Author: John Page 133 of 167

Psalm 33:18 “Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy”

A massive responsibility of Christian citizenship lies before us this week.  Tuesday, we have the opportunity to vote.  While the election should have already been bathed in prayer for weeks by those who make their citizenship a priority, the act of voting with Bible-based values as the primary consideration is a singular event that puts our faithfulness into practice in a way that can be tallied.  May those tallies tip the scales in favor of Christ in this land.

Peter Marshall prayed the following in the 1940s:

“LORD Jesus, we ask Thee to guide the people of this nation as they exercise their dearly bought privilege of franchise.  May it neither be ignored unthinkingly nor undertaken lightly.  As citizens all over this land go to the ballot boxes, give them a sense of high privilege and joyous responsibility.”

In 2014, may Christians not ignore our right to vote.  May we not undertake this duty of citizenship lightly.  May we sense that this is an act of high privilege.  May we embrace this joyous responsibility.  May we vote with a firm fear of the Lord.  May we continuously hope in His mercy.  May we beg that His eye once again be upon this land.

PLEASE PRAYERFULLY VOTE.  Christians must exercise this privilege of franchise as an outpouring of our faithfulness to the Lord as we hope in His mercy.

Exodus 18:21 “Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens”

God’s perfect leadership checklist is worthy of further consideration.  Consider the following thought from Noah Webster:

“It is alleged by men of loose principles, or defective views of the subject, that religion and morality are not necessary or important qualifications for political stations. But the scriptures teach a different doctrine. They direct that rulers should be men who rule in the fear of God, men of truth, hating covetousness. It is to the neglect of this rule that we must ascribe the multiplied frauds, breaches of trust, speculations and embezzlements of public property which astonish even ourselves; which tarnish the character of our country and which disgrace our government. When a citizen gives his vote to a man of known immorality, he abuses his civic responsibility; he not only sacrifices his own responsibility; he sacrifices not only his own interest, but that of his neighbor; he betrays the interest of his country.”

Even secular institutions recognize the importance of Jethro’s advice.  The United States Air Force offers the following as their Core Values:

• Integrity First – “men of truth”
• Service Before Self – “hating covetousness”
• Excellence In All We Do – “able men”

Yet, missing one characteristic – “such as fear God” – makes all the difference between meeting God’s standards and falling short of God’s standards.  May we not fall short as we cast our votes next week.

PLEASE PRAY THAT AMERICAN CHRISTIANS WOULD FULLY CONSIDER GOD’S PERFECT LEADERSHIP CHECKLIST AS WE CAST OUR VOTES.  Let us not be guilty of abusing our civic responsibility, nor of betraying the interest of our country.

Exodus 18:21 “Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens”

Moses had been overwhelmed by his leadership role and his father-in-law gave him a stern lecture.  Without proper delegation, Jethro warned Moses that “Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou, and this people that is with thee: for this thing is too heavy for thee; thou art not able to perform it thyself alone.” (Exodus 18:18)  In Jethro’s detailed advice to overcome this problem, the Word of God provides us the best possible checklist to use in selecting our leaders.

Moses was given four characteristics of leadership.  In his case, these characteristics were to apply to those he would select as his subordinate leaders.  Yet, these four characteristics are equally appropriate to our selection of leaders today.

Moses was to select those who were able, godly, honest, and selfless.  So should we.

Next week as we select our rulers of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens, we should carefully consider the four characteristics from Jethro’s advice.  More than those who embrace what we consider the proper policies or politics, we need rulers who follow God’s checklist for leadership.

PLEASE PRAY THAT AMERICAN CHRISTIANS WILL VOTE FOR LEADERS WHO ARE ABLE, GODLY, HONEST, AND SELFLESS.  God’s checklist for leadership has been available for thousands of years.  Let us not deviate from it.

II Samuel 23:3 “The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God.”

John Jay wrote:  “Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty, as well as the privilege and interest, of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers.”

But wait!  Doesn’t calling us a Christian nation and encouraging us to elect Christian leaders violate the mystical Constitutional ‘separation of church and state’?

This Founding Father didn’t seem to think so.  This co-author of the Federalist Papers, a series of eighty-five articles written to persuade the citizenry to ratify the proposed Constitution of the United States, didn’t seem to think so.  This Secretary of Foreign Affairs under the Articles of Confederation didn’t seem to think so.  This unanimously confirmed American judge, who was the first Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, didn’t seem to think so.  If anyone should be an authority on such things, it is John Jay, and he spoke along these lines with no hesitation.

It is our duty to select leaders who are just.  It is our privilege to select leaders who are Christians.  It is in our interest to select leaders who fear the Lord.  PLEASE PRAY AND VOTE FOR CHRISTIAN LEADERS WHO WILL RULE IN THE FEAR OF THE LORD.  Doing so doesn’t violate the Constitution.  Not doing so violates the Word of God.

Proverbs 14:34 “Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.”

The chaplain of the United States Senate in the 1940s, Peter Marshall, prayed the following:

“May we begin to see that all true Americanism begins in being Christian; that it can have no other foundation, as it has no other roots.  To Thy glory was this Republic established.  For the advancement of the Christian faith did the Founding Fathers give their life’s heritage, passed down to us.”

This nation needs the exaltation brought about by righteousness.  It needs to shed the reproach brought about by sin.  It needs Christians to rise to our true citizenship responsibility to promote the one and prevent the other.

The Founding Fathers passed down a great task to Christians.  This land was established to the glory of God.  It was founded, rooted and grounded on Christ, and demands that believers are to be faithful Christians if we are to be fit citizens.  This doesn’t diminish the role of others in our society, but reminds us that when this nation falters it is because we have neither been good Christians nor good American citizens.  In many ways, the two are inseparable.

PLEASE PRAY THAT CHRISTIANS RISE TO THE RESPONSIBILITY OF TRUE CITIZENSHIP.  We must do so not just during election season, but always.  We must do so to maintain true Americanism in our land.