Election 2008 and Predestination

Things to keep in mind as we approach the voting booth tomorrow.

The definition of predestination according to the Westminster Confession of Faith is that, “[God] freely and unchangeably ordained whatsoever comes to pass.” God is in control. God is sovereign. We can trust that no matter what happens tomorrow God is our ultimate source of hope. He is the true cause of life and liberty. No government grants that to us…we can’t vote that into office. God is the source of all life and He wants us to have it in abundance.

Having said that, we live in a nation where we get to choose. This choice doesn’t negate God’s sovereignty, this choice is a part of God’s sovereignty. Only God in His sovereignty can maintain complete control when idiots like us head to the voting booth. God has allowed us freedom to choose and we get to exercise that freedom in electing a new president tomorrow. The person we choose will not surprise God and cause him to have to do damage control. Instead, our next president will be precisely the person God has chosen for our country.

What we can’t know in our limited human understanding is what goes into God’s choice for president? We do know some things from Scripture that inform our thinking, but they give us no hard and fast answer on who God wants in the office.

Here are a few things God has promised us in the Bible that might inform how we vote:

God Bless America?
Psalm 33:12 “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.”

Will the candidate I vote for acknowledge God as the Lord? Will he try to govern justly? Will he adhere to Biblical principles and be concerned with deeming others as more important than himself? Will he look out for widows and orphans? Will life from conception to death be of importance to our new president? Will alleviating poverty be at the top of his agenda? Will he desire God’s blessings on all nations and not just the one we happen to have been born in, not allowing our “American Dream” to come at the expense of other struggling nations? The list could go on, but ultimately will he acknowledge God as the Lord and seek to align his policies with the will of God? These are the questions that will help us determine who we should vote for on election day.

Patriotism or Priesthood?
1 Peter 2:9 “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the One who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”

As we vote, we need to keep everything in perspective – that God demands a loyalty from His children that goes beyond party loyalty. We aren’t Democrats or Republicans, we are Christ followers. This world is not our home and therefore, we can’t be swept away by party loyalty or even extreme patriotism when there are millions of people suffering around the world due to our country’s greed and selfishness. I am patriotic but I am also part of the priesthood that has been called to “proclaim the praises of the One who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” Casting a vote is patriotic and I believe it should be done carefully after much prayer by responsible Christians. But sharing hope and love and the story of God with your neighbor is something we should be doing no matter what. That is a higher and more important calling.

Presidential Predestination
Romans 11:33-36 “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable His judgments and untraceable His ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been His counselor? Or who has ever first given to Him, and has to be repaid? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.” 

Can any of us determine who God has predestined to be our President? I know who I am voting for and I’m voting for him based on Biblical values. I’ve spent much time in prayer for our country, for our world, and for our current and future leaders. I pray for them by name. I have thought long and hard and consulted other wise men and women of God for their thoughts on the issue. But at the end of the day, we don’t know God’s plan. God can certainly intervene supernaturally and change the course of history. Do we deserve blessing? Do we deserve a curse? Will the next president lead us further down economically, militarily, and morally? If so, could it be that God allowed that to happen so that we can turn to him yet again to bring healing to our nation? On the other hand, might our next president lead us into economic prosperity? Which would be better for our country spiritually speaking? Who can know the mind of the Lord?

What About Abortion?
Deuteronomy 30:19 “I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live.”

Should Christians vote based on one issue? Should this verse be used to demand pro-life legislation? The answer to both questions is “No” but I don’t think the issue of abortion needs to be abandoned as a hopeless cause either. We should consider the entire panoply of issues that face the American public on election day, but there is no greater injustice in our society than the refusal to grant rights to the unborn. I personally don’t believe that all abortion should be outlawed. In cases when giving birth will cause harm to the mother (6% of abortions) abortion is one option that should not be totally disregarded. But how can we be a blessed nation by God when 93% of abortions in America are done for convenience? If we don’t get this issue right, how can we ask (and even demand) God’s blessings? There are about 4,000 abortions performed every day in America. We need to be concerned about poverty and crime and the environment but there are close to 4,000 children who are unborn every day who will never even get a chance to experience life. Why is it such a bad thing to value this issue higher than other issues? Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is helpful to think that people first need physiological needs met (food, clothing, shelter) and from there they move on to more sociological and emotional needs. However, we seem to forget that the Hierarchy of Needs is predicated on life. I want every man, woman, and child to have the basic essentials of food, clothing, and shelter, but even more important is that they are alive to enjoy them. 

As Christians we must evaluate each candidate and determine his stance on the issues that are important, not to our country, but to God. 1 Timothy 2:1-2 says, “First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, for kings and all those who are in authority.” Our prayer should be that God would guide our country and would bring us back to Him. Not that we would become a Christian nation, but that we would desire to do His will and allow other nations to be blessed through us. We have a responsibility to cast a vote…it’s a choice between two men. Our choice will not hinder the sovereignty of God and He will maintain control over His universe. God is sovereign and sometimes we don’t fully know His will or His plan but in our freewill I hope we will choose a president based on our values and on Biblical principles.

What about you? What Biblical principles inform your decision to vote or not to vote?

Happy Halloween Martin Luther!

Happy Halloween Martin Luther!

It has been 491 years since you nailed your 95 Theses to the Wittenburg Church door and what a reformational act that was! Your “protests” against the corrupt Roman Catholic Church lit a fire that continues to burn to this day. You created a separate branch of the Church that we now call Protestantism but even the Catholic Church has gone through some major reform as well.

Dead Ancestors, Dead Saints, or Dead Doctrine?
Oh, and good choice of days for nailing up your protests against the corruption in the Church. October 31st used to be an ignorant pagan festival where people would dress up in scary costumes because they thought their ancient ancestors were coming to wreak havoc on their crops. Maybe if they looked scarier than their dead ancestors they might be scared away and leave them alone. They even sacrificed to them. In 800AD the Roman Catholic Church declared the day “All Hallow’s Eve” and the next day to be “All Hallow’s Day”. This was a day to celebrate the saints and martyrs of the Church. The church leaders had hoped this would take the place of such a barbaric pagan holiday.

Maybe you had the same thing in mind when you chose October 31st to start the Reformation? After all, what’s the point in celebrating dead saints and obtaining relics like a tuft of hair from this saint or a toe nail from that saint? Too bad Christians today neither celebrate the saints and martyrs (such as yourself) that have gone on before us or the Reformation. Instead, we choose to dress up in scary costumes and ward off little witches and goblins by giving them “sacrifices” of candy (and at $5.99 a bag it’s quite a sacrifice). It’s a pretty inane holiday and my wife and I give away candy to the children just so we can meet our neighbors but it’s sad that nobody thinks of what an incredible day this really is for God’s Kingdom.

Indulge Yourself
Anyway, enough about Halloween, I’m sure you wouldn’t be too happy that rather than celebrating the reformation of the Church we would rather carve gourds and eat ghost-shaped peeps. Let’s talk about penance instead. It seems that you spent a lot of your time trying to convince the Church that repentance was a matter of the heart and had nothing to do with some priest absolving you of your sin…especially through the sale of indulgences. I mean, what a rip off that was. We wouldn’t think of doing anything like that today. Instead, we do everything we can to guilt trip people into repentance. It’s the priest or ministers job to say things like, “I only saw you at the church (meaning a building) 5 days this week, were you partying the other 2 days?” or “I notice you didn’t check ‘Bible read daily’ on your offering envelope, care to explain?”. We would never stoop so low as to sell something when we can take the moral high road by guilting people into confession and repentance.

Poverty or Property
I also want to commend you for condemning the Church for using the money obtained through the sale of indulgences to build St. Peter’s Basilica rather than to give it to the poor. That was a lesson that we have taken to heart and I am happy to say, poverty is no longer an issue in the Church today. Not that poverty doesn’t exist anymore, it just doesn’t exist in the hearts and minds of most Christians, therefore, it’s not an issue in the Church. Problem solved. And we certainly wouldn’t waste money on a massive church building project to the detriment of the impoverished either. Why do that when we can just buy an already built football stadium and fill it with people and tell them that if they are poor or in need they should just believe…I mean really believe that God wants them to have their best life now. Maybe the reason they are poor is that they don’t smile enough.

Get Me A Tweezer
Finally, I should say that we are grateful for the movement you started in reforming the Church. You were right, the Church was greedy and corrupt and in need of reform. Unfortunately, almost everyone coming out of the reformation has a different idea on what needs reforming in the church and as a result, the Church today has never been more splintered. There are about 10,000 denominations around the world…some of them good, some of them not so good. We are divided doctrinally, geographically, racially, culturally, and in polity, purpose, and practice. I’m not sure what sort of tweezer is needed to start taking out the splinters in the Church but we are still in need of some desperate reform 491 years later.

So, I just wanted to say Happy Halloween and let you know how things are going here in the 21st century. People are just knocking on doors rather than nailing things to doors (my neighbors would be a bit upset). There is some good news: there have never been more Christians in all of history, but I guess the bad news is there have never before been so many people that have never heard the name Jesus. The world population is multiplying exponentially but the Church seems to still be using its fingers and toes to add and subtract. Hope you enjoy your peeps!

Sincerely,
Nathan Creitz

PS – I know my letter to you sounds negative but I do not wish it to sound like your work was in vain. My gripe is with today’s Church. You helped to start a necessary movement that brought reform and change to the corruption of the Church in your day. My prayer is that the bad habits and false beliefs that the modern Church holds will continue to be reformed and transformed. There is much concerning the Church with which I am sure Christ is pleased and I enjoy writing about that as well, but you set the tone…October 31st is a day to think about reform and change. This is a day to boldly protest so that we can see reformation happen again in every new generation of the Church. Let the Protest begin again!

PPS – Not everyone has forgotten that this is the day you kicked off the Protestant Reformation. A guy in Canada named Tim Challies has started a Reformation Day Symposium to get people talking about what this day should be celebrating. I’m sure he would love it if you dropped by and checked out what everyone is saying about you.

Spread the Wealth

After learning about the global crisis of poverty in a previous post we are left with the question, “What now?” When we consider all of the problems in the world that are brought on by greed, materialism, or quests for power many of us are left despairing that we can’t do anything to help. Poverty is a problem that only big organizations or governments can handle. Let them deal with the problem. And yet, it’s my belief that when confronted with issues of social justice or the environment that it is precisely “we the people” who can make the difference and not the government. I’m not wealthy, but when it comes to sharing what I have with others, I would prefer to do that with my own hands and not through the government as intermediary.

When dealing with the issue of poverty, there are several things that each of us could do right now! Short of “selling all and giving it to the poor”, what are some things that we can do to help those who are less fortunate than ourselves? Though we may not have much, is there something we can do to help?

Show Some Respect

The first thing I would suggest is that when it comes to interacting with people less privileged than ourselves we need to show some respect. The person asking for money on the street corner may not have a college degree or a nice car like you but that doesn’t mean they are any less valuable. For some reason, we get the attitude that a person living on the street is irresponsible, wants to use my money for cigarettes, and is incapable of holding a job. That may be, but do we have to assume it to be true (unless it’s written on a sign)? Why not assume the best rather than the worst in people. Who knows, maybe they do have a college degree but they’ve gone through a tough time? Who are we to judge based on a person’s appearance?

Buy a Meal

If you still have hesitation about a person, take them to lunch and find out what sort of person they are. Don’t just make a sack lunch and give it to someone as a gesture of charity. Instead, invite them to lunch just as you would a fellow colleague. You might say, “I’m sorry, I don’t have any cash on me right now, but my lunch break is at noon, would you like to meet me at that diner over there and I’ll buy you lunch? It would be my privilege.” We are quick to throw money at a problem when if we took a few minutes to get to know someone, we might be able to help in the context of a relationship. Pay for their lunch and spend time in meaningful conversation. Let them be the human that they are without being prejudged as incompetent.

Give A Gift of Love

There are dozens of organizations that help us realize that some people’s standard of living is so low that if we gave just $20 a month (for example), we could help feed, clothe, and educate a child in a poor region of the world. I’ve always appreciated what WorldVision is doing to get people to sponsor children but there are plenty of other organizations that you can research to find out their effectiveness. I also value the initiatives that help people “sponsor” cows, chickens, or sheep to help a family get milk or eggs or wool for themselves. Others get involved by donating money to dig a well that will give clean water to an entire village. Blood:Water Mission says, “$1 = one year of water for an African.” Check out globalgiving.com for even more ideas.

Volunteer
Habitat for Humanity is one organization that I can highlight here that has a proven track record of helping people through volunteerism. To own a home through Habitat for Humanity, the home owner builds sweat equity into his or her own home but he or she is helped by dozens of others who work alongside them as a way to show their love for their neighbor. This is love and service in action. You can even take a volunteer vacation through organization like the Sierra Club or Globe Aware. I’ve been able to work with Habitat for Humanity and International World Changers (a faith based organization) on dozens of projects all around the world. Travel is fun, but travel with a purpose opens your eyes to the need of the world.

Do Something Now

Whatever you do, do it enthusiastically with love, respect, and humility…and do it now! Don’t wait for the government to do something. Spread your own wealth. I love what Paul the Apostle says, “I have learned the secret of being content – whether well-fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need. I am able to do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Poverty can hit any of us at any time, so if you are in a position to meet a need, do it!

What are your thoughts on what can be done to end poverty? What are some of the experiences you would like to share as you have fought against poverty in the world?