Today, there are 40 days until the 2016 presidential election. As
far as I know, America has never before faced our voting dilemma. I've heard
plenty of people and pundits observe that our two candidates are despised
almost as much by their own parties as by their opponents'. Most people seem to
agree that whichever of the two gets elected will bring their own flavor of
mayhem to "life as we know it." And so the prevailing logic is that
good Americans should vote for "the lesser of two evils" as a way to
mitigate the loss our country will inevitably suffer with November's decision.
So I want to light a beacon for my family and friends. We have a
third option, an actually good option. But somehow I’ve heard very few people
talking about it.
The third and best option is this: we should repent of our sins
and ask God for mercy. I’d like to persuade you that repentance and
pleading – not voting for a “lesser evil” – is the sole duty, privilege, and
hope of every American citizen at this time.
No Less Evil.
Great pains have already been made by both sides to prove that
"the other candidate" is evil. In this alone I think we have every
reason to believe each side. But picking the "less evil" candidate is
madness.
The truth is, when anyone chooses the lesser of two evils, they
are, in fact, choosing evil.
Evil destroys. It does not destroy relative to other bad things;
it destroys according to its kind. A man who lost his leg to a tumor could not
comfort himself by saying he was better off than a man who lost his leg to a
mortar. The outcome is the same for both men: they've been crippled by
different kinds of evil, and their scars take due shape.
I find it chilling, then, that so many Christians believe they
have to choose between a "lesser of two evils." I do not find this
notion sanctioned anywhere in Scripture. Both options are clearly evil,
therefore both options should be avoided at all costs. Both options will
devastate according to their kind. Would you prefer Jezebel or Nebuchadnezzar?
Wisdom tells us, "Neither! I throw myself on the mercies of God."
King Amaziah.
In fact, the prophets and apostles condemn this sort of
"devil's bargain" throughout the Scripture. Consider, as just one
cherry-picked example, King Amaziah in 2 Chronicles 25. He had to face a vast
army of Edomites who were idolatrous to the core. They were a horde of
evil-doers that he didn't want to face alone. So in addition to his own army,
he tried to guarantee his victory by hiring a massive Israelite army to stand
with him in battle. Just one problem: the Israelites were also an evil horde of
idolaters whose nation was under sharp indictment for having broken their
marital vows to Yahweh (Hosea 2:2). But they were "less evil."
Amaziah reasoned that the Ephraimites were at least "the same kind
of people" as his own tribe of Judah. They were literally family (albeit a
corrupt part of the family).
Then God sent a prophet.
One brave, anonymous prophet said to King Amaziah, “O king, do not
let the army of Israel go with you, for the Lord is not with Israel, with all
these Ephraimites. But go, act, be strong for the battle. Why should you
suppose that God will cast you down before the enemy? For God has power to help
or to cast down.”
But King Amaziah was concerned for his money, and said to the man
of God, “But what shall we do about the hundred talents that I have given to
the army of Israel?” The man of God answered, “The Lord is able to give you
much more than this.”
What was the outcome? King Amaziah wisely listens, dismisses the
lesser of the two evils, and defeats the Edomites in a smashing victory.
But then both evils come back to bite him. The Israelite
army leaves Judah in a rage. For the insult of being un-hirable mercenaries,
they sacked their own people's towns and killed 3,000 civilians on the way back
home. And the evil Edomites, though weaker by sword, overpowered Judah by
idols. Amaziah took the little statues that the dead men of Edom were no longer
going to use, and he worshiped them in betrayal of the God who had given him
victory of them in the first place. Lose-lose. His entanglement with both evils
left him wounded on both sides.
So God dealt with him accordingly.
Ironically, God gave Amaziah into the hands of the "lesser
evil" army he had once trusted in, and in the end he was taken as a
prisoner of war by the King of Israel whom he had every reason to regard as
family.
This is just one single story. The overwhelming evidence in the
Bible shows that when evil pins you on both sides, you should scream for God
and wait for Him. But under no circumstance does God delight when people choose
evil. God prescribes death over acquiescence, because holy faith is life itself
(Is 35:8-10, 2 Cor 7:1, Heb 11:35-38, 2 Pet 3:11, Jude 1:20, Rev 2:10).
Free to Vote, or to Repent?
Yet many Christians suppose we have a moral obligation to cast our
support behind one of two immoral options. No, that's not true. Voting is
Biblically justified, but not Biblically mandated. Humble repentance of sin, on
the other hand, is heavily mandated and therefore supersedes the value of
voting in every way. This is another reason good Christians should make odd
Americans. We hold that voting is a theological privilege without being an
imperative. Our democratic freedom certainly sprouted from the rich ground of
Christianity, but that doesn't mean it is Biblically necessary. Voting isn't
remotely essential to the Church's DNA, and the Lord can justly strip the
privilege if repentance isn't in proper place. For this election, your
patriotism would be better practiced by fasting and praying than by voting.
So we have the Egyptians attacking behind and the Sea to drown
ahead -- which shall we choose? "Fear not, stand firm, and see the
salvation of the Lord, which He will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom
you see today, you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you
have only to be silent (Ex 14:13-14).” Faced with a sure sword on one side, and
a flood of judgment on the other, Christians proclaim a third and glorious
option: repentance that comes from faith in a merciful God.
Let's be honest - you and I know that we have plenty to repent of.
Nationally, we've blatantly trespassed the sacred Laws of Heaven with public
applause (and plenty of debate). Our two candidates embody our country's
treachery against our Creator. In our current path, we are indeed choosing our
own judgment.
So we ought to take a cue from Jonah and preach an honest
repentance. We ought to take a cue from Nineveh who repented at Jonah's
preaching.
We should stop squabbling whether to drive the train down the
track that goes off the cliff, or the track whose tunnel is collapsed.
Otherwise, we're watching Rev 9:20-21 unfold before us.
How, then, should we proceed?
Out of the Booth and Onto
Our Knees.
First and foremost, it is time for us to watch and pray, because we don't know what
hour the Master returns. (Matt 24:44-51). This just happens to be the same
thing the Church has done for 2,000 faithful years as she's looked with longing
for her Husband. Our test for whether we've ever cared for our Father's
work has always been the same for every Christian generation: did we hear
His words and do them in full view of Christ’s coming? The clear choice
we're facing now is not him or her; it is and always has been Ready
or Not.
As the apostle John put it when telling of Christ's hastening
return, "Everyone who thus hopes in Him purifies himself as He is pure (1 John 3:3)." This hope has a purging quality. Hoping for Jesus' return
without voting will keep you a million times cleaner than voting for a
"lesser evil" and hoping for the best.
Second, let's acknowledge that national repentance and personal
repentance are indistinguishable. There's no such thing as America being
broken-hearted for her sins unless I am broken-hearted for my sins. The
nation-wide rush of repentance we should be praying for is impossible if my
finger is pointed at someone else. To paraphrase the Proverb: humility, or
doom (Prov. 16:18). Therefore, let us replace the sound of those
professional nose-twisters on TV and fill our ears instead with the Word of
God. Let us stop watching muck-rakers parade their enemies' failures and fill
our eyes instead with tears and weeping for our people's many sins (which is
the same as saying my many sins, Prov. 14:34).
Third, let's repent of our sins and turn to God. How do we do this? We
need look no further than those public sins we've become hyper-aware of in the
last year.
Have you been guilty of or indifferent to racism? Then turn to God
and confess it, and go befriend your enemy.
Have you condoned or practiced abortion? Then turn to God and say
you're sorry, and wash the baby blood off your hands into the redemptive blood
of Jesus.
Have you practiced sexual immorality - whether privately or
publicly? Then turn to God and see Him in whose image you were created, and
know that He cares what you do with your body.
Have you been greedy, fed yourself while others starve, amassed
debt and riches and clothes in the last days, loved money? Then turn to God and
be as generous to the poor as He's been to you.
Have you made, and stared at, and bowed down to, and worshiped
idols? Then turn away from those things that neither hear nor smell nor know,
and turn to the one living God who alone is to be praised.
Have you been indifferent to or hostile to His holy Word? Then
turn to Him and hunger for His Word more than you do for food.
Have you any other sins that haven’t been showcased on the news
but you still bear before God? Do not bear them any longer! I’ve got good news
- the cross of Christ has already paid for our injustices, if only we would
have it.
Fourth, you should share the message of
repentance-before-voting-for-lesser-evil with as many people as you have
influence. It really is no different than proclaiming the blessed Gospel of
God's Kingdom, because it naturally sprouts from it. Indeed, the amnesty
granted by the Cross is our nation’s very hope of turning. It is like Jonah's
message to Nineveh: though not the explicit Gospel of Christ, it was still
God's timely Word to turn from evil. And do you know the great marvel of the
Book of Jonah? Of all the miracles in the book, the greatest is that Nineveh
actually repented at his simple message of repentance! Why should we ask
God for less now?
Come, Let Us Return to the
Lord!
Today, there are exactly 40 days until the election. I am
literally suggesting that the “inevitable him or her” is not inevitable at all.
“Him or her” is a false dilemma when God has given us a sweet window of
opportunity to repent. I am asking you to join me by replacing all your time,
energy, thought, and noise otherwise going into this election with humble
prayers to God for mercy. Who knows? If we repent, God may be merciful by
granting America a third option that hasn't yet appeared in the spotlight.
But whatever may come, know this: you do not have to align
yourself with an evil candidate, and you should not. The only one worth the
obsession and fanfare that all our media can generate is King Jesus. Siding
with Him will never disappoint.
