“Justice
is turned back, and righteousness stands far away; for truth has stumbled in
the public squares, and uprightness cannot enter. Truth is lacking, and he who
departs from evil makes himself a prey. The LORD saw it, and it displeased him
that there was no justice.” -(Isaiah 59:14-15)
I’ve
had all I can take. I cannot be silent anymore. I read the above verses in a
few days ago and, if I didn’t know better, I would say that Isaiah is currently
living in our time and speaking about our culture when he wrote these
words.
Politics.
That one word makes most of us groan. We think of the 7,396,284 ads we see
around election time and how many of us wish it would just all STOP! I am with
you. I sympathize, more than that, I think it should change. But this post is
not about that. This is about something else. I have run across several people
from my generation(which is who this post is directed at)in the last few weeks
that are planning on NOT voting because of various reasons.
This
won’t be a long post. Probably three points…we’ll see if I can stop there once
I get going. I’m going to lay out several reasons why we should…no…why we must vote.
A couple of clarifying points before I begin. First, I am not going to advocate
for a party, or a candidate, in this post. Second, this is my opinion. I
realize that it could be wrong and I certainly welcome productive discussion
about the topic. Alright, let’s begin.
First,
it is a privilege to vote. Most people in other countries only dream about such
a privilege. Also, many, many people have died to give you
this freedom. They’ve paid the ultimate price because they believe that you
should have the freedom to choose how we as a nation are governed and how that
in turn will impact our children and future generations. Now, one could argue
that being ‘free’ also means that you could decide not to vote…because it’s
your choice. I would say that you are right. You don’t have to vote. But, (and… get ready…beautiful transition approaching…) that leads me to my
second point.
Second,
as a Christian, you have a responsibility to vote. Let’s revisit verse
fourteen for a moment. “Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands far
away; for truth has stumbled in the public squares, and uprightness cannot
enter…”. Why do you think that righteousness cannot enter and truth is not
welcomed in the public square? Maybe it’s because evil people with no moral
compass, or fear of God, have entered these places? Why have they entered?
Could it be because, as Edmund Burke famously said,
"...all that is
necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."?
We must speak out for the values laid out in scripture, and help pull this
culture out of the death spiral Satan would like to pull us into. By “not
choosing a side”, and refusing to stand up for right, you are letting evil
people have their way. It’s as simple as that.
The
last issue I want to bring up is to counter this argument: “It doesn’t matter
if I vote because God is in control and it’s doesn’t matter who wins…God is
still in control no matter what”. This is a more difficult question to counter
because, as first glance, it seems plausible…spiritual even. However, on closer
inspection, this argument doesn’t hold water. Again, to return to my first
point, it’s not a neutral issue. The world is being pulled toward evil because
of sin and God has clearly called us in scripture to stand for what’s right.
God could intervene, and sometimes does, but He has placed us on this world to
be His hands and feet. To ignore this responsibility, I would argue, is to
ignore what God has asked of us as His emissaries on this earth.
I could go on, but hopefully this
has made us stop and think. Once again, I call upon my generation to stand for
what’s right. It is our time. Many of us are now of age to have an impact on
how our children will live in the future. So do your research…study
scripture…and then vote. I will. I want to be a link in a chain of generations
that stand for God and for what is right. I don’t want to be the end of the
chain…I refuse to be the final link. A line from one of my favorite songs comes
to mind as I close:
“Don’t
want to see another generation drop…I’d rather be a comma than a full stop…”
