On Voting for Moral Good

To vote or use the civil power is to use force and carnal weapons. Christians cannot use these. To do so is to do evil that good may come. This is specially forbidden to Christians. To do so is to fight God’s battles with the weapons of the evil one. To do so is to distrust God. The effective way for Christians to promote morality in a community, is, to stand aloof from the political strifes and conflicts, and maintain a pure and true faith in God, which is the only basis of true morality.

Questions come up in the workings of society and before the voters of a country that involve moral good to the community. Such are the questions regarding the restriction of the sale of intoxicants, the licensing of race courses and gambling houses and places of licentiousness. It is strongly denied in such cases that the government that restricts and prohibits sin can be of the devil, and hence it is claimed a Christian should vote on all such questions of morality.

To the first, it is replied, the devil has always been quite willing to compromise with Christians if he can induce them to divide their allegiance and to give the greater service to the upbuilding of his kingdom. He offered this compromise to the Savior when here on earth. Was quite willing the Savior should rule, and doubtless in his own way, and make things as moral and respectable as he desired them, if it only promoted the growth of his kingdom and extended and supported his rule and dominion. This very proffer that the Master rejected, his disciples accept and act upon in supporting human government.

“The Holy Spirit warned Christians, that, false prophets would transform themselves into prophets of God and the devil himself into an angel of light.” (2 Cor. xi: 13.)

There is no doubt the devil is willing to turn moral reformer and make the world moral and respectable, if thereby his rule and authority are established and extended. And it may be set down as a truth that all reformations that propose to stop short of a full surrender of the soul, mind, and body up to God, are of the devil.

To the claim that a Christian is bound to vote, when he has the privilege, for that which promotes morality, and to fail to vote for the restriction and suppression of evil is to vote for it, we have determined that, to vote or use the civil power is to use force and carnal weapons. Christians cannot use these. To do so is to do evil that good may come. This is specially forbidden to Christians. To do so is to fight God’s battles with the weapons of the evil one. To do so is to distrust God. The effective way for Christians to promote morality in a community, is, to stand aloof from the political strifes and conflicts, and maintain a pure and true faith in God, which is the only basis of true morality, and is as a leaven in society, to keep alive an active sense of right. To go into political strife is to admit the leaven of evil into the church. For the church to remain in the world and yet keep itself free from the spirit of the world, is to keep alive an active leaven of morality in the world. If that leaven loses its leaven, wherewith shall the world be leavened? or if the salt lose its savor wherewith shall the earth be salted or saved? God has told his children to use the spiritual weapons, has warned them against appealing to the sword or force to maintain his kingdom or to promote the honor of God and the good of man. When they do as he directs them, and use his appointments, he is with them to fight their battles for them and to give them the victory. When they turn from his appointments to the human kingdoms and their weapons, they turn from God, reject his help, drive him out of the conflict and fight the battles for man’s deliverance with their own strength and by their own wisdom. Human government is the sum of human wisdom and the aggregation of human strength. God’s kingdom is the consummation of Divine wisdom and in it dwells the power of God.

To use the human is to reject Divine wisdom and divest ourselves of Divine help. To use the Divine is to follow Divine wisdom and to seek and rest upon Divine help. There can be no doubt as to which is the Christian’s duty. Then the Christian most effectually promotes public morality by standing aloof from the corrupting influences of worldly institutions and maintaining a pure religious morality. The same difficulty was propounded in the early churches,

Neander says,

“The Christians stood aloof and distinct from the state, as a priestly and spiritual race, and Christianity seemed able to influence civil life only in that manner which, it must be confessed, is the purest, by practically endeavoring to instill more and more of the holy feeling into the citizens of the state.”

And Origen said,

“The Christians render greater assistance to their country than other men, inasmuch as they instruct the citizens, and teach them to become pious toward God, on whom the welfare of cities depends, and who receives those whose conduct in a poor and miserable city has been good, into a divine and heavenly city.”

The same objections were made to the positions of the early Christians, that are made to-day to this position. They then beyond doubt held the same position we advocate. We make the same reply these early Christians made. We occupy the same position they did. Let us serve God with all our mind and strength and soul in his kingdom, and he will be our strength and our shield.

And true faith in God will lead us to trust him do his will, use his appointments diligently and faithfully and leave results with him; knowing that when we obey him and so “work out our salvation with fear and trembling, it is God which worketh in us to will and to do of his good pleasure.” And when Gods works in and through us, all good results must follow.

This is an excerpt from Chapter 4 of the excellent “Civil Govermnet” by David Lipscomb.