How Do I Vote? Part 3: Psalm 72 

I started to wrestle with the fact that Mitt Romney is a professing Mormon and Barack Obama speaks the language of Christianity.  Now I wasn't born yesterday.  I know full well that politicians are a slippery breed.  Their words and public persona are groomed and spun to give us the public image that will cause people to vote for them, back them and elevate them to positions of political power. I don't distrust all politicians all the time - that would be cynical without proper foundation.  However, I believe what a politician does more than what he or she says. 

On the face of it, Barack Obama's words tell us he is a Christian with a thoroughly biblical understanding of the divinity of Christ and the atoning completed work of Christ on the cross, and the freedom we have in the resurrection.  Check this video out to see what I mean.  Told you.  Those words are good words.  They affirm a biblical, historical, orthodox view of Christ.  Those words bring glory to Christ by explaining to millions of people who Christ is.  They may never have heard it before, but Barack Obama said those words.  Yes he did.  And yet, do his policies and values reflect Jesus Christ?  In part yes, in part no.  I think that he seeks to implement just laws and to protect the humble and needy in our society.  However, if I am an unborn child, I think I might have some issues with his values.  Let's not get caught up in one-issue politics here.  I am trying to take a broad view.  The world is not a simple place, so let's review our politicians across the whole spectrum of what we ask of them: foreign policy to domestic policy; social ethics to business policy; financial policy to military philosophy.  So his words honor Christ, but his policies are a mixed bag.

Then there is Mitt. Let me be plain and simple without being disrespectful. Mitt is a Mormon - a member of the so-called 'Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints'.  This is not a Christian church.  It is a sect, at best.  They are not Christian because they fail each of the key criteria of what has historically and generally been considered to determine what is Christian: They deny the divinity of Christ.  They deny the Trinitarian understanding of God.  They deny that the cross atoned for all sin.  They deny the resurrection as the guarantee of eternal life for all who place their trust in Christ.  Period.

Hint: anytime a belief-system either takes away something from Christ, or adds something to Christ, that is a red flag that they are not biblical, historically orthodox Christians.  Mormons cannot affirm the basic creeds of the Christian Church - the Nicene and Apostle's creed.  They supplement the Bible with the unChristian 'Book of Mormon'.

Don't misread me here. I like Mitt Romney.  He seems like a decent guy.  I like Mormon people.  They have great family values that put most Christians to shame. They really seem like decent people with strong family values. That's great. But they deny the true Christ and substitute Him with a false, corrupted version of him, that many people won't know is a false 'christ'.  If Mitt becomes President, then Mormonism will gain credibility and respectability and a false version of Jesus will be elevated in the public mind, to the likely detriment of the gospel.   I like Mitt, I like many of his polices (not all of them), but he denigrates my Lord by subscribing to a modern sect that is essentially gnostic. 

So who do I vote for now?  A man whose words honor Christ but who's policies I mostly do not agree with (I am speaking just personally for myself at this point), or a man who dishonors Christ with his religion, but who's policies I tend to agree with more?   I need further thought on this.

Now to Psalm 72.  Read the whole Psalm but especially verses 2, 3, 4, then 7 and 12, 13, 14:

   2 May he judge your people with righteousness,

    and your poor with justice.

    3      May the mountains yield prosperity for the people,

    and the hills, in righteousness.

    4      May he defend the cause of the poor of the people,

    give deliverance to the needy,

    and crush the oppressor.

    7      In his days may righteousness flourish

    and peace abound, until the moon is no more.

    12      For he delivers the needy when they call,

    the poor and those who have no helper.

    13      He has pity on the weak and the needy,

    and saves the lives of the needy.

    14      From oppression and violence he redeems their life;

    and precious is their blood in his sight.

These words reflect the social ethic of God as expressed throughout the whole Bible. i select them because they are representative and summarize what the whole Bible tells us is God's heart and mind.

I conclude that I should vote for the candidate in any election that lives out these values. That is honoring my citizenship of heaven first, and letting it shape and direct my actions and choices as a citizen of a nation.  Could I vote for a non Christian President?  I think so, if he or she lives out these values.  Sure, I would prefer if they were Christian.  I notice in my Bible that God uses plenty of pagan rulers to do His will.  Think of Cyrus for one. You could name a dozen more.  Could I vote for a Roman Catholic candidate, a Mormon candidate, or even (gasp!) a Muslim candidate, if they implemented and lived out the values expressed in Psalm 72.  yes, on balance, i think I could.  After all, I am electing a civic official, not a church leader.  Would I prefer the true name of Jesus be glorified in our public life.  Certainly.

Am I finished thinking this through?  No.  I am continuing to pray and so offer these blog posts to elicit thoughtful, gracious, prayerful, intelligent response.

Please don't react.  Sleep on it.  Then let me know what you think.

Thanks!