Lars, you are absolutely right. God has chosen to use the church, the body of Christ. Does He need us, no, but He has chosen to use us and from the day of Pentecost on- He chose the body and bride of Christ to be His hands and feet on this earth. In John 16:7 Jesus spoke to the disciples saying that “Nevertheless I tell the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart I will send Him to you.” The Holy Spirit is now living inside each believer on this earth and moving and working in ways that are far above anything we can imagine. God alone has power and He is supreme in His power.
You referenced Matthew 6:24, “No one can serve two masters; for either he will love one and hate the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” This is absolutely one of the best ways in which I see the life of a Christ follower shown through the words of Jesus. If you look into the Greek meanings of the words, in this passage, it makes it come to life so much more. The word serve here in this passage is douleuo (strong’s# G1398) which is a derivative of the Greek root doulos (G1401), this word would literally mean slave in its original context. Specifically defined as: One who is in a permanent relation of servitude to another, whose will is completely subject to the will of another. And then again looking up master and finding Kurios (strong’s# G2962) meaning: controller or one in supreme authority. Through this scripture it is such an amazing reminder that as we have declared Jesus Christ, Lord of our lives, we have now chosen that He is our supreme ruler and we have forfeited our own will and have become subject to His! Desiring not only to obey Him, but to trust Him and walk in the Spirit, keeping in line a moment by moment relationship with Him. Being how this is what I personally desire to do, to continue daily living in submission to the King and Kings, I find it hard to understand how you connect voting to it all. How can you reference my action of going to a voting booth and acting upon my God given right… or what you would reference as my “privelage” to vote as an act of serving, or in Greek enslaving, myself to another master, or supreme authority. It doesn’t quite work for me.
I will continue to choose to live for Him, and as I daily ask Him to guide my every thought, word, and action, this may lead me to the voting booth. Now, who I am going to vote for should not be an issue here, but there are certain said policies that will also be chosen with the candidate that I choose on the ballot. If so lead, I know there is always the final option on the ballot… “NONE OF THE ABOVE.”
This is now my question for you, friend: “How will not voting make a difference?”
I agree in that God alone has power, and He has said that we have power to do NOTHING (John 15:5), BUT if we abide in Him we have the true power to effect change in this world. Now, I don’t believe this power is being used fully in any tangible form or way through most of what I have seen, especially of the Body of Christ in this country. However, I choose to believe it can and I desire as you, to see a change made through the body. As I take a stand and begin to go out in obedience to what Christ calls me to do- I know His hand will be seen and His power will change things. As far as voting and making a difference goes though, I don’t see them as mutually exclusive. I humbly propose, that we can do both (if the Lord so calls). I think going to hang out with poor people in Reno, could very well be a way in which Christ wants to be seen through us, so perhaps after I cast my ballot I’ll drive my car an hour away to do just that. On the other hand, I may just be lead instead to walk down the street and spend time in the word with some ageing children of God in convalescent home down the street (this would even preserve some of the non-renewable resources we know as gas, in my car). Either way, when I go cast my vote, it is nice to remember that I have already chosen who is President or I mean supreme authority of my life, and that this is not the question that will be on the ballot, but rather as an informed citizen and power filled Christian I will walk in the will of my God and do what He asks of me.
As for me, I choose to be an extremist for love, which also leads me exercise my right to vote. As Shane Claiborne says, “There are times when injustice will take us to the streets and might land us in jail, but it is our love for God and our neighbor—not our rage or our arrogance—that counts.” I would however, encourage you to continue to walk in His ways and to be challenged by the complacency that it seems we, as a body and bride or Christ, have found ourselves in. Frankly, I’m sick of it too. I would love change the way things are, and will demonstrate His love in all I can, but instead of merely continuing in my apathetic ways and discussing my ideals, I’d prefer to put some action behind all of the talk… so let’s make a difference (and perhaps not so proudly and loudly…).
As you referenced:Giving to the Needy 1"Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2"So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 3But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
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