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Who
Would Jesus
Vote For?
by Joseph C. Phillips
 My son saw the caption on the
magazine cover. I did not. I was late for work and headed towards the
door. "Daddy," he asked. "Who would Jesus vote for?" He then pointed in
the direction of a magazine rack and repeated his question. Apparently
one of the news weeklies had asked the question on its cover. "I think
none of the above." I answered. "Well," he pondered. "If Jesus wouldn't
vote for any of the candidates why would you?"
Good
question. Clearly my son got his good looks from my side of the family
and his brains from his mothers. I took a deep breath before answering
him. Children often say the darndest things and I didn't want to dampen
his intellectual curiosity by patronizing him with my answer.
Though I am a Christian, I always cringe a bit when some political
party or organization pretends some propriety relationship with God.
The Lord is neither a Democrat nor a Republican. In fact I am not
convinced that God cares a great deal for politics (and even less for
politicians).
In the New Testament the apostle Matthew recounts the time the
Pharisees attempted to trap God with a query about taxes paid to
Caesar. Jesus takes a coin from his questioners and says, "Give to
Caesar what is Caesars and give to the Lord what is the Lords."
I have always understood this scripture to say to us that God
recognizes that men are imperfect and social creatures and must
therefore somehow organize and govern their associations. Governments -
that is moral governments -- exist to protect the liberty, lives, and
property of those it governs in order that men may live together in
their imperfectness. So we become political. We vote, we campaign and
often feel a sense of divine appointment in our political institutions
though such sentiments are often misplaced. The message of this story
in scripture is that leaders as well as citizens must remember that
ultimate authority rests with the creator. And he is not concerned with
our political institutions. His primary concern is with the hearts and
souls of the individuals that make up the institutions.
I do not claim to know the mind of God. I suspect anyone making such
claims is engaged in pretense. However, as it happens we do have a
moral and ethical roadmap of sorts that clues us in to the direction
the Lord would like us to walk. I am of the opinion that god is always
on the side of Liberty and Justice and if we as individuals keep that
in mind, trust in his benevolence and mercy, follow his commandments
and offer ourselves as sacrifices to our fellow man as he did for us,
all will go well with us.
This was the message of Moses. The Israelites had wandered 40 years in
the desert and when they were at long last set to enter the Promised
Land-- their leader cautioned them to have faith and let that faith
guide their behavior and all will go well.
This message was repeated again by the Prophet Samuel when the people
of Israel pleaded with Samuel to name a king over them in order that
they might be protected and nurtured. Samuel reminds them of the words
of Moses -- that if they but trusted in God and behaved according to
his law all would go well with them.
I concluded my answer to my son by reminding him that we are blessed to
live in a country where we have a say in who will govern us. Our
participation is therefore in my book mandatory. When he comes of age
he must involve himself in the political life. He should weigh the
issues and the candidates against the moral and ethical lessons
provided by God's roadmap and he must vote. He must also keep in mind
that the men and women we vote for are imperfect and faith placed in
men is faith misplaced.
And, in his daily life it will go better for him if he always casts a write-in vote for Jesus as his candidate of choice.
Joseph C. Phillips is the author of “He Talk Like a White Boy” available wherever books are sold.
Source: JosephCPhillips.com
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