- “After a long time the master of those servants returned and
settled accounts with them. … Then the man who had received the one
talent came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man… so I
was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is
what belongs to you.'” –Jesus, recorded by his biographer Matthew
It has taken me many years to understand that the world is
in its present condition not because of the overt power of evil — but
because of the neglect of Christians and the Church. This effect has
divided the Church into two camps. One preaches that “God is in
control,” and meets weekly to offer absolution from action. The other
camp believes that God has been overrun by the complexity of modern
life, and has passed the mantle on to us to finish His work. What the
world sees is a schizophrenic Church that is confused and fragmented
inside.
I was visiting a church in Portland, Ore., the weekend that the
nation’s newspapers splashed headlines across America of President
Clinton’s impeachment in the House of Representatives. I remember
sitting in a pew, waiting for the pastor to say something — anything.
But there was nothing. People around me were hurting and confused, yet
not a single prayer was offered from the pulpit for wisdom and strength
for our leaders in a time of crisis; not a word of comfort spoken for
those in the congregation who were in shock from the indictment’s plain
language.
I am frequently asked if I really believe that politics is the
business of the Church. I do. So is education, science, technology,
transportation, health care, welfare, marriage, family, children, birth,
death, the environment and any other activity impacting humanity. The
business of the Church is to be salt and light in the world. It is not
to hide our light under a bushel.
The parable of the wheat and weeds (Matthew 13:24-30) tells us that
God has — for whatever reason — chosen to allow evil and good to
coexist for a time in His world. As the two mature — the wheat and the
weeds, side-by-side — the character of each will become steadily more
apparent. It is not the job of the wheat to defeat the weeds. It is the
job of the wheat to employ the sun and the rain and the soil to mature
into a bountiful harvest. It is the Farmer’s job to deal with the weeds.
God is preparing to deal with the evil in His universe. “Judgment is
mine, sayeth the Lord. I will repay.” In that, he does not ask or need
our help.
Indeed, Jesus on his first trip through our world some 2,000 years
ago said that he had not come to condemn the world, but to “seek and to
save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). What today is lost to God? Much
of humanity, including our politics, our entertainment, our education,
health care, welfare — indeed our culture is lost to God, for it no
longer recognizes him. As a nation, we no longer have a relationship
with him. And in the midst of this confusion stand his people, some
working in their own strength to overturn evil — others hiding their
light under a bushel.
God has given every man, woman, and child on the face of this earth
the freedom to accept or reject his kingdom and authority — in a life
beginning today and stretching throughout eternity. But if the wheat and
the weeds, swaying in the summer breeze in the farmer’s field look the
same to the casual observer, how is the man or woman in the world
without God to know the difference?
Our vote as Christians is one element of stewardship. God has given
it to each of us by placing us in America. Given the influence that
America has in the world, can we possibly imagine that He will not hold
us accountable for its use? Robert Higley, the president of
Washington Evangelicals for Responsible
Government, recently detailed some of the less obvious ways that voting godly men and women into office affects the daily workings of government. Here are a few:
“Traditionally about half of the registered voters turn out for the general election and even less for the primary. … In checking some of the (Washington State) House and Senate races, one was as close as 102 votes. I am sure there are some closer, but I did not see them. Each Christian should be concerned enough about our cultural decline to at least vote. … The majority party will select the Chairperson for each Committee, who then is the person who selects the bills that will get a hearing for the next two years. If you are concerned about education, for instance, the Education Committee Chairperson will determine the agenda for education for the next two years for that house. Yes, this is a very important election.
“The newly elected President will appoint several new U.S. Supreme Court Judges in the next few years, so the direction of that critical court will be determined by the new president. This is only one of many examples. An important election?
“As the lobbyist for WERG, it is obvious to me that the state of Washington (and the other Washington) is in desperate need of legislators with integrity to be sent to Olympia (our capitol). Your “Evangelical Voice” (lobbyist) is much more effective, if he is being heard by like-minded legislators, than if he is being heard by disinterested legislators. Please do all you can to send good people to our capitol. Voting is very important.”
That’s the view from the inside, friends. And what of our vote? Do we vote our own self-interest, just like the world? Do we, like Caesar, vote with the candidate that supports “a woman’s right to choose” — even if she chooses to kill her unborn child for her convenience? Do we then go to church that weekend to wash our hands of the blood of partial-birth abortion in our nation? Is there another trip back when we become a nation that euthanizes our parents? How about when designer children arrive on our doorstep?
If we are senior citizens, do we vote for “free prescription drugs,” even if we know that the money to pay for them will come not only from Bill Gates’ pocket — but from the struggling single mother who lives just down the block, and has recently started attending our church, wondering “what is different” about these Christians? Do we give our vote to those struggling to remove the last vestiges of God from the classroom — and replace him with the hedonist homosexual agenda? Do we vote for those who will persecute the Boy Scouts for protecting our children’s innocence? Do we stand with those driving their pick axes into the crumbling edifice of our Christian culture — because we are ashamed to show the world that we bear the mark of our Lord, are called by his name, and support his agenda for humanity?
God tells us that everyone who enters into his family receives a spiritual gift (1 Cor. 12). Like the servant in the parable that opens this essay, we will one day be held to account for how we have used that talent: to serve our own self-interest, or to serve others and advance the knowledge of God’s kingdom in this world. Large portions of humanity risk their lives — as elections in deteriorating dictatorships around the world show — for the chance to choose godly over ungodly government. Yet how many of us, like the faithless servant given a talent by the Master, bury it in the backyard — because we can’t be bothered to tend to its increase?
Our Lord had harsh words for that man or woman. I pray that they will not be directed at you or me: “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? … Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has ten talents. … And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness…'” (Matthew 25:26-30).
