For us as Christians, what is our responsibility to God and man as we approach these elections? First, it is to realize that we have a responsibility of action.
Romans 13:1 says, “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.”
As we approach our national elections, I desire to impart to you our responsibility as Christians. In doing so, it’s my prayer that you take these thoughts to heart and prayer, and that this teaching will help eliminate confusion over who we should be voting for.
In fact, I shouldn’t need to tell you who to vote for. God’s Word should make that crystal clear.
For us as Christians, what is our responsibility to God and man as we approach these elections? First, it is to realize that we have a responsibility of action. Even though there are countries that do not like—even hate—our nation, the majority of the world that knows the heart of America.
They love America for that which it stands—freedom. Freedom to make choices, freedom to worship God, freedom of speech, freedom to succeed at what is in one’s heart to do.
America is called the land of opportunity and rightly so. Many have also seen how this nation stands for these freedoms at home and elsewhere, and they have seen that America will put its money and action behind freedom.
Other nations have seen a history of the generosity and compassion of this nation always reaching to other countries when crisis comes and compassion is needed—even regarding our enemies! The blessing of God upon this nation has been seen by all who have eyes to see.
And yet there are many who are jealous, many who misunderstand us, and some who are just plain wicked, deceived, and evil in their view of this nation. That’s as true for this nation as it can be true for any individual who experiences success at a high level.
They will be loved by some and hated by others. Regardless, a person or a nation has to be true to itself!
With that in mind, let me pose the question again: As Christians, what is our responsibility to God and man as we approach the elections?” The answer is simple and it should be. Our responsibility is what God says it is.
Unfortunately, that is where the problem lies. If people don’t know or understand what God says, then they can’t know what responsibility He gives us. The world outside of Jesus Christ is ignorant of God’s ways, but Christians should not have to use this excuse.
If one calls him/herself a Christian, then they should know the responsibilities that God has given to us regarding the elections.
First, God calls us to not look to or put trust in man for provision and peace, but instead to absolutely trust in Him.
Jeremiah 17 says:
This is what the LORD says: Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the LORD. He will be like a bush in the wastelands; he will not see prosperity when it comes. He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives.
But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in Him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.
(vv. 5-8)
We need to be mindful of the fact that God established this nation.
If we put all our trust in God, we shouldn’t be indifferent, apathetic, or careless toward the elections, although it has happened to many Christians. There were millions—and I do mean millions—of Christians who did not vote in the last elections.
That is unacceptable to God. It opens the door to the enemy in our lives. Just because we trust in God (and not in man) does not mean that we don’t work toward putting men and women in office.
It is God who has established offices of authority that He instructs us to pray for, rather than mock or become indifferent to them. He deals with the hearts of leaders as we are faithful to do our parts.
Our First Responsibility
Place your trust in God, but don’t become indifferent toward the process He has allowed for our nation—the elections.
1 Timothy 2:1-3 instructs us, “I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior.”
You need to connect these dots. God does not have you pray for those in authority but have you avoid the process that He created in order to raise them up; that process is, of course, prayer and election.
To not pray is indifference. To not vote is indifference. Indifference is a lack of caring. God calls this being lukewarm—neither hot or cold.
God says of this person, “I know your actions, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! But, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth” (Rev. 3:15-16).
Our lives as Christians are about having as much influence for God in this earth as we can. The electing of our President and other elected officials are God-given privileges.
God does not want any of us indifferent about the election process!
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Timothy Burt is a pastor, author, and writer. He is best known as the author of Fresh Manna, a daily devotional and online Bible study.
Pastor Tim became a part of the leadership team at Living Word Christian Center in 1984 and was an Associate Pastor from 1989 until May 31st, 2017. He and His wife Renee, also a Pastor at Living Word, resigned after being a part of Living Word for 33 years on May 31, 2017. They felt impressed by God to pursue the tremendous growth of their ministry "Fresh Manna," as well as teaching conferences and seminars and increasing their involvement in the mission field through Tim and Renee Burt Ministries. Tim has a Bachelor of Theology degree and is a Christian blogger who has been writing a daily inspirational and teaching devotion three days a week called "Fresh Manna" for the past 22 years. It has been read in over 227 countries (official countries and territories). Tim was named one of the top 55 blogging Pastors. He is one of the top Social Media influencers in Minnesota with a strong presence on Twitter at https://twitter.com/TimBurt with over 187,000 followers. Between Tim's Fresh Manna Devotional and Twitter influence, he virally averages reaching over 4 million people daily with the gospel of Jesus Christ and the love of God.
Prior to working at LWCC, he worked at Northwest Airlines for 13 years. In 1985 he founded and was President of American Infant Care Products which marketed his patented invention, the first fold-down commercial infant changing table now used worldwide in public restrooms.
In their tenure at Living Word, Timothy Burt and his wife Renee created a Small Group Ministry when the church was about 800 people in size. Under the leadership of Sr. Pastors Mac and Lynne Hammond, the church grew to over 10,000 people. Pastor Tim and Renee led a diverse Small Group Ministry of over 200 groups. Tim also led weekly men's groups and a monthly Men's Breakfast of 250 plus men called Manhood for 27 years. Tim's responsibilities also included oversight over the Visitor and Member Relations Department, Leadership and Volunteer Development, and the Pastoral Care Department. Pastor Tim was also the Minnesota State Director of Christians United for Israel from 2006 thru 2017.
Tim and Renee are the parents of four children and have seven grandchildren. Tim loves to write, golf, run, and walk, and is a master gardener. He is a five-time marathon finisher. He is also a three-time award-winning gardener winning the Grand Prize in his city for his beautiful home garden and is a Master Gardener for the University of Minnesota's Master Gardener Extension Program.