"Voting"

I am writing this article mid-morning, Tuesday, May 29th. On my way to the
office I stopped by the designated voting place for Precinct 1, Tarrant
Country, Texas. Until I picked up the ballot I was not aware of some of
the issues that we as Texans were voting on, and I was pleased that I had
some input into a couple of issues that, in my estimation, had serious
consequences. The fact that I had the right, and the privilege to vote
made me think of voting in general, and how some folks have either neglected
the practice all together, or they have assumed that voting does wonders in
the social and political realm, so why not in the spiritual realm? As for
our social duty, Sean Hochdorf addressed this point very well several years
ago in a lecture he prepared for the Memphis School of Preaching lectureship
of 2005: "It is an absurdity to be passive when issues such as gay
marriage, abortion, stem-cell research, and the like are on the ballot.
These are all issues with which Christians should be gravely concerned.
These are moral, biblical issues. If Children of God do not take a stand for
truth and morality in choosing our leaders, then we are to blame when
ungodly men take office. One can be sure that the devil is voting whether
Christians are or not" (MSOP Lectures 2005, page 228). Brother Hochdorf
then provided a quote from Mark Twain, a portion of which appears here:

Whenever a Christian votes, he votes against God or for Him, and He knows
this quite well ... God is an issue in every election; He is a candidate in
the person of every clean nominee on every ticket; His purity and his
approval are there, to be voted for or voted against, and no loyalty to
party can absolve His servant from his higher and more exacting loyalty to
Him. If Christians should vote their duty to God at the polls, they would
carry every election, and do it with ease. If the Christians of America
could be persuaded to vote God and a clean ticket, it would bring about a
moral revolution that would be incalculably beneficent. It would save the
country - a country whose Christians have betrayed it and are destroying
it. Christianity is on trial now. And nothing important is on trial except
Christianity (MSOP Lectures 2005, pages 228-229).

Mark Twain was ahead of his time in many respects, but if he could have
looked 100 years into the future I think he would have doubled down on his
remarks. Most folks who are responsible with regard to their civic duties
understand the importance of voting and the impact they can make on society
in general and upon generations yet unborn.

There is, however, a growing tendency in religious circles to take the same
approach toward spiritual matters. Various denominations have, for years,
practiced voting prospective candidates into their religious body. I came
across the following humorous story that illustrates the foolishness of
"voting" people into a church: There was a man who attended services with
his wife every Sunday, but who had not yet received any kind of "sign" that
he was one of the chosen. His wife used to pressure him to seek a sign more
earnestly than he appeared to be. So the man made up a story that he told
the church one Sunday and the church "voted" the man in as a member. On
their way home the man told his wife what he had done. She insisted that he
go forward the following Sunday to confess what he had done. He did, and he
was withdrawn from. On the way home he told his wife that it was an odd
thing to him that when he told a lie the church voted him in and when he
told the truth, they voted him out. While we might smile at this simple but
fictitious story, it well illustrates the foolishness of men seeking to
determine right and wrong by the power of human "vote." In 1989 a group of
"biblical scholars" voted on whether or not material in the gospels
(Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) was actually representative of the
"historical Jesus." One example of the hatchet job they did on the inspired
word of God had to do with the Lord's prayer. It was concluded by a vote of
26 to 4 that the Lord's prayer was not the words of Jesus. A good
description of these so-called scholarly elite was penned by a fellow
preacher several years ago. Such are "mass bred in humanistic incubators
with only a few inductees maintaining any real Bible faith."

Would that our brethren were exempt from such foolishness. Unfortunately
some of our more "liberal minded" brethren have succumbed to such sophistry.
A couple of examples will suffice. Fifteen years ago a "progressive" (that
just another word for liberal, do-your-own-thing mentality) congregation of
the churches of Christ decided that they would conduct a Christmas program
for the holidays. A poll was taken in the congregation, and they "voted"
on whether or not they thought using instrumental music was "uncomfortable."
The result of the poll? With only a small handful voting that they would
feel "uncomfortable" using instrumental music, it was decided that the
program would go forward, the planned activity having won the majority of
the votes.

Another example of such sophisticated silliness occurred just over ten years
ago in a congregation that was torn by strife and division. There were
actually two congregations meeting in one building. Wanting to go beyond
the word of the God, the liberal element decided to call for a "vote" at the
next men's business meeting, and the decision reached in that vote would
become the policy of the congregation. As it turned out, 61% of the
congregation determined the direction they would go in matters pertaining to
doctrine. No appeal to the Bible; no "thus saith the Lord"; no study to see
what God had to say on the matter - just a simple "vote" of the members.

Now for a more personal example. Some years ago my wife and I were doing
mission work in South Africa. An issue over marriage and divorce came up,
and I announced that I would begin a series of lessons designed to see what
God had to say on the matter. A meeting of the men of the congregation was
called, and it was determined by unanimous vote that I was not to teach,
publically or privately, on the subject of marriage and divorce. When I
received the signed statement from the men informing them of their decision,
I borrowed one of the men's Bibles, took out my pocket knife, and proceeded
to cut out the page in his Bible containing the first 15 verses of Matthew
19. When asked what I was doing, I told him that the men had essentially
"voted" to do precisely that, though not actually cutting it with a pen
knife!

So you see, we have not escaped the mind set that we can somehow "vote" in
or out what we may like or dislike. When the judgment day comes, those who
have "voted" against God will find themselves being "voted" out of heaven.
But the vote cast against them will not be a vote cast by the angels in
heaven, or a vote cast by unbelievers and disobedient associates. The
"vote" will be cast by God, and as someone has wisely noted, "God is a
majority, whether we are on his side or not!"


byTom Wacaster