SHOULD BRETHREN VOTE?

Should brethren vote? is a question that sometimes arises in the minds of members of Christ’s body who are young in faith. Who is to hold the reins of government? is a momentous question to the people of the world, and it is a matter not without interest to the children of God, since they are living in the world and under its laws.

Now here are two distinct classes of people – the people of the world and the people of God, and while these classes may, for the present, appear to commingle, yet their lives are wholly different; the interests of the one being centered in the present order of things, while the interests of the other are fixed upon a constitution or kingdom that is as yet only a matter of promise.

God’s directions to His children are very explicit. Though in the world, they are not to be of the world. While commanded to submit to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, yet they are forbidden to take active part in the affairs of the nations.

Jesus set the example of obedience unto death (John xviii: 36) when He said: “If my kingdom were of this world then would my servants fight that I should not be delivered to the Jews.” Now clearly, if our Master’s servants were not allowed to fight to rescue Him from His enemies, neither must His servants in the present day resist the powers that are ordained of God. A reference to the attitude of our Great Example will always settle any doubt in the mind between right and wrong.

Can we imagine Jesus casting a vote in a political controversy? Christ, the anointed King of a kingdom that is to supersede all human governments, interfering in the political affairs of the Roman empire!!! Then just as incongruous is it for His brethren and joint heirs with Christ to vote upon or otherwise take part in the politics of the present day.

As the brethren of Christ have been called out from among the Gentiles to be a people for His own possession (see R. V. Titus iii: 14) and as their citizenship is in heaven, so their politics should be heavenly politics, or pertaining to that kingdom which is to come from heaven, when Christ our king returns from heaven, where He now sits at God’s right hand.

Many (so-called) good religious people – church members and their ministers – see no harm in voting. Some go further and argue that it is a harm not to vote, as it is neglecting a duty to queen or ruler and country not to give support to what is deemed for the country’s good. The vote to assist in putting good men into power cannot be wrong, they reason; but a brother of Christ, who keeps his spiritual armor bright, can answer this wily influence by a reference to god’s word, where it will be found that it has often been God’s purpose in the past to permit the exaltation of bad men to power. These records are “patterns,” and it is as true now as when it was written, that it is “the most High who ruleth in the kingdom of men and giveth it to whomsoever He will,” and when it suits His purpose “He even setteth up over it the basest of men.” Ponder well the words in Daniel ii: 21 and iv: 17, 25, 35.

Dare brethren then interfere with God’s power by casting a vote one way or other? In so doing they might be directly antagonizing God’s purpose to set up for a time a base man. Sometimes wicked men are needed to bring about certain ends God may have in view. For example, in the destruction of Babylon God used the Medes and Persians as “His weapons to destroy the whole land,” and He called them His sanctified ones. (See Isaiah xiii: 3, 5, 17). See also Romans xiii: 1, where Paul says, “The powers that be are ordained of God”. The power here referred to was pagan Rome, and yet Paul exhorted the Roman brethren to be subject to that power.

Paul in Titus iii: 1-3 puts the brethren in mind not only “to be subject to principalities and powers, and to obey magistrates,” but he exhorts them also “to speak evil of no man; and in his epistle, (verse 8) Jude puts on a level with Sodom and Gomorrah those who “despise dominion and speak evil of dignitaries.” And he says, “These things are set forth for an example.” Therefore let us ever remember that no matter how unjust or unrighteous rulers and their laws may appear to us to be, yet we must not bring against them any railing accusation, or take the least part by voice or vote in the arranging of the affairs of governments with which we have no part but submission. In the matter of taxation, when Jesus was asked, “Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar?” He said, “Show me a penny. Whose image and superscription hath it?” They answered and said, “Caesar’s.” And He said unto them, “Render therefore unto Caesar the things that be Caesar’s, and unto God the things that be God’s” – Luke xx: 20-25.

The Son of God thus put to silence his enemies and caused them to marvel, and should not this divine example of obedience to the laws of the land be sufficient example for His followers? Here “we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come” (Heb. xiii: 14), and like God’s people of old we must live as “strangers and pilgrims.” (Heb. xi: 10, 13).

Voting, taking sides in politics and all political enthusiasm is identifying oneself with the interests of this present life; but not less objectionable is the refusal of obedience to the laws of the country in which we live, or rebellion against these laws. To those who have enrolled themselves as soldiers of Jesus Christ the course is plain. R. V. II Timothy ii: 4 – “No man on service entangleth himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please Him who enrolled him as a soldier,” The life of a soldier is one of endurance and much suffering and privation. Paul endured all things and exhorts continually the necessity for suffering in the present, if we would reap future reward.

The refusal to vote for parties may mean a very practical form of suffering in the loss of situations, yet true soldiers must be willing to suffer even “the loss of all things,” keeping in remembrance the promise, “If we endure with him we shall also reign with him; if we deny him he will also deny us.” Either we are His people or we are not His people. No lukewarm or neutral course will satisfy God.

Consider the meaning of our typical death and burial in baptism and arising to newness of life, and let us not look backward at the life we have left behind. Let us “not set our affection on things of earth,” but fix them rather upon the glorious promises in store for those who overcome. A keeping of the spiritual weapons bright, by the constant study and meditation of the Word will enable us to resist every adversary and be always ready to give a reasonable answer to every puzzling question that may arise.

Sarah Mitchell

The Christadelphian Advocate, May 1891, p 132-134