As Election Day draws closer, it is time to examine what the Bible says regarding some of the typical Christian misperceptions.

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God has now revealed to us his mysterious plan regarding Christ, a plan to fulfill his own good pleasure. And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ--everything in heaven and on earth. Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan. -- Ephesians 1: 9-11 (NLT)

Stonewall Jackson once said that duty is ours"consequences are God's. We stand just a few weeks away from another presidential election. We hear the battle cry again about how this is the most important election in our lifetime. We hear the endless rhetoric of one party versus another and the unbelievable lies that accompany them. I expect no less from the world, which place very little value on the truth to begin with. The sad statement however is that no group of people seems more infected by this same problem than the modern church. It seems every election cycle we see a flood of pseudo-Christian emails and involvement in trying to say that one candidate is more of God's candidate than the other. The truth is that neither party cares about the cause of Jesus Christ -- NEITHER. They care about their party and consolidating power; both sides.

So then what is a Christian to do? We have a civic responsibility to vote and that duty, as Jackson's quote applies, is indeed ours. The notion proffered often is that we need to choose the lesser of two evils. I recently saw someone espouse that this is merely a phrase and not meant to be taken literally but I disagree and so does Scripture:

You adulterers! Don't you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God. -- James 4: 4 (NLT)

Just like Joshua once said, we must choose who it is that we will serve. If you are not serving God then you are serving the God of this world which the Bible says is indeed evil. We could not have asked for two more perfect examples of people who are not aligned with God or Christian principles. First you have the current president, who while is a practicing Christian, espouses a quite liberal Christianity. His is a Christianity that does not protect life at its most defenseless stage:

You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body  and knit me together in my mother's womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!    Your workmanship is marvelous--how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,  as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born.    Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out   before a single day had passed. -- Psalm 139: 13-16 (NLT)

There is no question that God controls and decides life. As a Bible believing Christian, we must stand against abortion. The problem with the pro-life stance is that it asserts that it is the only issue that is allowable to vote by and that is not scripturally supported. War does matter to God as there are a plethora of Scriptures to choose from regarding living in peace. Poverty and taking care of the least in society is the number one theme Biblically after salvation. These things do matter to God. Remember, as we do unto the least of these is as if we do it unto Jesus Himself.

This brings us to his challenger, Mitt Romney. I am sure as the standards of the world go; Mr. Romney is a swell guy. We are not to judge by the world's standards though. I am absolutely appalled at the blackout when it comes to his religion and what he believes. Does it matter considering we are electing a President? Of course it does! I could write quite a bit about Mormonism and their tenets of faith but let's just realize some of the basics. Mormonism rewrote portions of the Bible and added two books to the Scripture; The Book of Mormon and The Pearl of Great Price. Mormonism actually teaches that the Bible is the lesser of these three books. What does God say?

And I solemnly declare to everyone who hears the words of prophecy written in this book: If anyone adds anything to what is written here, God will add to that person the plagues described in this book. And if anyone removes any of the words from this book of prophecy, God will remove that person's share in the tree of life and in the holy city that are described in this book. -- Revelation 22: 18-19 (NLT)

Additionally, Mormonism teaches that you can achieve co-equal status with God and denies the deity of Jesus Christ. Well some have argued; Mitt Romney may not take all of Mormonism seriously. To them I would enlighten that he tithes 19% of his wealth to his church and is a direct descendent of one of the 12 founding apostles of Mormonism. In poker parlance -- he is all in.

So once again, we come to that question -- what is a Christian to do? Charles Spurgeon once said that when a Christian is presented with a choice between two evils he is to take neither. I think he may have been onto something because the lesser of two evils argument when it comes to something like politics is really situational ethics at its worst. As Christians, we are to make our decisions based upon the Bible and the Bible alone. We are to have a biblical worldview. Our ethics of what is right and wrong must be based Biblically as well. Whatever "situation" it is that we are dealing with cannot change our ethics. When we engage in this type of situational ethics when it comes to elections, we lose sight of something very important. If you choose to vote for the lesser of two evils it is crucial to never lose sight of the fact that you are in fact supporting evil. What I mean by that is the constant advocacy of your choice is the more egregious act than the actual vote. Who we vote for should be between us and God. Two completely devout Christians can go into prayer and reflect to the Holy Spirit yet come out with two different directions when it comes to their selection. It is the insistence to advocate vociferously for your choice that becomes the problem because the Bible says to not call what is evil, good.

While we are on this subject, we need to stop the sensationalizing of the election and voting process. We will not stand before Christ one day and have Him run down our voting record. Our vote is a civic responsibility, not a Christian one. It is not like we will be at the pearly gates and have Jesus run down our missionary works and ministry works and suddenly He will say, "well you were doing well until 96 and then you voted for Clinton, sorry, you can't come in." Now I know the Christian-political operatives will talk endlessly about affecting our culture but that is simply not the way we are supposed to go about it. The problems we face in this country are very real but they are spiritual in nature, not carnal. The voting process is carnal, not spiritual. I can guarantee you this; the problems we face will not be solved by either Mitt Romney or Barack Obama. Instead of tearing down our leaders the Bible says we are to pray for them. Instead of worrying who our neighbor is voting for we ought to be more concerned with who we are all praying for. And what we are all praying for. And how often we are praying at all. The problems we face will not be solved by running to the ballot box but by dropping to our knees. To illustrate, let us look at the cursing of the fig tree:

In the morning, as Jesus was returning to Jerusalem, he was hungry, and he noticed a fig tree beside the road. He went over to see if there were any figs, but there were only leaves. Then he said to it, "May you never bear fruit again!" And immediately the fig tree withered up. The disciples were amazed when they saw this and asked, "How did the fig tree wither so quickly?" Then Jesus told them, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and don't doubt, you can do things like this and much more. You can even say to this mountain, "May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,' and it will happen. You can pray for anything, and if you have faith, you will receive it." -- Matthew 21: 18-22 (NLT)

At first blush this always struck me as mean. Jesus curses the fig tree just because it did not have any fruit. But when researched we find that the leaves gave the impression that there was fruit. So when Jesus saw the leaves He assumed there would be fruit but He found none. The church sometimes can be like this fig tree. We have plenty of leaves for people to look at but when they peel them aside they cannot find any fruit. When it comes time for Election Day we seem to have plenty of leaves; that is opinions from Christians about the righteous way to cast your vote. We just do not have as much fruit behind the leaves; that is people interceding, seeking God repenting. You know, all of the things God says the church must do if we are to see our land actually healed:

if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. -- 2Chronicles 7: 14 (NIV)

The second part of the fig tree story however is the statement Jesus makes regarding faith and prayer. If we would just believe than we can move mountains! Yet to hear some Christians tell the story, if their candidate does not win then it is over for America. As if their opponent is just too much for God to handle. Or even take it one step further. Even if that is the case -- is it not part of the plan God has? The point is that we continue to seek our solutions from men, when the Bible instructs us otherwise:

It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in people. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes. -- Psalm 118: 8-9

Do not put your faith in the princes of this world beloved. They may have great intentions but they do not care for the cause of Christ. Do not hold onto the things of this world because they are fading away. Rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic does not stop it from sinking. But do not lose hope! Read the key verses again! God has the plan. It is not a foreign policy plan. It is not a domestic plan. It is not a 9-9-9 plan. It is the Almighty God plan. Let us look at some of the ingredients from the key verses.

First of all this plan is for the good pleasure of God Himself. This may seem unsettling but once we became saved it was no longer about us. It was no longer about our political persuasions or our ideals of what this country should be like. It is about God. Keep in mind that God decides who wins the elections in this world -- not man:

He said, "Praise the name of God forever and ever, for he has all wisdom and power. He controls the course of world events; he removes kings and sets up other kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the scholars. -- Daniel 2: 20-21 (NLT)

Secondly, He has revealed this plan to us! We walk around sometimes like we still do not know it or maybe believe it but He has most certainly revealed it. It is perfectly ok to prefer one candidate over the other but it is not ok to think that everything rides on your choice getting elected. That dismisses the plan and sovereignty of God. What is that plan exactly? That at the right time, God will bring everything under the authority of Jesus Christ. Every knee shall bow and every tongue confess.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, "Look, God's home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever." -- Revelation 21: 1-4 (NLT)

Do we believe this or not? Is this just a passage of Scripture we consider when discussing eschatology or do eagerly anticipate the day! Fourth we see that we are supposed to be united with Christ. Politics has a habit of separating and not uniting. Churches today are being led astray to unite behind things other than Christ. United behind a church theory of growth or behind a charismatic leader. United behind some form of social relevance or new age philosophy. Sure the name of Christ is invoked and probably preached but the unity is not with Christ. God knows when lip service is being paid to Him:

But as for me, I am filled with power--with the Spirit of the Lord . I am filled with justice and strength   to boldly declare Israel's sin and rebellion.   Listen to me, you leaders of Israel!   You hate justice and twist all that is right.   You are building Jerusalem   on a foundation of murder and corruption.   You rulers make decisions based on bribes;   you priests teach God's laws only for a price; you prophets won't prophesy unless you are paid.   Yet all of you claim to depend on the Lord . "No harm can come to us," you say, " for the Lord is here among us."   Because of you, Mount Zion will be plowed like an open field;   Jerusalem will be reduced to ruins! A thicket will grow on the heights   where the Temple now stands. -- Micah 3: 8-12 (NLT)

Murder, corruption, twisting what is good and right"sounds like politics to me. This election season is just as important as every election is for this nation. But when it comes to God it is just another step in the plan He has already revealed to us and we need to take better shelter in. He makes everything work out according to His plan, regardless of who wins this November. My advice is simple. Your vote is between you and God. Pray about it and vote accordingly. If you choose the lesser of two evils never lose sight that you are in fact voting for evil and thus, you should not be advocating for that choice. For the political theater I am always intrigued but for my faith it is simply not relevant. God will still be God and I trust in the plan that He has. Jesus is coming back! Hallelujah and praise the name of the Lord.

Reverend Anthony Wade -- October 1, 2012

Authors Bio:
Credentialed Minister of the Gospel for the Assemblies of God. Owner and founder of 828 ministries. Vice President for Goodwill Industries. Always remember that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.