ELECTION
Why Every U.S. Christian Must
Vote in This Election
By Rick Warren
Saddleback Church
CBN.com
Tuesday, November 2nd, will be the most important election Americans
have had in 50 years. How can that be?
Because up to four of the nine Supreme Court justices will likely retire
during the next presidential term, and their replacements will be selected
by whoever is the next president. These new judges will affect the future
of America for at least the next 40 years. It would be difficult to overestimate
the impact that these judges will have on our lives, our families, our culture
and the direction of this nation.
Presidents serve for only four years -- eight at the most, so their impact
is limited. Supreme Court justices, however, serve for life, and they are
the ones who decide on issues like abortion, gay "marriages," human
cloning, harvesting babies for stem-cell research, revoking the tax exemption
of churches, removing “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance
and “In God We Trust” from our money. In most ways, the Supreme
Court has far more influence and impact on our day-to-day lives. This extremely
important fact has been overlooked in most of the campaigning.
President Bush and Senator Kerry have VERY different opinions about the type
of people who should become Supreme Court justices. They could not have more
opposite views about these matters, and each man will shape the court in very
different ways.
If the members of our congregations fail to vote on Tuesday, we are actually
surrendering our responsibility to choose the direction of our country for
the next 40 years. If we do not vote, we have no right to criticize or complain
when unbiblical decisions are made by the court in the decades ahead.
Over the past several months at Saddleback, we’ve been urging our members
each week to register to vote. We even arranged to have a voter registration
booth set up on our church patio because we believe it’s that important
that every Christian citizen exercise his or her right to vote for those who
will govern us.
During the last presidential election in the United States, there were about
4 million Christians who weren’t even registered to vote! To me, that
is inexcusable when you consider what the Bible says about our responsibility
as citizens and when you consider the many, many men and women who’ve
given their lives to provide and protect our freedom to vote.
The U.S. election of 2000 was a clear reminder that every vote counts, and
that every voter has a duty to be involved. This point is true whether you
are a U.S. citizen or whether you are a citizen of one of the many other countries
that follow the principles of democracy.
As church leaders, we know our congregations are not allowed to endorse specific
candidates, and it’s important for us to recognize that there can be
multiple opinions among Bible-believing Christians when it comes to debatable
issues such as the economy, social programs, Social Security, and the war
in Iraq.
But for those of us who accept the Bible as God's Word and know that God
has a unique, sovereign purpose for every life, I believe there are five issues
that are non-negotiable. To me, they’re not even debatable because God's
Word is clear on these issues. In order to live a purpose-driven life -- to
affirm what God has clearly stated about his purpose for every person he creates
-- we must take a stand by finding out what the candidates believe about these
five issues, and then vote accordingly.
Here are five questions to ask when considering who to vote for in this election:
1. What does each candidate believe about abortion and protecting the lives
of unborn children?
2. What does each candidate believe about using unborn babies for stem-cell
harvesting?
3. What does each candidate believe about homosexual "marriage"?
4. What does each candidate believe about human cloning?
5. What does each candidate believe about euthanasia -- the killing of elderly
and invalids?
Please, please do not forfeit your responsibility on these crucial issues!
This election REALLY counts more than most.
Be sure to vote, and also be sure to encourage every Christian you know to
vote on Tuesday. If you are able to vote early, do so. Then ask all your Christian
friends on Tuesday, “Have you voted yet?” and pray for godly leaders
to be elected.
More perspectives on CBN.com.
Article by Rick Warren, the founding pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake
Forest, CA. Rick is author of The
Purpose Driven Life and The
Purpose Driven Church, and founder of Pastors.com,
a global Internet community for those in ministry. Copyright (c) 2004 Pastors.com,
Inc. Used with permission. All rights reserved.
|