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As an individual I’m an avid fan and follower of American politics. As a pastor I’m a shepherd of God’s individuals and have a duty to advance the Gospel, practice God’s sheep, and provides counsel, recommendation, and knowledge on issues pertaining to the lives of God’s individuals.
As a private citizen of the United States of America, I’ve been given one vote to forged within the 2024 presidential election. As a pastor I’ve the duty of stewarding the lives and questions of my congregants whereas searching for to provide one of the best knowledge I can to these searching for my counsel on such issues.
As an individual, I’m chargeable for who I vote for within the 2024 presidential election. As a pastor, I’m chargeable for stewarding God’s individuals and their questions concerning such issues pertaining to life and godliness – and politics could be a type of areas.
As an individual, I dwell in a blue state, Colorado. As a pastor, I pastor an Evangelical Southern Baptist Church named Vanguard Church in Colorado Springs. My place as an individual and a pastor matter on this election simply because the personage and place of different US residents issues to the 2024 presidential election equation, however how and the way a lot?
Because politics comes with energy, and plenty of it. Based off our democracy and technique of election, the degrees of authority and influencers in our society change into crucial to the equation. Yet, it has been my impression, in watching how issues unfolded throughout Covid that our want to regulate individuals and to inform them what to consider is of little to no worth in such an election season. Celebrities and highly effective pastors and even politicians assume they personal the facility to steer individuals to do what they need, however I’ve not discovered this to be the case with Americans and particularly American Christians and particularly American Evangelical Christians.
The debate over whether or not the morality of the candidate issues in an election 12 months appears to now not even be a speaking level in our society. The corruption of politics and politicians has reached a good larger stage than the scandals of so many senior pastors of our day. It is outstanding although to observe politicians with no character cancel pastors who’ve been uncovered for having no character.
We dwell sadly in a gross society the place insult, identify calling, and character assassination is the secret. The solely drawback is, nobody has any character seemingly anymore and nobody appears to care that nobody anymore has any character left to assassinate.
In Jesus’ time, he was requested, “Master, ought to we pay taxes?” Jesus’ response was to render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s, which means, sure, taxes are one thing that every citizen pays, and, in our democracy, voting is how we present our assist of the one who’s chargeable for figuring out taxes and the way a lot we pay again to our authorities to run the affairs of our nation. The job of the President is to work with Congress to erect a price range that permits our nation to dwell inside its means whereas tending to the issues at hand to take care of our nation and to signify democracy and assist to our allies world wide.
As we close to this 2024 presidential election there is no such thing as a dialogue about balancing the federal price range, there is no such thing as a dialogue of being fiscally accountable with what has been entrusted to us. There isn’t any plan for turning us again from the cliff that our nation is headed towards, aside from studying to dwell inside our means. Our federal authorities is modelling to us that they don’t have to dwell of their means, and neither will we. All of us in varied measures are consuming the Kool-Aid that we will spend how we would like, the place we would like, with no consequence. But everyone knows this isn’t true. We see the consequence in our personal lives.
Since 9/11 our nation has been morally and financially predominantly heading the mistaken course. Our respect for authority, our want to instill a piece ethic, and the need to honour our structure by all events concerned is gloomy to look at, behold, and course of each day.
We have all seemingly sadly settled for “the lesser of two evils” dialog and although I do not disagree we must always vote, we’re left to combat it out over a morsel of bread that sadly is not going to fulfill the wrath we really feel from God towards our nation.
As a pastor I need to encourage you to vote, I need to encourage you to face for morality and the reality of God’s Word as you vote, however I additionally need to encourage you to recollect what God mentioned to the nation of Israel and tips on how to finest protect a nation.
God mentioned in 2 Chronicles 7:14: “If my people who find themselves referred to as by my identify humble themselves and pray and search my face and switch from their depraved methods, then I’ll hear from heaven and can forgive their sin and heal their land.”
In Romans 13, it makes clear that the job of the federal government is to signify God to the individuals. Sadly, we’ve politicians that may’t get out of their very own approach and wishes, and we’ve a nation of residents who’re on the lookout for somebody to do for them what they do not need to do for themselves. God calls his individuals to get on our faces earlier than Him, to repent, and to ask Him to bless our nation.
Can I invite you as an individual to vote? It is the facility given to you by your authorities. But as a pastor, can I invite you to wish as a result of that’s the energy given to you by God. Pray for a President who will search the face of Jesus and search to encompass themselves with individuals who will give them knowledge from God.
Oh, how our nation wants a Jesus-following chief.
