By Frank Wright NRB
Jesus shocked and surprised many of His listeners when He proclaimed our obligation to “render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s.” Nearly 2000 years later, the nature and extent of Christian involvement in the political process is hotly debated, but I think we can all agree that there are two aspects of Christian involvement in our government that are not debatable.
First, since we live (by the grace of God) in a constitutional republic, the duty and obligation of every Christian citizen is to cast an informed ballot on Election Day. This flows logically both from the mandate of our Savior and from the teachings of the Apostle Paul in Romans chapter 13.
First, since we live (by the grace of God) in a constitutional republic, the duty and obligation of every Christian citizen is to cast an informed ballot on Election Day. This flows logically both from the mandate of our Savior and from the teachings of the Apostle Paul in Romans chapter 13.
The backbone of our system of government is our electoral process. The vitality of that process is, in large measure, determined by the strength of voter participation. Yet, sadly, voter participation in elections has been declining precipitously in recent years. All this stands in sharp contrast to the enormous price people pay to cast a vote in other countries whose freedoms are less well established.
But second, the choices we make on Election Day, no matter how well informed, will have less impact on the future of our nation than another important choice we can make. That choice is to bind our hearts together with others in the body of Christ to pray for our nation.
The mandate to pray for our nation has both Old and New Testament roots. The Old Testament saints were commanded to seek the face of God continually. This was especially true in times of trouble. In the New Testament we are urged to pray “for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness” (1 Timothy 2:2).
As we pray for our nation, we must note that the biblical teaching that God is no respecter of persons is easily and quite logically extended to nations as well. But from that we ought not to conclude that God disregards national entities altogether. After all, the Scripture says “blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.”
To pray rightly for America, we must pray from a foundation of understanding. To pray effectively, we must understand the times, understand our need, and understand the spiritual condition of our nation. Too often we assume God’s blessings on America will always continue, because God is on our side.
But it is risky business to assert that God is always on our side. Abraham Lincoln wisely responded to such an assertion by saying that the real question was whether we were on His side. That question is no less germane today. Before we ask God to come to the aid of our nation in troublous times, we would do well to ponder whether our spiritual indifference may be leading God to withdraw His protective covering.
Israel made that same mistake. They assumed their status as a chosen people protected them from their enemies. Yet God allowed them to be carried off into captivity. If God did not spare Israel from the heavy hand of chastisement, why should we in America expect less?
Yet our prayers should not be motivated solely by a desire to avoid the chastening hand of God. To view prayer this way is to reduce it to an obligation. Far from being some burdensome duty, prayer is our birthright as children of the Living God by faith in Jesus Christ; it is one of the principal means used by the Holy Spirit to conform us to the likeness of Christ.
Ultimately, prayer is not a mechanism for convincing God to give us what we want; it is the conversational gateway to the Ever Living One, whereby we come to know and love Him more and more. As we seek the face of God with repentant hearts, we find that it is our will that is conformed to His, rather than the other way around. In this way we can commit our nation to Him whose judgments are always righteous and true.
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