Alexis de Tocqueville said that there are two things that can destroy America. First, America can be destroyed by the rich and powerful who buy their way into office and use their wealth and power to exploit the poor. Second, America can be destroyed when people discover that they can vote for personal largesse. Either of those will destroy a nation and turn it into the tyranny of the majority. When economics are politicized, when people are enouraged to vote their pocketbooks rather than their conscience, national destruction will follow.
I heard one candidate in a presidential race say again and again that he planned to create a tax relief program for 98 percent of Americans. What about that other 2 percent? Are they to be robbed for the financial gain of the 98 percent? That is not God's way. The Israelite tithe was established on a level playing field. Everybody was required to pay the same percentage; there was no graduated or progressive income tax in Israel. Nobody can play politics with the tithe. Some paid one hundred times more than another, but all paid the same percentage. He would not allow somebody to vote a tax on his neighbor that was not a tax on himself. If you vote for a 98 percent tax reduction, you are simultaneously voting for a 2 percent tax increase on others, an increase that you likely do not have to pay. That is not justice. That is not equitable. It is legalized theft, and we do it every day.
For years in England William Wilberforce lost vote after vote year in and year out when he pled with parliament for the abolition of slavery, but slavery was so connected to the economic welfare of England that his cries of protest went unheeded. He kept arguing and pleading and calling upon Parliament to stop the ungodly activity of man stealing. Finally England's conscience was moved and slavery was abolished. Slavery is the second worst ethical issue ever to divide the United States of America. Even more serious than slavery is the governmental sanction on the wanton destruction of 1.5 million unborn human beings every year in this nation. My book about abortion, A Rational Look at an Emotional Issue, went quickly out of print. Ligonier has provied educational materials for churches, but pastors won't use them for fear it will divide their congregation. I say, "So what? Let it divide the congregation. We're talking about the sanctity of life here."
The Didache, one of the most important extracanonical books of the early church, didn't shrink from calling abortion what it is - murder - and said the church must never be involved in it. Today it has become part of the acceptable fabric of America, and nobody is crying foul. The church is not asking at this point for the state to become the church when we tell the state to stop sanctioning this holocaust. The church is asking the state to be the state, because the primary reason for the existence of the state in the first place is to protect, maintain, and sustain the sanctity of human life. When a state ceases to do that, it has become not only pagan but barbarian.
The primary issues in the presidential elections of today are involvement with the Middle East, terrorism, and the economy. Abortion is way down at the bottom of the list. Personally, I could not sleep if I ever cast a ballot for a candidate who supported abortion on demand. That trumps every other ethical issue of our time. I plead with you as Christians that when you walk into the voting booth, don't leave your Christianity in the parking lot. Let your mind be informed by the Word of God. I have been studying theology all my life, and if I know anything about the character of God, I know that God hates abortion. There are other ways to deal with unwanted pregnancies than the physical destruction of the unborn. So I hope you vote your conscience, not your vested interest or your pocketbook. I hope you will vote for righteousness and justice as your conscience is informed by the Word of God. Until or unless we do that,God will give us leaders after our own hearts, which is a scary thing.
by R. C. Sproul, ACTS, a St. Andrew's expositional Commentary, Published by Crossway
Ligonier Ministries at www.ligonier.org
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