Prostituting the Vote Pt. 2

Government has a certain purpose, it seems, as it relates to the Christian worldview. Greg Koukl makes a compelling case for what that purpose is and how we ought to respond. Note: this is a longer post than normal.

"What is that purpose? I'll tell you one thing it is not. The purpose of government is not to make us wealthier. The purpose of government is not even to help the poor, quite frankly, though I don't think this is the big issue here. I think it's the purpose of the church to help the poor. I think it's a moral obligation for human beings individually to voluntarily help the poor."

"The purpose of government is very, very narrow, scripturally. It isn't to help the poor. It isn't to redistribute wealth. And the biblical purpose of government is not-- listen carefully-- is not to build the economy. It may be valuable for the government to do that, but that is not the biblical purpose."

"What is the purpose of God for government? You read in Romans 13 these statements. Listen carefully: "Rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. You want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same, for it [authority] is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid, for it does not bear the sword for nothing. For it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath upon the one who practices evil."
So, what is the goal of government? It's to be an arm of God for a particular purpose, for the punishment of evil-doers and the praise of those who do right. The main purpose of government is to execute justice as the arm of God. That's the main purpose."

"The goal of government is to do justice, not injustice."

"So, if I'm going to vote for somebody to run my government, my single most important consideration is the question of justice. Does this person represent justice?"

"Read through the book of Proverbs, all kinds of references to justice. You say, wait a minute, Koukl, there are other things that are important. Not to God! Not to God when it comes to government. When it comes to government, there's one thing preeminent to God, and that's justice."

Now, you can look at the candidates and you can see which ones have policies more consistent with the general issue of justice. The abortion issue comes right to mind, in which an innocent human life is taken simply because it's in the way and can't defend itself. Now, on what side of the justice issue of abortion are the candidates? That's the question to ask yourself. You say that's one-issue voting. I say, yes it is, the one issue that God really cares most about vis-a-vis government-- justice. This is one way it's expressed."

"I want to ask you a question. What do you call it when a person sacrifices morality-- like justice-- for money? I'll violate my morals if you pay me. I think the word is "prostitution." It's prostitution. When a Christian says, I'll ignore the justice question because this candidate promises me more money, that's prostitution of your vote."

"So, is it a sin to vote for Clinton [or any who support abortion]? Yeah, I think it is. And here's what I mean when I say that: The sin is in our ungodly priorities, not in the vote for Clinton itself.

"My point is, if you're a Christian, you ought to make your decisions this week in the election based on God's priority of what's important, not on ours. If we reverse the process and say, God, Your most important priority is not most important to me; what I think is most important is having more money in my pocket. That's what I'm more concerned with, what is that? That's a sin, is what it is. The sin is not in voting for the wrong person. The sin is voting for the wrong causes. The sin is in voting for money and not for justice. The sin isn't in Clinton, the sin is in you, if you're casting your vote as a Christian simply because you'll get more money, in one way or another."

"There's no reason to sacrifice your conscience for a vote like this. If you're a Christian, that means you see the world the way God does and you conduct your life-- even the details, even voting-- according to God's priorities."

Derrick here: It wouldn't matter if the Republican candidate also supported abortion. It would be equally wrong if we voted for him in favor of economic prosperity. There is a distinction to be made here briefly, as it is another long post. If you have a choice of voting for someone who supports killing the unborn for no real reason or someone who support killing just a few, the clear vote, it seems would be the one who supports less killing.

I won't go into the idea, at this time, of voting for an independant candidate who may support no killing (though who has no real chance of winning, thus no real chance of making a difference). Greg's got another good article on the conscience vote.

Anyway, check out the full article. I tried to edit well, but I do not want to misrepresent Koukl's view, [and mine-though I am less refined in my view, mostly because I haven't thought through it as much, nor have I tried to defend it as much.] though I don't think I have.

Thoughts? Disagreements? Need for clarification or revision?

Derrick

{Updated on Sunday, Jan. 21, 2007}