An Evangelical Perspective: Voting Wisely as a Responsible Citizen
It is critical in the Christian’s life and witness to be responsible in all aspects of life. This extends even to the duties of citizenship. Remember Christ’s pithy retort to the Pharisees when asked if they should pay taxes, “Render unto Caesar those things that are Caesar’s.” (Matthew 22:16-22)
George W. Bush professes Christ as Savior. From the evangelical Christian perspective, this is all-important. In fact, rejoicing in Bush’s salvation is a Christian obligation! (Luke 22:7) But voting for him is not. Scripture nowhere calls Christians to ignore a leader’s lapses in judgment or to give him the benefit of the doubt beyond what commonsense and logic dictate.
Voting responsibly means voting for the best-qualified candidate—whether or not he is a believer. On November 2nd evangelical Christians are not called to vote for who should or will get into heaven, but who should lead the country!
A growing number of evangelical Christians feel torn between their affinity with George W. Bush’s faith and nagging doubts about his capabilities, concerns about his judgment, and worries about his chosen councilors and their ethics.
Four of the main areas of Christian concern regarding Bush are:
*Bush has not been a good steward of our nation’s financial matters.
*Bush has not tended to the work of helping the poor.
*Bush has not heeded the wisdom of his father’s experience.
*Bush has not been a good steward of our nation’s natural resources and environment.
*Bush has not been a good steward of our nation’s financial matters. Bush inherited $5.6 trillion ten-year surplus and largely through tax giveaways to the rich turned it into a $5.2 trillion ten-year deficit. We’re now deeply in debt, including to a record number of foreign entities.
In Matthew 25:26a, 27 Jesus tells of the bad steward who is chided for not using assets wisely.
Matthew 25:26-27 – “His master replied, 'You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.”
*The number and percentage of people living below the poverty line rose every year under Bush. 11.7% 2001, to 12.1% 2002 and 12.5% 2003, according to the Census Bureau. The greatest increase in poverty was among children under 18 years old.
But, in Matthew 25:34-46, Jesus describes the Christian requirement of caring for the poor.
Matthew 25:34-46 – [Jesus told the parable]…."Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'
"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'
"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'
"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."
*Bush has not heeded the wisdom of experience, including his father’s. George H. W. Bush wrote in his book A World Transformed, "Had we gone the invasion route [in 1991], the United States could conceivably still be an occupying power in a bitterly hostile land.” He wrote, "We would have been forced to occupy Baghdad and, in effect rule Iraq.”
But, Proverbs 1:8 and 4:1 calls for heeding fatherly instruction.
Proverbs 1:8 – “Listen, my son, to your father's instruction and do not forsake your mother's teaching.” Proverbs 4:1 – “Listen, my sons, to a father's instruction; pay attention and gain understanding.”
*Bush has not been a good steward of our nation’s natural resources and environment. He opened waters off Texas, California, and Florida to oil drilling, over those States' objections; stalled a multibillion-dollar effort to restore the Florida Everglades; refused to protect federal water rights needed to support wilderness areas, National wildlife refuges, and endangered species like Pacific salmon; and cut the budget for sewage plants and stormwater controls by $500 million, from $1,350 million in FY2002 to $800 million in FY2004 - the largest cut of any EPA program.
Hosea (4:3) mourns when the land began to languish, and Genesis 2:15 commanded humanity to take care of the earth.
Hosea 4:3 – “Because of this the land mourns, and all who live in it waste away; the beasts of the field and the birds of the air and the fish of the sea are dying."
*Bush has not surrounded himself with ethical advisers. Vice-president Dick Cheney was CEO of Halliburton from 1995 to 2000. Halliburton recently agreed to pay a $7.5 million fine to settle a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission probe related to a 1998 change in the way Halliburton accounted for construction revenue. A story in the July 22, 2002, issue of Newsweek proves that Cheney knew full well that Halliburton was engaging in accounting trickery to boost its stock and standing on Wall Street, and he should be held accountable like other dishonest and greedy corporate leaders.
The book of Proverb repeatedly warns of the need to surround oneself with many wise counselors. (Proverbs 11:16; 15:22; 24:6, etc.)
Proverbs 11:14a and 15:22 - Without counsel, plans go awry, but in the multitude of counselors they are established.
The Christian responsibility: be informed and vote accordingly.
Please forward this to any Bible-believing Christian voters you know.
