Pastor Elwin Ahu
October 19, 2008 - W0842

Election season is almost over so soon there will be no more sign waving and political ads. But it should be noted that it is an historical election. History will be made. There either will be the first black man as president of the United States or the first male and female tandem presidency.

But more importantly, we should understand that this election should have nothing to do with politics. Our country’s problems are due to a decline in our spiritual leadership. The question voters should ask is “who is going to be the best guardian of truth?” As the Bible says, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people whom He has chosen for His own inheritance,” (Ps. 33:12) and “When the righteous increase, the people rejoice, but when a wicked man rules, people groan” (Prov. 29:2).

How you choose to live on Monday affects not only you but also your family, community and your nation. This is not only an election message but a message that applies to our individual behavior as well.

In the Book of Jeremiah, God warns the Israelites to shape up or else. But Israel refused to heed the warning and so God allowed the pagan Babylonians to eat away at Israel until Israel was defeated. Babylon captured Israel King Zedekiah (Jeremiah 39), slew his sons before his very eyes and then blinded him so that his last sight would be the slaughter of his sons. The Babylonians then burned down Zedekiah’s palace and destroyed the walls of his city. In doing so, they were destroying the identity of the Israelites as a separate people.

Today, in these United States, we just had a credit market meltdown which has made us more dependent on foreign banks. We are overly dependent on foreign oil and foreigners to keep this country running.  This puts the U.S. in a very precarious position; we also are in danger of losing our identity as a people. Will history repeat itself? It seems possible since we have had a serious decline in spiritual leadership in this country.

WHEN SELECTING A LEADER:

1.     FOCUS ON THEIR HEART MORE THAN THEIR PROMISES.

It is written, “But the LORD said to Samuel, ‘Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart’” (1 Sam. 16:7). The Lord looks at the heart of a man – not whether he is good looking or a charismatic communicator. In politics, promises are made and broken all the time. The Bible advises, “As he thinks within himself, so he is,” (Prov. 23:7) and “The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45). Our next leader will make policy and decisions based on what is in his heart in the long run and not what he simply promises today.

We should also not be thinking that this election is only about four years.  This election could change America forever. A president creates laws and changes culture that last for years after a presidency. He also appoints judges for life. This election for us should not be about a candidate’s promises and plans. It should be about his heart. But how do we see into a person’s heart? We need to look at his record.  We should research if he voted with God on issues like abortion, same sex marriage and morality.

American statesman Noah Webster once said, “Let it be impressed on your mind that God commands you to choose for rulers, ‘just men who will rule in the fear of God.’ The preservation of [our] government depends on the faithful discharge of this Duty; if the citizens neglect their Duty and place unprincipled men in office, the government will soon be corrupted; laws will be made, not for the public good so much as for selfish or local purposes; corrupt or incompetent men will be appointed to execute the Laws; the public revenues will be squandered on unworthy men; and the rights of the citizen will be violated or disregarded.”

Webster was right. Our countries problems are due to the decline of the moral and spiritual leadership in our elected officials. So it is crucial in this election to study what the candidates have already done in regards to God’s issues.  Some of the resources that we could use in researching candidates are the Family Research Council, Christianity Today and ChristianVoteGuide.com. We must do our homework before we vote.

So before voting we should also …

2.     CONSIDER WHETHER THEIR PLAN CONTRADICTS OR FULFILLS THE PLANS OF GOD.

This election all the candidates are promising change. But a change to what? I was once part of a case that dealt with a construction project deviating from the original specs. The contractor buried the debris instead of removing it, resulting in a weaker foundation that led to the house beginning to slip off its foundations.

Change can be good but if we change away from the original design we end up on slippery ground, especially if we change away from God’s original design.

But shouldn’t we NOT mix God and politics?  What about the separation of church and state? Well, the concept of the separation of church and state is largely a misinterpretation. God never intended a separation of church and state. Our Founding Fathers intended that Christianity be the foundation of the United States. Founding Father Benjamin Rush (1796) said, “In contemplating the political institutions of the United States, I lament that we waste so much time and money in punishing crimes, and take so little pains to prevent them. We neglect the only means of establishing and perpetuating our form of government. That is, the universal education of our youth in the principles of Christianity by the means of the Bible … Christianity is the only true and perfect religion; and that in proportion as mankind adopts its principles and obeys its precepts they will be wise and happy.” In the beginning of our country, children used to learn the alphabet from the Bible. Before enacting laws we used to try to determine if the proposed laws were compatible with the Bible. Our early best universities, Harvard, Princeton, and Columbia were designed to teach about Christianity. Presidents Washington, Adams and Jefferson all said that religion and morality are indispensable to the foundations of this nation. Thomas Jefferson said, "The reason that Christianity is the best friend of Government is because Christianity is the only religion that changes the heart." Daniel Webster said, “To preserve the government we must also preserve morals. Morality rests on religion; if you destroy the foundation, the superstructure must fall. When the public mind becomes vitiated and corrupt, laws are a nullity and constitutions are waste paper.” In other words, if we take morals and God out of government then all our laws become useless. Our Declaration of Independence cites God as a basis for the Declaration. Our Pledge of Allegiance says that we are one nation “under God.” The beginning of America is all about God and Christ.

So where did we go wrong? President Abraham Lincoln answered, "We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven. We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power, as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God.”

Today, I wonder how far we have slipped. This election is not about policies but about how far we and our leaders have slipped away from God. God Himself warned us, “Hear, O earth: behold, I am bringing disaster on this people, the fruit of their plans, because they have not listened to My words. And as for My law, they have rejected it also” (Jer. 6:19). So when a candidate promises change, we need to ask if that change will bring us closer to God or not. The same principle applies to our individual behavior. We need to ask if each decision we make contradicts or fulfills God’s plans because we have been warned, “Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place” (Rev. 2:5 NIV). We should all pray that God does not turn against us. So in elections …

3. CHOOSE WHO FEARS GOD MORE THAN THE POPULAR VOTE.

If we lose our fear of God then we lose so much more because that lost affects more than only the individual. When our leaders lose their fear of God, a whole generation is lost.

Should we vote for the best looking guy? Should we vote for him simply because he looks presidential? Remember, this is not a high school “hoss” election! We cannot manage without a leader who fears God. We must “… select out of all the people able men who fear God, men of truth, those who hate dishonest gain; and you shall place these over them as leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties and of tens.” There is no cure or solution for a country with a Godless leadership. If we choose wrongly, this election could be our spiritual death. As the Bible says, “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants” (Deut.30:19).

There is a darkness sweeping across America. But we should remember that the light extinguishes the darkness. It is not the other way around.  The darkness cannot influence the light. So if it is getting dark in America, perhaps it is the Lord that is removing our lampstands. We need to change our ways back to God.

How we live on Mondays counts. And how we live on Tuesday, November 4^th especially counts. Let us pray that God will restore America and that we make the right decisions on Election Day so that God will continue to bless America.

When selecting a leader, we should focus on his heart more than his promises because that is what God looks at and in the long run his heart will determine what he will do. We should consider whether the candidate’s plans contradict or fulfill the plans of God. We should also choose a leader who fears God more than the popular vote.

DISCUSSION SUGGESTIONS

1.      Why should we focus on a candidate’s heart more than his promises?

2.      Why not choose someone that is effective but not a Christian?

3.      How do we know whether a candidate’s plans fulfill or contradict God?

4.      How is it democratic to choose a candidate that fears God more than votes?

5.      How does the separation of church and state concept affect your view of candidates?

6.      Have we taken the separation of church and state too far? Why or why not?

7.      Should abortion or same sex marriage be election issues? Why or why not?