Can Voting Secure Godly Government?
Over in the Reformed Steakhouse, conservative pundit John Loftus wrote (in gratuitous capitals, no less),
WE WILL NEVER GET GODLY GOVERNMENT BY VOTING FOR MEN WHO HAVE NO BIBLICAL VIEW OF CIVIL GOVERNMENT….
I responded that we will never get godly government by voting, either. Voting—even for the most ideal candidate—can never insure elected officials will honor their duty to walk according to the moral law, regardless of platforms and promises. We can vote in David and watch him become Saul over night.
Rest assured, we will get godly civil government the moment God chooses to give it to us. That moment just happens to come, I believe, no sooner than Christ’s return. Until then, governments will fall terribly short of the standards expected of the church. We therefore await the time when they shall be made a footstool unto the Lord Jesus, praying God inclines them to rule wisely for the benefit of the Church. Kings’ hearts are in the hand of the Lord. If we spend more time arguing about politics than praying God’s “will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” we have ourselves to blame.
Christians should be involved in politics to the extent that doing so fulfills their duty to love one’s neighbors, without compromising the gospel or the distinctive place of the church as pilgrim people with a heavenly King. The amount and form of political action which individuals should undertake, from serving on school boards to picking up a single piece of litter, will differ according to their talents and position.
Movies That Take God’s Name in Vain
How should we respond when movies take God’s name in vain? The following is a letter I wrote in response to a friend who asked. Perhaps it will be of use to you.
Hello, ____________. I appreciate your consideration of my opinion, and that you have been patient to wait for it.
Your concerns are ones which I share and, might I add, I hope all Christians, too. The instinct to cringe or even feel anger when we hear God’s name misused indicates a healthy sensitivity regarding the Lord’s honor. To take God’s name in vain is a cardinal offense, one which, in the Mosaic economy, warranted the most severe civil punishments. The unfathomable sacredness of God’s name lies in that it represents his whole character and authority. Respecting it is therefore placed above virtually every other moral question in scripture.
Relative to political, economic, and cultural activities, I am no doubt American. I am also Christian, which informs how I carry out those rolls. But relative to the Church, as the spiritual institution of God’s heavenly Kingdom on earth, I am neither Greek, Jew, nor Scythian. I am not even American because “Christ is all, and in all.” I check my passport at the door of worship.
Regarding Col. 3:11
The relationship of the Church to the world, specifically as the formal community of saints, is that of a spiritual kingdom not distinctly tied to any earthly institutions of the common Kingdom.
It must be said emphatically that the Church long predated America, will long survive America, and at present should view America, the world’s lone superpower, as another “drop from a bucket” (Isa. 40:15).
