The Following is a Guest Post From Dr. R.C. Sproul Jr.
Have you heard? This upcoming presidential election is the most vital election in the history of the nation. There are likely multiple Supreme Court openings that will need to be filled during this upcoming term. The candidate on the left is a dangerous ideologue with a sketchy past. The candidate on the right has his own flaws, but most evangelical Christians agree that as bad a candidate as he might be, he is a superior choice to his opponent. So, we are told, we evangelical Christians have a duty to go out and support the gentleman on the right.
“Sen. Hillary Clinton” by Roger H. Goun (CC 2.0); “Donald Trump” by Gage Skidmore (CC 2.0)
It is not my intention to answer in this piece whether or not the above perspective is the right one. Rather I’d like to address the fears that it operates out of. To do so, let us consider that my entire first paragraph could easily have been drafted prior to every election in my lifetime. The narrative is getting tired and old. When the shrill cry goes up that Jesus is going to return in 1988, 2012, no, 2016, and He does not return, if we were wise we’d learn to turn a deaf ear to shrill cries. The same is true with those doom-sayers who insist the whole of western civilization is riding on which lever you pull the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. We really shouldn’t be listening.
I am not suggesting that we do not have a duty and an obligation to fulfill our biblical calling with respect our national elections. Neither would I ever want to suggest there is utterly no difference between the two main candidates nor the two main parties. There are consequences to ideas, wicked consequences to wicked ideas. Nor would I want to even hint at the notion that suggests that because God is sovereign our choices have no impact.
What I would not merely suggest, but insist we remember, however, is that Jesus reigns. His reign is not limited to ruling in the hearts of His people, though His reign includes that. It is not limited to ruling in the paradise of heaven, though His reign includes that. His reign is not limited to ruling in the church, though His reign includes that. Rather we would do well to remember, not just in our prayer closet, but in the voting booth that Jesus Christ has been given all authority in heaven and on earth.
I’m afraid we don’t quite grasp the fullness of what this means. Our propensity is to take this astounding reality and turn it into something idiomatic and banal. We think that Jesus is, when affirming that all authority in heaven and on earth had been given unto Him, using some poetic license perhaps speaking in the prophetic present, suggesting a future reality so certain it can be spoken of as past. It is true enough that those yet outside the kingdom do not recognize the reign of Jesus as yet. The onward march of our Champion continues until that day when every knee will bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord. But He is Lord now. His authority and power are absolute. Even those who deny Him, those who seek to break their chains and cast their cords from them, do so under His power and authority.
This is precisely why Paul, writing to the church at Rome as it writhes under the brutality of Rome, is yet able to affirm that there is no authority except from God, that every authority that exists was appointed by Him (Romans 13:1).
What does that mean for us? We have every reason to fear that whomever is elected to the office of the President will be a judgment from the hand of God. We, believer and unbeliever alike, are, in ourselves, guilty before a holy and just God. We together stand guilty for more than 50 million unborn babies being butchered in our land with the full protection of the law, under 5 different Republican presidents and 3 different Democrats. If you are losing sleep over this fear, you can fear with hope. You know the solution is repentance, to seek God’s forgiveness and favor for this nation.
If, however, we fear that this election will be outside His plan, beyond His control, then we must repent again. Such means we have made an idol of politics, or chance, or power. We are as much in his hands as Paul was in his Roman prison, as Ezra was before King Cyrus, as Jesus Himself was before Pilate. God does not need to overcome wicked politicians and foolish electorates to bring to pass His plan. Rather they are the means of His plan, to the end of His plan, to sanctify the bride of Christ and to exalt the Groom. Be at peace.
Dr. R.C. Sproul Jr. is the author of several books, including A Call to Wonder. He is the father of eight, a grandfather of one, and a widower. He is passionate about helping Christians explore the implications of Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and ascension on how we should think and live in His world.
You can learn more by visiting his his website www.rcsprouljr.com
