Welcome to the For the Gospel podcast, where we're all about providing sound doctrine for everyday people. I'm your host, Costi Hinn, and on today's episode, I want to provide for you some Christian principles for voting. We are in an election season, and as you know, from here, the steam picks up. We head into 2023, and before you know it, everybody's campaigning, talking, and potentially debating over what's going to happen in 2024. Here in Arizona, where I get the joyful privilege of pastoring, we're in the middle of a governor election, as you have uh Katie Hobbs and Kerry Lake uh going toe-to-toe. And around the nation, a lot of important things happening politically. And as believers, we are not to stick our heads in the sand and just wait for Christ to return. We ought to be, as believers, salt and light in the world today. Before we jump in any further, I want to recommend a couple of books to you if you're new to Christianity and politics. Divided Nation by Ken Ham is a new book that's out, came out last year. Uh, Divided Nation, Cultures in Chaos and a Conflicted Church. Really helpful stuff. Red versus Blue, a really, really good book on politics and how the church and an individual Christian should be engaging and living in light of their faith in Christ and their citizenship still here in our country, in America, and around the world. Another book that's really helpful is a book by Nathan Busnitz and James Coates, both dear brothers, I know them both personally, wonderful men. This book came out in the spring of this year, 2022, and it's titled God versus Government: Taking a Biblical Stand When Christ and Compliance Collide, and it breaks down some truths about a big question that a lot of people ask. If I'm told in the Bible to be submissive and obedient and godly and go about my business as a Christian in this world, then what do I do when the commands of government collide with the commands of Christ? Great book. So God versus Government by Buznitz and Coates and Divided Nation by Ken Ham. Really helpful books. I want to break down some principles for you and then give you a few helpful reminders. And so you can enter into this voting season and coexist with fellow Christians and operate in the church and beyond your workplace, no doubt, and certainly the Twitter sphere and social media with a biblical framework in your mind. Number one, God's word should govern our voting practices. As Christians, we are, in a sense, resident aliens. This is how Peter describes us in 1 Peter. He calls us elect exiles. The idea being we are the elect of God, the chosen, saved people of Yahweh, and yet we're still here on earth. We're not in the kingdom to come. And while Christ is certainly, we would call him king over all and God the sovereign ruler over the world, right now there are still earthly governing authorities. We are a part of America, and yet our hearts are bought by, won by, and we are indwelt by a God who is even over the most seemingly powerful ruler on earth. We are citizens of another kingdom, yet here and now. So we should be engaged in politics. We should be engaged in the culture, if you will, in the sense that we are flavoring it. We are preaching to it. We are calling the culture to repent and turn to our God. So God's word then should govern our voting practices. We don't take our cues from the culture, we don't take our cues from the ways of this world. Believers take their cues from the word of Christ. The Bible determines everything for us. It is our spiritual food, it nourishes our lives, and so it should be where we go to determine how to vote. Many people have gone off the rails politically because they use God's word for seemingly every area of their life, but then politics gets a pass. And I grew up in an era, not so much in the prosperity gospel, but I mean grew up in my faith early on as a new convert in true faith, actually being told and being taught, yeah, we don't get involved in politics. And so my first exposure out of the world that I was in, in which, you know, my uncle and others were talking to Bush and everybody else under the sun, they would be prophesying that Bush was going to be our next president. Politics was very much intertwined in my life in the prosperity gospel world. When I got saved and was in the quote unquote conservative evangelical world then, I was just going along and trying to learn everything the new way and the right way, apparently. And I was told, yeah, we don't do politics. And so that became the way that I, along with certainly many of you probably listening, was taught and was told. We just don't get involved. We don't talk about politics in the pulpit. Well, what we've learned and seen, no doubt, over the last four to eight years, is that's not necessarily the right way to go about it either. We should be engaged, we should be informing people, we should be learning and growing, not in a way that dishonors the Lord, not in the way that loses sight of the kingdom to come, but in a way that engages here and now the country that God has sovereignly allowed you and I to live in. And so God's word doesn't just inform all the other areas of our life, and then politics is sort of stuffed in this closet. We don't really talk about that. No. Psalm 119, 105 reminds us, your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. So God's word will light your way, even when it comes to who or how you should vote. Number two, pray before voting. If God is the source of all wisdom and direction for us, then should we not pray and ask him for wisdom? Prayer is our access point, if you will, to his power and wisdom in and through our voting decisions. James 1 5, a passage we've talked about before in this podcast, and hopefully you are familiar with, and if you're not, you ought to be. Turn in your Bible to James 105 and read it. Sorry, James 1, verse 5, and read it. If anyone lacks wisdom, let them ask, and God will give it abundantly. You'll see it there. This is a very important verse. We desperately need wisdom for voting. God promises to give us wisdom when we lack it, and we pray for it. If we need it, he'll give it, so we should pray. I've been doing a deep dive recently in the book of Proverbs and was reflecting recently on Proverbs 3, verses 5 and 6, which says, Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Well, prayer is one of the best ways to take your own understanding, your own anxieties, your own political concerns to the Lord, and instead of leaning on your own feelings or understanding, lean on his understanding. He'll make your path straight. In your political prayers, do remember to pray also for candidates whom you do not like or who you may find to be repulsive in their character or in their belief systems and their worldview. Pray that they might be saved. You might think, well, Costi, now I'm I'm off. You know, you're off, I'm out, forget it. Hold on. First Timothy two, Paul the Apostle to the church. I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions. Listen, he tells Timothy to teach this to the church. This is the way it ought to be. We should be praying for government leaders, pray that they might be saved, pray that the Lord may take hold of their heart. Certainly, don't forget, these are souls, even if some of their worldviews or belief systems are satanic. They need the gospel. Heaven and hell are real. Judgment is coming. We want people to be saved. We're believers, we're Christians. We love Jesus. We love those made in his image in the sense that we we want them to be saved. We love seeing people one to Christ. Number three, vote for a candidate who upholds Christian principles. For instance, ask a lot of questions. Do they biblically align with views on important moral or social, economic, or other issues? If it comes down to two candidates, as it most often, of course, does, which one has the most biblical framework on key issues? Likely neither candidate will have a biblical framework on every issue, so you've got to use wisdom and discernment. You've got to rank things in their order of priority, if you will. And that's gonna take a lot of prayer, a lot of thought, a lot of research, and a lot of discernment. But overall, which candidate has the closest resemblance to biblical principles in the way they land on key issues? Here's just several to think through. The sanctity of human life. Ask yourself this Does the candidate you're voting for promote abortion under the banner of, you know, my body, my choice, or does the candidate see that a baby is a human life form with a separate heartbeat and deserves the right to live? Are they pro-life in that sense that they believe even a quote-unquote fetus, which is what many people will say, it's just a clump of cells, we can kill it if we want to. I'm a woman, I can do what I want. No, that is a child, a baby, a human life, and it deserves the right to live. I am of the mind personally, this is Costi's opinion and belief, that abortion support is a non-starter in politics. If a candidate supports abortion, I'm out. If a candidate supports the murder of human life in that sense and argues for the murder of human life in the womb, well, I have no motive for wanting to see them in office. I personally don't care if a candidate promises uh, you know, no student loans forever and we can all go to college for free, or even as far as, you know, if they were to suddenly say, you know, anyone with a who's a college grad, you know, we're gonna give you a free house. I don't care if they offer everyone free cars. If they support abortion, it's a non-starter. Sanctity of human life is the most baseline of political issues, or one of the most baseline of political issues. And a Christian believes that all humans are made in the image of God. So we ought to, and I would propose that we vote strongly to protect the sanctity of human life. Another one religious freedom. Christians do well to vote for candidates who will protect our freedom to worship as Christians. This is a very important one because it is currently a joy, most of the time, to be a Christian in America and to worship freely in our country. If a candidate is going to threaten to take that freedom away, we ought to vote in a way that tries to prohibit them from ever seeing office. Another one, biblical economics. This maybe is not something you think of, but I do. I believe it's important, and I hope you'll consider this, to assess a candidate's view of work and economics and ask, is this in line with biblical principles regarding work ethic? Are they a handout style candidate pushing taxation through the roof to dish out free cash? Or are they strategically making moves to help bolster the economy, create jobs so people can work honestly? And are they living by a principle that many of you maybe have heard? If you give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day, but if you teach a man to fish, he'll eat for life. Does the candidate breed through their policies and their even personality or the way that they govern? A culture of looting and stealing and laziness and waiting for government handouts, or do they reflect the words of Ephesians 4 28, which says, Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his hands, so that he may have something to share with everyone in need. That's the way we operate in the church, of course, Paul's words to the church at Ephesus, and that's how we ought to vote in light of. We should want people to be a part of a hard-working society and to be healthy, hard, honest workers in our society. And while we most certainly should help those who are in great need, we need to be helping the poor, we need to be reaching out to folks, we need to have an outreach style heart as believers, no doubt. Some political views are going to create a country where people aren't motivated to work because they just sit around waiting for the government to bail them out. These are very important things, I believe, to think through. And a candidate's views should be assessed, and you can rank that one. Where does it fit for you personally? Finally, and this is just a list you could add to, I'm just throwing a few out there for you, moral ethics. Character matters in leadership because leadership is influence. The character that an individual has is going to influence people. Does the candidate have a history of keeping their promises? Are they a people pleaser in the wrong ways or are they focused on doing what is right even when it's hard or even leads to conflict? Strong moral character is what will cause a leader to plough forward in doing what is right, despite insult, even character assaults or opposition. And strong moral character is what causes a leader to pivot, course, or even apologize when they've erred in their decision making. So character counts. Character shows us the right way to even recover from a wrong decision. No leader will be perfect, and all leaders will make mistakes. So character counts. It's important to remember as well, I believe, that politics is not pastoral ministry. Most certainly we don't want to give license to lewd behavior or rampant sin in leadership. But candidates are likely not going to meet the qualifications of 1 Timothy 3, so we need to remember that. Again, it's not a license to undervalue character, but it's a healthy reminder that the political leadership bar is not the pastoral ministry leadership bar. Those are just a few issues to think through. And lastly, I want to encourage you to keep some important truths in mind. Here's just about five to think through. Number one, be careful of leaders who call evil good and good evil. They should not find favor with our vote. Number two, trust the Lord with outcomes. He's sovereign over everything. And the Bible is really clear that there is no authority except from God, and those who that exist those who are in authority have been instituted by God, Romans 13 1. So ultimately, every believer has to say this according to Scripture, it is God, not even people, ultimately, who appoint leaders. We're just God's instruments in bringing about his eternal plan. So vote, but trust him with the outcome. And now that leads to the third thing I want you to keep in mind. There are times when the Lord will judge a nation by giving it bad leaders. And while due process and fair elections and justice should always be fought for, keep in mind that every outcome is under the sovereignty of God, and therefore even fixing broken systems won't stop God from giving us evil leaders if our nation is under judgment and unrepentant. And when you look at America, you don't have to agree with me on this, but I would ask you to hear me on it. When you look at America, we had been and still in some places have been murdering babies by the millions. The sexual revolution, the assault on gender, marriage, God's design, all of it, do you think for a moment that God is not seeing all that? When we get leaders who are wicked and vile, and the Bible says there is no authority in place, no leader, except that which or whom that have been given by God. Ask yourself, are we a nation under judgment? The best political course then for any nation is to repent and turn to God. Now, fourth, I want you to keep this in mind because you think, well, yeah, let's repent. America needs to repent. Well, yes and amen. In the course of your and my proclamation for the nation to repent and turn to God, remember Jesus' words that narrow is the path that leads to life and wide is the path that leads to destruction. I want, I'm sure you do too, America to be a Christian nation. I want people to come under the one and only true God. But I also have to submit to Christ's words and keep in mind along the way that when people and politicians hate our God and the nation rises up in wickedness against the ways of God, we didn't fail per se. It's just that Christ's words are ringing true. The wicked don't want his ways. It is a wide path leading to destruction, but be encouraged, friend, the remnant will rise. The church will always thrive in midst of persecution, and in these days, Jesus is building his church. Nothing can stop it. So even when the nation doesn't submit to him, the church does, and the church will thrive in such a climate. So be encouraged. No matter what your eschatology, your view of the end times, we should all be optimistic in the sense that some believe they're going to usher in the kingdom here and now, others believe, like theonomists, that we're going to turn America or God will turn America back, and then the whole world will come under his rule and under his law. And there are, you know, good brothers and people who you love who believe that. And then there's the position in which God's kingdom is going to come. There are those who believe in the rapture, and many of us teach on a wide spectrum of these things. All of us ought to be, and I believe the ones who study the scriptures and understand it well are going to be optimistic, knowing that God is protecting, preserving, and building his church. And so we need to remember Jesus' words. Don't be discouraged. Understand he's in control. And finally, it is biblical to be unapologetic about your allegiance to God over the ways of this world's political systems. Acts 529 records a line that we ought to live by time and time again. The apostles declared this when told, stop preaching, stop doing what you're doing. We must obey God rather than men. The truth is, because we are living for a life to come and a kingdom to come, we're never going to stop doing what God has called us to do. We're preaching the gospel to earthly kingdoms because we're citizens of God's kingdom. We want America to honor our God because He is coming to judge the living and the dead. His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire. Friends, politics and voting and calling people to follow our God is one hundred percent about the glory of our great God. We are merely his ambassadors during our time on earth. And so be loving, be gracious, be gentle, be the salt and light, use wisdom with your speech, and in the midst of that, be unapologetic about your allegiance to God over the ways of this world's political systems. I pray through this election season and in the election season to come with the presidential election, that an episode like this is going to help you think through how to vote ahead of time, read some books on it, do some research, and know biblically who the best candidate to vote for is. The 2024 election will be here before you know it. So may we be gracious and yet unwavering in the way we live and vote for the gospel. For free resources that'll help you grow in your faith, go to forthegospel.org. Thanks again for your support and for listening and for using and sharing these resources that we put time, energy, and money into producing. Be sure to follow us on social media if you haven't already. And if you found this podcast to be a blessing, please subscribe, leave a review, and share a favorite episode with friends and family. For now, I'll be back next Monday with another episode. Keep on living for the gospel.