Oh ye of little faith!

About a week ago, I read a post on Facebook by one of my friends in which he shared a quote from an article that he had recently read. The article discussed the upcoming election and our responsibility as Christians to ensure that Barack Obama does not get reelected. The writer insisted that we must vote for Mitt Romney.

Here is the quote:

"On the converse, I seriously doubt that God would bless America if we re-elect a Muslim leader whose religion promotes the complete destruction and annihilation of Christians worldwide. If you don’t believe it, just look at how much of His blessing He has pulled away from America during the reign of Obama. The more our nation embraces Obama’s heathen ways, especially the endorsement of same-sex marriage and the further removal of all things Christian, the more God has turned His blessings into judgments.

If conservative Christians do not vote for Mitt Romney, it greatly increases the chances of Obama’s re-election and the further removal of God’s blessings. More Obama means more of God’s judgment and I’m not sure how much more judgment America can stand before we can stand no longer and fall into ruin."

Here is my friend's brief response, with which I agree:

"So, electing a polytheistic cult member will bring God's blessing? Is this the reasoning we have come to in the Church? God help us! Grant us repentance!"

However, after thinking more about this and recollecting all of the comments, posts, and articles I have read over the past several months that touch on this topic, I decided to frantically type on my tiny Droid keyboard the following additional thoughts. At some point I hope to have the time to revisit this and improve upon it, but I wanted to make sure I didn't lose these thoughts in the labyrinth of Facebook as they continue to shift ever so far down my timeline.

So I am posting these thoughts here with the hope that they will be helpful to others who have been deceived by this unbiblical line of thinking. And don't be so naive to think that only the simple minded fall for this illogical thinking. There are a number of great Christian men for whom I have the utmost respect who have fallen prey to it. My most sincere prayer is that Christ Jesus will bless His beautiful bride on earth in some way by this article, that she be made holy and blameless and be adorned with every precious jewel, ornament, and fine linen so as to make her more ready for that glorious day to which all blood bought Christians look forward.

Here is my response:

Whoever wrote this is missing a key point. The fact that we have Obama and Romney set forth as the candidates by the two main parties is a form of judgment on its own! Moreover, it could very well be seen as a test of our faith and trust in Christ Jesus. Do we actually cast our vote for one of these men despite their abject ungodliness, hence placing our stamp of approval -- our endorsement -- upon the practice of electing non-God-fearing men as our leaders? Or, instead, will we be faithful and cast our vote for a God-fearing man who may very well be unlikely to win, but who understands his responsibility to rule in accordance with God's Word?

The latter is the only choice for a serious Christian who properly understands and trusts in God's Sovereignty. The former only shows that the one who casts the vote for the ungodly distrusts Christ to one degree or another, and instead puts his hope in the idea that Satan will be merciful to us through one of the candidates that rule in accordance with ungodly principles; those very principles that Satan -- the father of lies -- has taught to us over the millennia, and to which we all too often succumb when we think in accordance with our fallen mind instead of the mind renewed by Christ. The conundrum in which so many Christians currently find themselves should cause us all to give pause and bring to mind Colossians 2:8:

"See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ."

This "lesser of two evils" philosophy is nowhere taught by Christ -- it is absolutely not a philosophy that is "according to Christ."

Now certainly, all things that come to pass are ordained by God. Every ungodly king of Israel was there because God ordained him to be there for whatever reason that pleased Him. So voting for a God-fearing third-party candidate doesn't mean he will win. All it means is that one's conscience is blameless in the matter, one's faithfulness and obedience to God's Word is established, and one's trust in Christ as the only true Sovereign King is evidenced.

Many professing Christians complain about how pro-homosexual Obama is; they point out how pro-abortion he is. If you actually spend a little time and look carefully at Romney's record -- not his rhetoric -- you'll find no real difference. Steve Deace wrote an excellent article about this. Alan Keyes also wrote an excellent article that puts things into their proper perspective. These candidates are BOTH a form of judgment upon our nation, and when it becomes clear to us that our Creator is giving us TWO abjectly ungodly men as the two candidates most likely to be elected -- due to both the system under which we vote (i.e., the two-party system), and, frankly, the lack of wisdom with the Church -- we should all be TREMBLING in fear at the destruction that awaits us lest we repent and turn from our wickedness!

It seems that the Church has forgotten that it is where judgment begins. Instead of educating their flocks to the destruction that comes when evil men (i.e., ungodly men, for those who are tempted to use the ridiculous "all men are evil" pseudo-argument) are selected to rule over a people, they all too often bend the knee to the State in fear of some form of State-sanctioned retribution -- such as removing their church's idolized non-profit status.

At this point, I could not be more thankful that I'm no longer deceived by the false theology of Dispensationalism. Although judgment is here -- though certainly not in its fullness yet -- I have hope and assurance that the Church will rise from the impending ashes that are about to befall it; and when it does, it will be stronger, more mature, and more Godly. Of course, there's always the possibility that we are actually in the times after the end of the millennium when Satan has been loosed for a short while, too...though I'm not convinced of that. In either case, though, judgment is here, right now. How we respond to it as Christians is a testimony to all of those around us of our faithfulness and of the degree to which we trust Jesus Christ. Endorsing a non-God-fearing candidate by placing our vote for him shows them that we are weak in our faith and don't trust Him fully to reign over us rightly. What a pathetic testimony to the world the Church in America is about to put forth, come November!