Zion Lutheran Church
Pastor's Page
Dear Friends in Christ,
Well, unless you’ve been sound asleep like Rip Van Winkle then you’re very aware that we’re at the peak of another heated political season. It’ll all come to a head on November 5th. You have a civic duty as an American to go out and vote for your candidates of choice. And as Christians, you can use this right to vote as a tool for bringing about good in our world which brings glory to God.
Having said that, the question before us again is, “Who should I vote for?” I can’t answer that for you. You’ll need to do your homework to find out which candidates best align with your Christian beliefs. And quite frankly, in some of these political races, you may feel like you’re being asked to choose between the lesser of two evils. I get that. But let’s be clear about something. Here in the United States, we’re not a theocracy. In other words, the leaders of our nation have no authority within our churches. We aren’t electing religious leaders. Their jobs are to govern in the civil realm. Some of them may very well be professing Christians. Their faith may help direct the decisions they make. But they can’t impose their personal beliefs on us as our elected legislators.
This is an important distinction for us to remember as we prepare for November 5th. The person you vote for may not behave like a good Christian at times. That makes sense because we all fail when it comes to living our lives in a God-pleasing manner. But a politician’s mistakes and failures as a Christian don’t necessarily disqualify them from being a viable choice for you on the ballot. Let me share with you an example from the Bible to prove that point.
I’d encourage you to look at 2 Chronicles 36:22-23, Isaiah 45:1-6, and Ezra 1:2ff. These passages describe the actions of Cyrus, the king of Persia from 600-530 B.C. As far as we know from the Bible, Cyrus was not a believer in Yahweh, the true God. And yet! God called him and used him as an instrument in the Lord’s hands to restore God’s people to the land of Israel, rebuild Jerusalem, and more importantly, to rebuild the Temple so that the returning Jews could worship the Creator.
Isn’t that amazing? An unbeliever brought about good things for the believing people of a nation. Cyrus was more faithful in some ways than even the Jewish kings had been in the past. But the bigger picture to see is that God was in control of him, even though he didn’t acknowledge the Lord as his God. If nothing else, it reminded the Israelites that God is sovereign even over unbelieving political leaders.
That’s true for us also. Regardless of whether your favored candidate is a practicing Christian or not, that doesn’t mean God can’t or won’t use them for His own good purposes. Will they say and do things at times that may not sound nice? Absolutely. But that doesn’t mean God can’t use them. As I stated above, no one on the ballot is going to be perfect. They will all say and do things that we disagree with. So we’re back to my opening admonition: Do your homework to find out which candidates best align with your Christian beliefs. Then go vote for them with a clear conscience knowing that God can use all kinds of people to accomplish His will. And after you vote, pray for your leaders knowing that God can use them not only for the good of us Christians but for the good of all people in our nation.
In Christian Love,
Pastor Meyer
