vote

 Tomorrow, midterm elections are being held in the US. As an American citizen, each one of us has a right and a responsibility to vote. I've always agreed with the statement, "If you don't vote, you cant complain." As someone who grew up in a family with a long history of military service, I find it unfathomable that there are so many who choose not to vote in our elections--too many have fought and died in order for us to keep our rights.

As followers of Christ, we are called to something more than just a vote for which candidate we like most. We are told as Christians to keep our religion out of politics, but that's not something anyone can actually do. No matter what you believe, those beliefs color everything in your life. Let me be blunt--if you can keep your beliefs out of your everyday life, you don't truly believe what you say you do.

Everyone has a worldview, and that worldview is determined by each person's beliefs. Your worldview determines every choice and decision you make. Either that worldview is in line with God's truth, or it isn't. Sure, people will argue over what is considered God's truth--but honestly, there's not a whole lot of wiggle room on the important issues:

1. Put nothing and no one before God
2. Don't worship anything other than God
3. Remember that the name of the Lord is sacred
4. Remember the Sabbath and keep it set apart
5. Honor your father and mother
6. Do not murder
7. Do not commit adultery
8. Don't take what's not yours
9. Don't give false testimony
10. Don't covet what belongs to someone else

 *And notice, as Voddie Baucham once pointed out, there is no 11th commandment telling us to "be nice!" 

If we claim to be followers of Christ, we owe our allegiance to Him, first and foremost. There is no person and no political party on this earth that has any claim over us, and no one else we should trust with our future.

"It is better to put your faith in the Eternal for your security
    than to trust in people.
It is better to put your faith in Him for your security
    than to trust in princes."
(Psalm 118:8-9)

However, the fact that our ultimate allegiance and citizenship both lie with God doesn't absolve us from responsibilities in the here and now. We are to be salt and light here on earth to all those around us. Light illuminates the dark, revealing the things done in secret and in shadow, the things people want to keep hidden. As light, we should do the same--all while we point others to Christ and His light. As salt, we are called to heal and to preserve. Salt is used to keep things from spoiling, and that's part of our calling. We are to serve as salt in the society around us, working to keep corruption and evil from spreading. Jesus warned against us losing our saltiness--we aren't supposed to just blend in and go along with the world.

"Don’t you know that making friends with this corrupt world order is open aggression toward God? So anyone who aligns with this bogus world system is declaring war against the one true God."
(James 4:4) 

"If you find that the world despises you, remember that before it despised you, it first despised Me. If you were a product of the world order, then it would love you. But you are not a product of the world because I have taken you out of it, and it despises you for that very reason."
(John 15:18-19)

Before you vote, pray. Then go vote in accordance with God's truth, not in line with what the world says.