2020 Biblical Wisdom for an Election
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Introduction
Introduction
-{Proverbs 29—various verses}
-I don’t know about you, but I’m looking forward to getting Tuesday over with, and a I think a lot of other people are as well—I remember hearing a psychologist on the radio saying that the vast majority of the electorate are suffering from what they call ELECTION ANXIETY—I can sympathize with that—it’s like getting a shot at the doctor, you don’t want it but you can’t get around having it, so your anxious about it and you just want it done so you can get on with your life
-And yet we also understand the importance of what happens Tuesday; as the leadership goes, so goes the nation.
~Leading up to this election there has been an unreal amount of hate and vitriol and division, unlike what has been seen probably in our lifetime
~Unfortunately, the Evangelical community (supposed bible-believing Christians) seem to reflect this division—not that the Bible doesn’t speak to these issues, there just seems to be a lot of peripheral issues that people are hung up on
-But, if we look in Scripture, we see that God does give us counsel about these things. God gives wisdom. The Bible isn’t just a book of theology and doctrine, but it is also very practical—and if we desire wisdom for this election, I know that we won’t find it anywhere else except in the Word of God.
-So, we find that the book of Proverbs gives us some ideas about what makes for a good leader, and it then also touches upon what makes for a bad leader. The idea being that you seek and pray for a good leader and avoid a bad leader and pray you don’t have one of those.
-The chapter we are looking at today is in a section of Wisdom of some sayings of Solomon that were collected by King Hezekiah, both of them being some of the wisest leaders of Judah—who better to tell us what makes for a good leader than words from Solomon that are compiled by Hezekiah.
-Today, I just want the Bible to speak about some principles and leave it at that. I am not going to espouse my own political views. If you couldn’t tell by past comments, I am very wary and cynical of politicians anyway. But I know that the Word of God is central here at Harvest Baptist Church and I believe the Bible does have some things to say about having good leaders in a nation. So, it is quite appropriate that we look at Proverbs to maybe give us some wisdom.
-I want to quickly look at six contrasts between good and bad leaders, and leave you with four personal lessons to take away—all of it will go quickly and painlessly—but I pray for you and myself that this passage will help you find wisdom as you approach this election this coming Tuesday.
~So, have your Bibles open to Proverbs 29 and we are going to be jumping around to the appropriate verses
I) A Good Leader Pursues Righteousness; A Bad Leader Pursues Wickedness
I) A Good Leader Pursues Righteousness; A Bad Leader Pursues Wickedness
-That seems pretty straight forward, but it was important enough to mention in Scripture in various ways
When the righteous increase, the people rejoice, but when the wicked rule, the people groan. (Prov. 29:2 ESV)
-A good leader does what is right according to God’s standards, but the bad leader, loving wickedness, despises God’s definition of right and wrong
~To be someone who calls right wrong and wrong right is a dangerous place to be—God warned through Isaiah:
Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! (Isaiah 5:20 ESV)
-But that is the MO (Modus Operandi) of people who deny God’s standards—even to the point that they hate those who stand up for God’s standards:
- Bloodthirsty men hate one who is blameless and seek the life of the upright. (Prov. 29:10 ESV) –the wicked hate all that is righteous and just according to God’s Word; they cling to wickedness and seek to do harm to the godly—but the good leader seeks righteousness as God defines it and seeks justice for the good of all people.
-And as if it is not bad enough that the bad leaders cling to wickedness, they, by their example, lead others to do the same: If a ruler listens to falsehood, all his officials will be wicked. (Prov. 29:12 ESV) –but in contrast, a good leader rules based on the righteous truth of God: If a king faithfully judges the poor, his throne will be established forever. (Prov. 29:14 ESV)
II) A Good Leader is a just steward; A Bad Leader gives heavy burdens
II) A Good Leader is a just steward; A Bad Leader gives heavy burdens
-How does a leader administrate the people and resources under his influence?
-By justice a king builds up the land, but he who exacts gifts tears it down. (Prov. 29:4 ESV)
NKJV/KJV/NIV/NASB=takes bribes; but the word really speaks about breaking the back of people with demands for monetary gifts.
-What it is pointing out is that a bad king exacts heavy financial demands upon the people to squander it on irresponsible or corrupt pursuits, or even for his own pet projects or even his own comfort and riches----a bad leader takes as much as possible from the people financially to the point that their very livelihoods are at stake.
~A bad leader will so overtax their people that the people are poor while them and their cronies are living high and mighty—instead of taking care of the people, in their minds the people are supposed to take care of them
-A good leader, on the other hand, is upright in his dealings with the finances of the people under his care----he only takes what he must and spends wisely for the benefit of the kingdom. They are a just steward, administrating in ways that are pleasing to God and to the people
III) A Good Leader shows no favoritism; A Bad Leader shows partiality
III) A Good Leader shows no favoritism; A Bad Leader shows partiality
-Bad leaders only lead on behalf of the people whom they favor, or who give to their causes, or who back their pet projects; while good leaders show justice toward all peoples
The poor man and the oppressor meet together; the LORD gives light to the eyes of both. (Prov. 29:13 ESV)
-This verse tells us that God deals with people the same way no matter the status they might hold: whether rich or poor; black or white; rural or urban; American or Canadian—and it is then implied that since that is the way God is, a leader ought to be the same way.
-For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. (Matt. 5:45 ESV)
-A good leader, following God’s example, treats all people fairly and equitably regardless of societal stamps or stigmas.
-A bad leader, though, shows favoritism to certain peoples or groups, and makes decisions for their benefit to the cost and detriment of other people, leading to the resentment between different classes of people.
-We are warned My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory.
2 For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in,
3 and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, "You sit here in a good place," while you say to the poor man, "You stand over there," or, "Sit down at my feet,"
4 have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
(Jas. 2:1-4 ESV)
-Whether a person is rich or whether a person is poor, one should not be favored over another, but treated equally and fairly=and that is what is done by a good leader.
IV) A Good Leader upholds God’s moral law; A Bad Leader seeks to increase sin
IV) A Good Leader upholds God’s moral law; A Bad Leader seeks to increase sin
-When the wicked increase, transgression increases, but the righteous will look upon their downfall. (Prov. 29:16 ESV).
-The more that wicked people/bad leaders are allowed into the forefront of a nation’s decision-making process, the more society experiences moral decay----As the wicked keep tearing away at godly standards, the very fabric of society unravels and sin abounds.
-It has been shown throughout history time and time again that the more that ungodly leaders are allowed to rule, and the more ungodly leaders grow in their ungodliness, the faster a society crumbles—it was true for the Roman Empire, because the Roman Empire was destroyed from within, not without--and it will be true for America.
-But a good leader knows that the good of a society is completely dependent upon following God’s morals by the power of the Holy Spirit, and seeks to uphold them for the prosperity of those that they lead.
-A bad leader will actually try to twist God’s moral law around—they turn it on its head such that they call what God says is evil good, and then vice versa, like I mentioned earlier
-Any leader that tries to pass off evil for good not only has woe coming upon them in this world, but also for eternity.====any leader that dismantles godliness by using cute phrases to cover up the ugliness of sin has now been duly warned==ABORTION IS NOT A CHOICE, IT IS MURDER; LGBTQ IS NOT AN ALTERNATIVE LIFESTYLE, IT IS A PERVERSION and AN ABOMINATION
-That doesn’t come from me, that comes from God’s moral law—the law that leaders ought to be upholding above all others
V) A Good Leader respects the Word of God; A Bad Leader ignores the Word of God
V) A Good Leader respects the Word of God; A Bad Leader ignores the Word of God
-We ought to wonder what authority is driving their life and politics—what worldview directs their decisions?
Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law. (Prov. 29:18 ESV)
-When the divine revelation of God is stifled, when instruction in God’s truth is rejected, all moral restraints are removed----then what happens is that you get a society that looks much like the description in the book of Judges where it says that EVERYONE DID WHAT WAS RIGHT IN THEIR OWN EYES.
-Bad leaders try to prevent the Word of God from exerting any influence on a society, which eventually leads to moral and political anarchy----when you remove God’s Word, your prisons will overflow with criminals…violence rises…you get more tragedies and untold evils…immorality runs rampant==all because you silenced the Word of God, and it couldn’t do its work in people’s hearts.
-Good leaders know that true blessing for a nation is one where God’s inerrant, infallible Word is front and center, whereby people conform themselves to its demands----then and only then is a nation and a people blessed of God.
VI) A Good Leader humbly lifts up others; A Bad Leader arrogantly lifts up himself
VI) A Good Leader humbly lifts up others; A Bad Leader arrogantly lifts up himself
-The actions of a bad leader is for his or her own political benefit, while the actions of a good leader is actually for the good of the people
One's pride will bring him low, but he who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor. (Prov. 29:23 ESV)
-A good leader maintains a servant spirit, where he doesn’t rule people as an overlord, but as a shepherd----he knows that the Bible clearly states Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." (1 Pet. 5:5 ESV).
-A bad leader serves only himself, and will be very disappointed to find out that in God’s way of doing things But many who are first will be last, and the last first. (Matt. 19:30 ESV)
-These are just a small portion of the contrasts that God’s Word makes between the different leaders—I pray you use this wisdom from the Book of Wisdom as you make your decisions in the days to come.
-I thought it would be good, though, to also walk away with some personal lessons when it comes to this election.
1) Do not place all your trust in frail, imperfect human leaders
1) Do not place all your trust in frail, imperfect human leaders
The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is safe. Many seek the face of a ruler, but it is from the LORD that a man gets justice. (Prov. 29:25-26 ESV)
-God is the only One Who is trustworthy and able to bring true justice.
-No human can promise you complete security in life, but God alone can secure you for eternity----no matter who wins the election on Tuesday, it doesn’t affect God one bit, and it doesn’t change the fact that Jesus Christ is still King of kings and Lord of lords.
-If you are a Christian, trust God with the result of whatever happens on Tuesday: The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will. (Prov. 21:1 ESV)==God is in control of the leader.
-If you are not a Christian, hear me now—the politicians make a lot of promises, but they can’t promise where you will be when you die—they can’t promise you where you spend eternity—God has made only one plan and provision for that: GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST…
2) Pray for our leaders and our nation
-No matter what happens, God will still answer prayer, it doesn’t matter who is in the White House or the Court House.
-God told Jeremiah while he was in the midst of the very wicked Babylonian Empire But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. (Jer. 29:7 ESV)
-And while Paul was in the middle of the very wicked Roman Empire First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people,
2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.
(1 Tim. 2:1-2 ESV)
-With that in mind, how much more, then, should we pray for the United States.
3) No matter the outcome, do not tarnish your Christian witness
Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work,
2 to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. (Tit. 3:1-2 ESV) ----whether your candidate wins or loses, remain peaceable and gentle and humble at all times.
4) Go out and vote
-That is a privilege that most people in history never had, but you do, so do it.
-Having looked in Proverbs, I pray we gained some Biblical wisdom for this election—this is going to be ugly no matter what, but if we remember anything, we remember that this earth is not our home, we are just passing through. Jesus is King of the kingdom where we truly reside.
-But, using the wisdom of God’s Word, let it lead you to vote for the one who will be the good leader according to God’s standards
~Neither candidate is necessarily Christian in the true sense, no matter the claims they make. But maybe some words from the late Norm Geisler can help us along:
We are not voting for a cult [of personality]; we are voting for a candidate. If the person is pro-life, pro-family, pro-American, pro-free market, and pro-Israel, then vote for him regardless of his religious affiliation. If I need a good doctor or a good attorney, I don’t ask about his personal convictions but about his professional competency. Martin Luther once wisely said, "I would rather be ruled by a competent Turk than an incompetent Christian."
-Dr. Norman L. Geisler
-Christian, I invite you to come to the altar to pray for the nation; or maybe you need to pray for some wisdom and insight.
-If you are not a Christian, just know that no candidate for office can save your sinful soul and bring you to heaven in God’s presence—only Jesus Christ…