How to Vote
In a few short days we will have the opportunity to vote for men and women to serve in local, state, and federal government. In this election cycle the presidential race has gotten most of the attention; mainly because the major party candidates running are disliked by a large number of Americans. It's particularly difficult for many who, for the first time in their lives, are working through their vote by asking, "Who will do the least amount of harm," instead of, "Who will do the most good." Whether this is your first or thirtieth time voting for a president, whether you can't wait to vote or can't wait for elections to be over, here are a few things that each of us, particularly Christians, should do on November 7.VoteChristians should be the best citizens they can be no matter what country they live in. Yes, there are times when faith in Scripture will lead is in a different direction than our government. However, Christians should gladly follow when government leads in a direction that accords with Scripture. We do, after all, have a biblical mandate to submit to governing authorities (Romans 13:1). In our country the government invites us to vote. There's nothing unbiblical about voting for government officials, so every Christian should gladly vote this November. If you're struggling with this one remember why Paul tells us to submit to government in Romans 13:1. "For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God." So, be a good citizen this November and vote because it makes our Father happy when we listen to and obey him.Be an informed voterI believe God would have us not just vote, but cast an informed vote. I make it a point never to vote for candidates unless I've first had the opportunity to see what they stand for. I do that because that's what good citizens should do, and because there is great wisdom in knowing who you're voting for. Read a few chapters of Proverbs and you'll quickly find that God wants all of our actions to be marked with wisdom. To help you be an informed voter, HERE'S a link where you can find a sample ballot for your county and city. Look up each candidate, do some research, and be a wise voter.Let your beliefs determine your voteIt drives me crazy when people say that religious belief has no place in elections. Nothing could be more foolish. Every person who votes does so according to their beliefs. What you believe about how government should work, how money should be spent or saved, what foreign policy should be, and where you stand on social issues help determine your vote. It's plain stupid to say that anyone should check their beliefs at the door when they vote! That's doubly true for Christians. Your belief in the Bible affects every square inch of your life, including your vote. Don't check your scriptural beliefs at the door this November. Take them with you to the voting booth and let them be a determining factor in your vote.Vote like it matters, worry like it doesn'tYes, voting matters, but not as much as God's sovereign rule. In fact, God is sovereign over every election our country has or will ever have. That's right, even 'bad' presidents were put there by God. Don't believe me? Listen to God:
Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.(Romans 13:1 ESV)[God] changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings. (Daniel 2:21 ESV)Jesus answered [Pilate], “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above." (John 19:11 ESV)
Yes, voting matters. It matters because it is a choice and because as good citizens we can glorify God by voting. BUT, an election is nothing to worry about. No matter who wins an election, God is sovreignly and providentailly bring it about. I know that's hard to square with our point of view, particularly when we see leaders doing evil things. But no matter our feelings, the truth is every ruler in the history of the world was set up and taken down by God--on God's time table for God's good purpose. Maybe a good way to sum this point up is by encouraging you not to let worldly fear drive your vote. Most of us encounter another would be prophet predicting the future, a fearful one at that, around nearly every corner. Don't let that fear drive you. Instead, let the fear of God drive you. Vote in a way that you could happily say to God, "I voted this way because you are more important to me that anything else. More important than the opinions of others, more important than my comfort, more important than my personal opinions." Remember, there is a reality far greater than, "who's going to win in November." God has a worldwide rescue mission through Jesus. Everything, even elections, fit into that plan somehow. So vote this November like it matters, fully informed, guided by the truths of Scripture. But don't lose sleep over it! God is doing exactly what he wants, when he wants.
What Joseph teaches us about faith and obedience
This past Sunday we saw from Luke 1:34 - 55 that God does the impossible. We also saw that when Mary believed God was doing the impossible her life was flooded with Joy. She burst into spontaneous song, "My spirit rejoices in God my Savior." Joy is a fruit of faith. When we believe that God is doing the impossible, not just that he can do the impossible, we are filled with joy. There is a second fruit of faith that God shows us through the birth narrative. It's seen through the life of Joseph in Matthew 1:18 - 24.Matthew's gospel tells us nothing about the angel's visit to Mary. He picks up the birth narrative with a pregnant Mary and a languishing Joseph. "When..Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit." Joseph found himself in an incredibly difficult situation. The woman he was to marry was pregnant, and he knew with absolute certainty that the child was not his. The Bible does not tell us how Joseph found out about Mary's pregnancy, only that she was "found to be with child." Perhaps no one but Mary knew about the pregnancy until she was undeniably showing, or perhaps Mary, filled with wonder, went to Joseph and told him about the angels message and her pregnancy. No matter how it happened, there must have been a conversation between the two at some point. I imagine Joseph asking Mary, "How could you do this?," and Mary replying, "I've done nothing wrong. The child is God's." It would have been easier for Joseph to believe Mary had cracked under the stress of having a child out of wedlock than for him to believe that the child "conceive in her [was] from the Holy Spirit." And so Joseph resolved to divorce Mary.Matthew tells us that Joseph was a righteous man, so he planned to divorce Mary quietly instead of exposing her to public ridicule and shame. As frustrated, confused, and hurt as Joseph was, he loved Mary, and seeing her paraded through the public square as an adulteress was more than he could bear. In this moment Joseph's love for Mary was greater than his pride that demanded a public declaration of his innocence in the matter. We should pause here and let God's work through Joseph challenge us. I think of Peter's words, "Love covers over a multitude of sins." The love that God works in his children does not dismiss the seriousness of sin committed against us, but it does remove a prideful, vindictive spirit that demands self-vindication. Now, back to the main lesson.Before Joseph could do anything an angel appeared to him in a dream. The angel commanded Joseph to marry Mary, followed by two truths: Mary's child was from God, and the child will save his people from their sins. Verse 24 records Joseph's response, "When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife." There it is, the link between faith and obedience. Joseph was staring the impossible in the face: the virgin birth! Every fiber of his own logic and reasoning told him to divorce Mary. But there was a voice that carried more weight for Joseph than his own. God told Joseph that he was doing the impossible, and Joseph believed. He obeyed and took Mary as his wife because he believed what God said. Joseph's faith fueled his obedience.
And so it is with all obedience--at least obedience rightly done. We obey God when we believe what he says. That's why Jesus could say, "If you love me you will keep my commandments." Obedience to God is always a battle between our own thinking and the revealed truth of God. Our thinking tells us that sin is better, it's pleasures supreme. God tells us that he is better, and a thimble full of his presence brings more delight than an ocean full of sin. All of Scripture is leading us to believe that God is doing the impossible; namely, that he is reconciling the world to himself through the work of Jesus. When we hear and believe that God is doing the impossible, like Joseph, we will wake up and obey what the Lord commands--no matter how impossible it seems.[Tweet "And so it is with all obedience--at least obedience rightly done. We obey God when we believe what he says."]
Anxiety: fighting with your body
Last Sunday we looked at Matthew 6:24 – 34 in the Sermon in the Mount series. This post is one in a series that addresses some follow up issues. The first three posts are Anxiety: is it ok to plan for the future?, Anxiety: will God always give me food to eat?, and Anxiety: the link to peoples opinions. You can listen to the sermon HERE, or subscribe in iTunes.Up to this point everything I have preached and written on anxiety has been about fighting with our heart and mind. We have considered the wonderful truth that God cares for us and that his opinion is far richer and rewarding than the opinions of those around us. Anxiety begins in our mind, so it is absolutely crucial we start our battle there. But there is another side to anxiety, and it is often the more plaguing side--our bodies.Anxiety almost always has an immediate and negative effect on our bodies: increased heart rate, increased blood pressure, sweating, shaking/trembling, dizziness, stomach pains, and shortness of breath to name a few. Most people who struggle with anxiety have what's been called a target organ. Our bodies normally become conditioned to respond to anxiety in a particular way, and there is one part or aspect of our body that seems to take the brunt of our anxiety. It's often the physical side effects of anxiety that people hate the most. Dealing with a racing mind is one thing, dealing with a body that is rebelling against you is another, and often the more difficult.I bring all of this up to acknowledge that anxiety has both a spiritual/mental aspect (I'll call this our heart) as well as a physical aspect. Most of us will have to approach both sides if we are going to find victory over anxiety. We should expect nothing less than this two pronged approach. You are a human being, and that means you have a spiritual and a physical component. To be human in the fullest extent means that you have both of these. That is one reason we will receive resurrected, renewed bodies when Jesus returns--we are not going to float around as disembodied spirits for all eternity! Contrary to what many people think, Christianity has much to say about both aspects of our humanity. Jesus is deeply concerned for your heart and your body, and in the end Jesus will fully restore and renew both parts of our humanity.So, what can we do to battle anxiety on the physical front? One of the simplest and most effective things you can do is exercise. Some studies have found that regular exercise--at least three times a week for thirty minutes--can have the same positive effects as prescription medicine for anxiety. One expert I've spoken with put it like this: "Our bodies literally store up anxiety. Exercise can get rid of it." I find that interesting, mainly because exercise fits so well with how God made us and what he wants us to do. God gave us a body, and he intends for us to use it to the best of our ability. Sloth is never praised in Scripture. Solomon absolutely pummels laziness in Proverbs (Proverbs 6:6, 9, 10:26, 13:4, 15:19, 19:24, 20:4, 21:25, 22:13, 24:30, 26:13 - 16), while Paul writes, "If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat" 2 Thes. 3:10. Please do not hear me saying that if you are anxious you are a lazy person. Most people I know work very hard. But I also know it is possible to work very hard in our modern age without getting our heart rate up for an extended amount of time! What I'm getting at is this, for many of us our daily work (albeit hard) is not the physical equivalent of going for a three mile jog or twenty mile bike ride. We work hard, but we may not be fully engaging our bodies.I don't think it is coincidence that using our bodies and being good stewards of them, both of which are God honoring acts, helps battle anxiety (as well as depression). And please don't think there is a need to divide the two front attack: heart and body. I have found in my own battle against anxiety that addressing both sides of my humanity is helpful. I need to read and memorize Scripture so that my heart is transformed, and I need to regularly and extensively use the body God has given me to break the physical cycle of anxiety. So, if you're struggling with anxiety, take up this other tool to battle it. And remember, all of exercise's benefits take time to show, so stick with it.
Anxiety: the link to people's opinions
Last Sunday we looked at Matthew 6:24 - 34 in our sermon in the mount series. This post is one in a series that addresses some follow up issues (The fist two posts are Anxiety: is it ok to plan for the future? and Anxiety: will God always give me food to eat?). You can also listen to the sermon HERE, or subscribe in iTunes.Often we read the Sermon on the Mount topic by topic. We will study anger, lust, divorce, giving, praying, and fasting individually. There is no doubt that every topic Jesus raises in his sermon is worthy of individual consideration. We should set our mind on each of these things individually and search Scripture in the hopes that God will lay bare the root of our sin and put it to death with the Gospel. But there is another way to look at the Sermon on the Mount that is equally important and holds its own lessons. We can read looking for the bigger picture. Think of it like this: we can read Jesus' sermon through a microscope or a telescope. Both views are beneficial and necessary, and often we will see something different through each lens.When we consider anxiety from a narrower approach, say Matthew 6:24 - 34, we hear Jesus telling us that God cares for us and will gladly provide for his children. That is a powerful truth that we can battle our anxious thoughts and feelings with, but for most of us it is only half the battle. Half of our anxiety comes from failing to believe that God will take care of us, while the other half of our anxiety comes from the way we view other people. One of the greatest sources of our anxiety is our fear of what people will think of us. We tend to run our decisions, actions, and speech through a filter that asks one question: what will they think? The 'they' in that question is different for everyone, and often varies from situation to situation. I might be our family, our neighbors, our coworkers, even our church. We can be so impacted by fear of others that at best we will change our plans and at worst become paralyzed with fear and do nothing.Now, I know as adults we like to think that we have conquered this demon. We like to think that we are our own man or woman and do what we like or think is best. We like to think that other people's opinions have little to no effect on us. But that is often not the case. I like to use the illustration of public speaking to make this point. Public speaking consistently ranks as the second greatest fear among Americans--death is number one. Chances are you would be anxious, some more than others, if you had to address a room of 1,000 people. But why? What will those people do to you? Are you afraid that they will hurt you, kill you if you do poorly? Are you afraid that they will ruin your life? Most likely not. The one fear that runs in your mind and heart is, What will they think of me?Jesus knows our hearts propensity to overvalue the opinions of people and so become anxious. What I find interesting is that Jesus deals with this before he tells me not to be anxious in Mt. 6:24. In the first 21 verse of Chapter 6 Jesus is talking about giving, praying, and fasting, but those three subject are illustrations of a central point Jesus is making; namely, that we should seek the praise of God and not the praise of men (You can find that sermon HERE, titled Opinion of men | Opinion of God). Jesus' three fold refrain is "Do not seek the praise of men, seek your Father's praise--Mt. 6:4, 6, 17-18. And so when I look at Mathew 6 as a whole, the telescope view, I see that Jesus addresses the two great pillars of our anxiety. First, overvaluing the opinions of others, and the second, failing to believe that God will take care of me.The truth that can knock down both of those pillars is to believe that what God offers is not just sufficient, but better than the alternative. In this case, we fight the anxiety that comes from fearing others opinions by believing that the opinion of God is more important and far more rewarding than the opinions of men. Jesus tells me that when I see that my whole body will be full of light (Mt. 6:22-23). So take the telescopic view of Matthew 6 and battle your anxiety on both fronts.If you are interested in reading more on fearing the opinion of men and the anxiety that comes from it I would recommend Ed Welch's book, When People are Big and God is Small. Tomorrow's post--Anxiety: fighting with your body