of America the other night. This election in particular has exposed our national conscience and perhaps reminded us of things we have forgotten.
But the words you speak come from the heart—that’s what defiles you. For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all sexual immorality, theft, lying, and slander. Matthew 15:18-19 (NLT)
Jeremiah 17:9 teaches us that the heart is deceptive and desperately wicked and we can clearly see that has held true throughout this entire election. We are defiled from within! This is why some can rationalize their vote and support of a political party that is anti-life, and anti-God. Justification and rationalization are two very powerful forces in the human heart, so it should not surprise us that people who claim Christ can support and vote for things and people that are so clearly anti-Christ. Those who support unbiblical political positions are revealing the condition of their hearts by their vote.
Unbelievers hate us because they hated Him (John 15:18). This was clear when one party voted to remove God from its political platform, and in the ongoing removal of God from our schools, holidays, and society. Be ready, because the more their hatred grows for Him the more we will be persecuted for resembling Him.
We should not be surprised at the election results because mankind is sinful and fallen. We have become a nation where every man does what is right in his own eyes, and we know the way of that is death- both as a nation and more importantly as individuals who will one day stand before a holy God and make an account for those decisions.
I would not trade my conscience for "health care" or my soul for any other political issue.
As many of us grapple with accepting God's revealed will in this matter, it may help if we remember this world is not our home. 1 Peter 2:11 tells us that we are aliens in a strange land and that our eternal citizenship is in heaven. We cannot expect to fit in with the locals. Just like missionaries in an earthly foreign country we are to preach the gospel and live lives that so reflect Christ that those around us will want what we have. We are so concerned about the world needing Jesus (and rightly so) but our own countrymen need Him just as much as the natives in the bush in Africa or the prostitute in London. A political party is not the answer for us, Jesus Christ is.
As hard as we try, the truth is you can't legislate morality. Abortion continues because the hearts of women are hard toward the gospel. Our gender has bought the lie of old that says we can be like God (Gen 3) and women mistakenly believe they have the right to play God in the matters of life and death of pre-born children. Abortion will not end until the heart of Americans are broken over it at the heart level. The ridiculous amount of promiscuity will also continue and sadly increase with or without free birth control until the lusts of the heart are recognized and addressed biblically.
Our objective is the heart. We must determine to reach the hearts of men and women with the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ and show them that apart from His saving grace and mercy they will certainly perish. We must preach and teach and counsel from the cross. We must determine as Paul did, to know nothing among them except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified (1 Corinthians 2:2).
I learned something very valuable about myself through this political process, and I realize too late that I devoted many hours to something that has zero eternal significance. Yes, I will continue to vote as a responsible citizen but other than that my days of political intrigue are over. I intend to spend the next 4 years and the years after that campaigning for the hearts of the lost, for the glory of the only King who shall be praised for ever and ever, Amen.