by Ernest Liu
about the author

  • Random Snippets
    • Happy Birthday to Me!
      To be honest, I almost forgot about my own birthday. I didn't realize it was coming up until a friend reminded me. I remember the days when I would count down to April 25th, my special day with friends and presents. I could relish the newfound respect as everyone acknowledged my age counter tick up. The irony is that…
    • Nominal Christianity
      This crushes my heart, shatters it into a painful reality that Satan is still hard at work. It also breaks me even more as I have become increasingly aware of…
    • Spiritual Gifts
      To quote myself in a chat with Krystal, “Life would be much easier if spiritual gifts were like… flying and stuff.”
    • Vote God’s Values?
    29
    Oct
    2012

    While it is sage advice to vote according to the values God reveals through Scripture, I think that “Vote God’s values!” is an oversimplification. Such a call seems to promote voting for a presidential candidate based on a moral checklist. If you’re going to vote like that, you might as well be voting for your senior pastor. He likely holds the same beliefs you do, which is why you’re attending the church where he preaches.

    Let’s face it. At the end of the day, you’re voting for a politician to fill a secular office, not for a man to fill the role of a priest. Moore puts it gracefully –

    “The question is not John 3:16 in terms of reading the regeneration of the person’s heart . . . The question is Romans 13: Does this person have the kind of wisdom to bear the sword on behalf of God’s authority that He has granted to the state? And can I trust that person to protect society? That’s the fundamental question.” [1]

    Consequentially, that means we must take on much more care and responsibility with how we vote. We can’t merely skim through a lists of moral issues and vote for the candidate whose views align with ours. Take into account the candidate’s character, integrity, morality, and ability to run the office. Many preachers will encourage their congregation to neglect the last item. In which case, they should, quite literally, vote for their pastor.

    And just as a fun little disclaimer before someone tosses a grenade my way, morality is indeed important. It simply don’t trump all other considerations.

    [1] Theologians Tackle ‘Should Christians Vote for a Mormon for President?’ Question