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Politics and Biblical Principles
I remember how I felt 8 years ago when Barak Obama was elected. Since I disagree with his moral and political stances at the time, I thought our world was coming to an end. Everyone else was around me was jumping out the window, and so I did too. The United States was doomed for extinction. I remember having a nagging question in the back of my mind, wondering if our day to day lives would actually be any different in the next decade with Obama as president. I soon realized that all my worry was foolishness. George Bush didn’t fulfill my childhood dreams and Barak Obama didn’t crush them. Politically, I have been far more apathetic than anything else in the past 6 years. News and politics only caused me to worry. I grew exhausted by everyone constantly jumping out the window over every decision, so - right or wrong - I stopped paying attention to anything in the political sphere.
However, I have been consciously seeking to rethink how I approach and think about politics and current events from the perspective of God’s word. Just as others were exhausted by the opinions and political arrogance of my youth, I have grown tired of the innumerable amount of political opinions Christians are constantly gabbling on about. I don’t want to hear your opinions, I don’t want to give you my opinions, and I simply want to think, hear, and speak what God wants. In that vein, we will spend this evening talking about biblical principles relating to our current political season.
1. Care about Justice and Righteousness (Prov. 8:13; Psalm 82:3-4)
Some excuse the behavior of politicians since there is corruption on every side. But Proverbs 8:13 says “To fear the LORD is to hate evil…” If we fear the Lord, we will hate evil, not excuse it. That means that we should vote caring primarily about the principles in God’s word. You may hear Christians pontificate about how the United States is not a theocracy, so we need to keep God’s word out of it. God has established his kingdom and our greatest desire should be to see God’s will done everywhere on earth, just as it is done in heaven. I don’t care who you vote for, if we don’t care about justice and righteousness, we don’t know God. However, it is easy to feel self-righteous for casting a certain vote and criticizing rulers. Brothers and sisters, we should be even more concerned with how we contribute to the rule of God’s kingdom on earth. So, with our vote and with our time, we should care deeply about people. God’s word instructs us numerable times to be concerned about unborn babies, orphans, widows, the poor, and - yes - even the foreigners in our land. These matters of righteousness are the most important things. Psalms 82:3–4, “Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”
2. Don’t Be Amazed By Injustice (Ecclesiastes 5:8)
Ecclesiastes 5:8 (HCSB), “If you see oppression of the poor and perversion of justice and righteousness in the province, don’t be astonished at the situation, because one official protects another official, and higher officials protect them.” We should absolutely care about righteousness, but time and again Christians seem as theough they are completely bewildered by unrighteousness in the world and in the government. Please don’t be surprised and please don’t act surprised. We should desire the kingdoms of men to support the Kingdom of God, but they do not and we lack understanding when we obsess over the fact that the kingdoms of men are corrupt.
3. Don’t Trust in Princes (Psalm 118:9; 146:3)
Psalms 118:9, “It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in princes.” Psalms 146:3–4, “Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish.” It is great if you believe that a particular politician is good. And it is fine if you want to support them. But don’t put all your stock in them. It is better to trust in and rely on the Lord than on politicians and government officials. This serves as a timely reminder since many of us probably wish we had another choice for president. Whether you wanted Ben Carson or Rand Paul or Bernie Sanders or some random person, it is important to remember that even if they were the President, we still shouldn’t put our trust in them. They still are not Jesus returning on the clouds to bring the fullness of God’s rule on earth. Remember that now and remember that every time you vote.
4. God Can Use Wicked Rulers for His Purposes (Daniel 4, etc.)
The entirety of Scripture supports this point. Consider how often God raised up rulers for his glory and for his purposes - even when the rulers were wicked. Paul says in Romans 9:17 that God raised up Pharaoh so the name of the Lord could be proclaimed in all the earth, and God did that through Pharaoh’s wickedness. The book of Judges tells us about numerous men who God raised up to judge Israel and deliver Israel from their enemies, and yet many of the men were wicked and God sometimes used their wickedness to deliver Israel. Nebuchadnezzar was the wicked, arrogant king of Babylon; yet, Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar both clearly testify in Daniel 2 and 4 that the Lord was the one who gave Nebuchadnezzar power, took it away, and gave it back again. This only scratches the surface. Whether we like it or not, God is so powerful that he not only uses righteous people for his purposes, but he also uses wicked people for his purposes. Furthermore, though the people of the Bible did not approve of their wickedness, men like Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego righteously served wicked, arrogant kings like Nebuchadnezzar and Darius with complete devotion and submission, until they were asked to directly disobey the commands of the Most High King.
5. Honor Rulers; Don’t Be a Rebel (Romans 13:1-7; 1 Peter 2:13-17)
Romans 13:1–7, “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.” 1 Peter 2:13–17, “Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. … Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.”
The teachings of Paul and Peter here are pretty eye-opening when you compare what they say to the words and practices of a lot of Christians. We are to submit to the authorities, not resist them, and honor them. Why? They are the servants of God sent to punish evil people and praise those who do good. In fact, Paul says we need to make sure we pay taxes to them, because it is God’s design that we do that. And yet, many Christians say that this text does not apply when the rulers are evil and when they are not doing what they are supposed to do. Carefully notice how the text never gives any exception to the command. Furthermore, guess who is emperor in Rome at the time that both Romans and 1 Peter were being written. Nero - the who burned Christians. We should never submit to the unrighteous commands of rulers, but under no circumstances are we to ever rebel against the government simply because they take away freedoms we happen to hold dear.
6. Stop Gabbling about Your Opinions (Romans 14:1; 15:5-6)
Romans 14:1, “As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions.” Romans 15:5–6, “ May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” I fully recognize that these instructions are given in the context of those who have weak and strong faith having disagreements. Regardless, the principle still applies. We should not quarrel over our opinions because we are to live in harmony so we can glorify God with one voice. What is often the result of gabbling about our political opinions? Usually, it causes us to fight with each other. If it doesn’t cause us to fight with each other, it usually causes us form cliques and look down on others who do not hold to our political opinions. Brothers and sisters, when we discuss our political opinions and we gabble on and on about our opinions among each other and on social media, we are usually just causing fights. Let’s be quiet. Let’s talk about God’s truths, not about our political opinions. We have Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians, and more in this room. How do you think new Christians feel when we blast their party and their opinions in conversations and social media with our own political and religious opinions? Let us not ruin our witness and gabble about our opinions.
7. Pray for Rulers So We Can Preach the True Messiah (1 Timothy 2:1-7)
1 Timothy 2:1–7, “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.” We are probably unhappy about the state of our government and about this election. We might feel like God’s word has taken away every platform you thought you had for change. What can we do? There are other things we can do to help spread the kingdom of God on earth, but this text alludes to two key things we can do. Pray and preach. Give God thanksgiving for everyone and rulers. Make supplications for everyone and for rulers. Pray that we will be able to live peaceful and quiet lives. This pleases God because God wants everyone to know the truth. We should pray for this peace because there is only one mediator between God and man - Jesus Christ. People cannot know God without him and it is hard for people to know about God when the government tries to suppress our voice. So, we should pray that for peace and we should preach in all seasons. This is beautiful because when we do this we realize that whether or not we have peace and freedom is not up to us, it is up to God. If he gives us peace and freedom, we will give thanksgiving and preach. If he does not give us peace and freedom, we will make supplications and still preach. Our political opinions won’t change the world. Jesus is the real one who will usher in the final period of peace and righteoussness. Let us wait for him.
- Politics_and_Biblical_Principles.mp3 (7.64 MB)
