A Sacred Duty: Why Christians Must Vote

These are shocking figures. Of all people, we ought to vote, not just as a right, but as a spiritual duty. All it takes is to lose your right to vote, as I did once, to know how precious that is.

The Rev. Curt Young in Silver Spring , Maryland, told his flock just before the last presidential election why they needed to vote. Just a short distance from his church is the Capitol, the Supreme Court, and the offices of Congress. Young wanted his congregation to know that the Scriptures have a lot to say about our responsibility to choose leaders.

It was such a good message that I want to offer you a part of it today. In Deuteronomy 16, he pointed out, Moses tells the Israelites: “You shall appoint judges and officials for each of your tribes . . . and they shall judge the people.”

The term judges and officials covered all government leaders. Besides hearing cases and rendering decisions, they set public policy and could even call out the military in a crisis.

Given these heavy responsibilities, the criteria for selecting judges were strict. They were to be men who feared God, who were committed to the truth, and who hated dishonest gain. And they were warned: “You shall not pervert justice; you shall not show partiality; and you shall not take a bribe, for a bribe . . . subverts the cause of the righteous.”

When Moses commanded the Israelites to appoint God-fearing leaders, he wasn’t just talking to a handful of citizens who felt like getting involved. Young noted that the command was directed to all citizens. And modern Christians are under the same obligation to choose leaders who love justice.

Ironically, the Scriptures warn that if we value prosperity over justice, we’ll end up losing both. Moses told the Israelites to “follow justice and justice alone.” He follows this command with a promise that they will “live and possess the land the Lord your God is giving you.” In other words, if you want prosperity, choose leaders committed to justice.

In the Old Testament, God often sent people to find particular individuals to lead. Today, in our modern democracy, free citizens act as God’s agents for choosing leaders, and we do it by voting.

So there’s no excuse for those who don’t take the trouble to vote. But to vote, you have to register. That’s why, in answer to MTV’s Rock the Vote, a group of Christian musicians are endorsing an effort called Redeem the Vote. At Christian rock concerts and festivals throughout the summer groups like Verbs and Joshua 33 will be encouraging Christian young people to register by visiting the Redeem the Vote booth at the concert or to register online at www.redeemthevote.com.

While polls show that Christian young people care about the issues that have an impact on our lives, most of them are not registered to vote. That means they are left out of the political process. Redeem the Vote wants to change that. So register today, get young people to register, and then, in November, get out of the pews and into the polling booth to perform our sacred duty of choosing our leaders.

I claim the Evangelical title.But I am not young.I have voted in every election since 1978 when I was honorably
discharged from the US Army. Sadly--as with too many Veterans I believed the Deceptions and dung of the Democratic Party. Until Clinton opened my eyes,via his
perversion of policy (Dont ask dont tell) And subsequent
actions by his mailroom or someone adressing a response to
me with "SeigHeil" I've not voted for a Democrat since.
Iwill vote for Bush in Nov. for two reasons I do believe he is an honest man. I believe he has made some mistakes but
nothing to prevent his reelection. And I will vote for Sgt.
Petty,who wanted to come home to vote Bush back in Office.
He was KIA at Salman alHab one day before he turned 29.

This fall Americans will go to the polls and elect a president—one who will influence the direction in which the country’s moral compass will point. But according to a recent report, only a third of evangelical Christians—those who ought to be most concerned with moral values—will actually vote.

One hears a great deal about this duty to vote. In fact, the Bible doesn't demonstrate a notion of democracy in the modern sense although it was probably known to the disciples from Greek history. But voting is not, as some evangelicals leaders would like to pretend, some essential duty of Christians. It is, however, very useful if you are a Christian leader who wishes to curry influence with lawmakers because they believe you can deliver portions of a key voting block in a region or in particular districts.

Many Christian leaders have observed that Falwell and Robertson have declined in their influence. Therefore, they would like to become power brokers if they can demonstrate that they can deliver votes.

Given the usual pillow fights the GOP has staged on selecting judges and the almost meaningless restriction on a single type of late-term abortion, it seems that many evangelicals have concluded that the GOP is only cynically trying to lure their votes but never actually delivering anything meaningful. Or even pressing our House/Senate majority along with the White House to appoint conservative judges. Or simply restraining the growth in discretionary spending.

For conservatives and especially for Christians, the record of the first Bush term is appalling. Spending at levels that would make LBJ blush. Enlarging the NEA and the Departments of Labor and Education which are among the most hated liberal bastions in Washington. An invasion of Iraq to eliminate the threat of their WMD which (we were told) was a direct threat to us. And that nasty event at the so-called national cathedral in which an Islamist was granted the use of the podium to speak to a worldwide audience.

Colson has a lot of nerve to lecture us. He would have considerably more credibility if he had done some lecturing to those in power on their own failures and their abuse of public trust, not to mention the GOP's failure to keep faith with its conservative wing on the most fundamental and defining issues of conservative politics.

I did not vote in this year's primary for the first time in many years. I'm not certain I'll vote in the fall either. However, if God actually does want me to vote, I am willing and I trust He will make it clear to me.

I do not regret my vote for Bush in 2000, given how appalling Gore was and the necessity of providing a rejection of all the Clinton regime represented. But I have no enthusiasm to continue on the present course of a liberal free-spending party of patronage, a GOP as liberal as any of their liberal Democrat predecessors.

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