Go Out and Vote

This is John Stonestreet. Today is Election Day, so please, go vote. And to encourage you, I’d like for you to hear from our old friend Chuck Colson. Stay tuned to BreakPoint. If you knew Chuck Colson, or even just heard him on the radio, you knew he was a man of great passion. Passion for the prisoner, for justice, and especially for the Gospel. Not surprisingly, he was also passionate about politics. And by politics, I mean being involved in the life of the polis, the life of the community and the nation. If you have any doubts as a Christian whether or not you should vote in today’s mid-term elections, please listen to what Chuck has to say. I don’t think you’ll hear a better explanation of why we as Christians, out of love for God and our neighbors, must stay involved in the political process. So here’s Chuck Colson on the importance of voting.

So, have you voted yet? If so, well done. If not, as soon as this broadcast is over—or as soon as you’re off work—I want you to go and fulfill your Christian duty to be a good citizen and go vote. And while you’re at it, call a few of your Christian friends. Find out if they’ve voted yet. If not, tell them that you’re going and you’ll be glad to stop by and pick them up. Now is not the time to buy into the lie that your vote doesn’t really matter. As a result of my Watergate felony conviction, I lost the right to vote for 28 years. When my right was restored, I was able to vote in the 2000 presidential election. That year, the national election—the presidency—was determined by just 500 votes in Florida. Mine was one of those votes. So your vote does matter. And let me say this. The next time you hear someone tell you that Christians ought to take a vacation from politics, tell them to go fly a kite! Listen, it’s our duty, as citizens of the Kingdom of God to be the best citizens of the society we live in. If your pastor no longer has energy or courage to motivate his flock to speak out on public issues, maybe you can lovingly “buck him up.” Remind him or her that God’s people are to love their neighbors, to desire the best for them, to pursue the common good. And we can’t do that on the political sidelines. When a rabid secularist tells you to stop forcing your religion down his throat—simply correct him. You might say, “Excuse me, but who is suing the government to remove crosses from cemeteries? Who has filed lawsuits to remove ‘under God’ from the Pledge of Allegiance? Who’s trying to tell doctors and nurses and pharmacists that they have to participate in medical procedures that violate their religious conscience? Who’s banning Bibles from schools? In other words, who is forcing their point of view on whom? We Christians are simply trying to PRESERVE and PROTECT the rights and liberties that we Americans have enjoyed from the founding of our Republic. We are the ones who take seriously our nation’s founding creed: that “all men are created equal and endowed by their CREATOR with certain inalienable rights, and that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, meaning virtue.” Our founders recognized that true rights come not from government, but from God Himself. Government must not take those rights away. And to protect those rights, we must vote. Yes, the elections are upon us. Don’t be intimidated. Do not retreat to the sidelines. Go out and vote for the candidate of your choice. Vote as your conscience informs you. And yes, allow your faith to inform your conscience. But today of all days, thank God we still live in a free nation. So speak out. Exercise your right. Fulfill your duty. Go and vote.

Well, if you weren’t sure whether or not you were going to vote today, I hope Chuck helped you reach the right decision. So please, go vote today and vote your conscience.

FURTHER READING AND INFORMATION

Go Out and Vote: Election Day 2014 Celebrate your right to cast a ballot by showing up at the polls and voting your conscience.

FURTHER READING AND INFORMATION

Chuck Colson Would Be Proud of Billy-Graham’s ‘Endorsement’ Dr. Timothy George | The Christian Post | October 31, 2012 Billy Graham Ad Encourages Voting Biblical Values CBN.com | October 21, 2012

11/4/14