The Church & Politics

We give You thanks, Lord. We praise Your name. Praise Your name. Amen. Isn't it wonderful to be in the presence of the Lord on a Wednesday night? Amen. While you're standing, I'm going to read a verse of Scripture. It's found in Philippians chapter 3, verse 20. I'm going to be using the New King James. It's great to be with you tonight. We appreciate Pastor Shaw and the invitation to speak to you. And this has been quite an unusual year. My wife and I, of course, we were shut down like all of you for a couple of months, but then we've been traveling since May, and it's been a different experience, but quite an unusual schedule. So my schedule's completely changed every few weeks. So we were able to be here for a few days, and going to be here a few more days in November and December.

So, looking at Philippians chapter 3, verse 20, New King James Version, it says: "For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ." So I'm going to be talking about the church and politics. And you may be seated. The church and politics. But I want to start with: our citizenship is in heaven. We love our country. We love our nation. We're blessed to be here in America. But we're very aware that our citizenship is not just here, but primarily it's in heaven. And we're very aware that our ultimate solution is not going to be a politician; it's not going to be a law; but it's the Lord Jesus Christ. And so that's where we start.

But we are living in this world. So we're citizens of a heavenly kingdom, and so we're united with people all across the globe — brothers and sisters of many different races, nationalities, languages. Of course, that's what heaven is going to be like: if you read the book of Revelation, people from every tribe, every tongue, will be gathered around the throne worshiping God — all the different races, all the different nationalities — but we'll be worshiping together. That's what heaven is going to be like, and that's what the church down here should be like. But while we're down here, we all have — even though we do have these different backgrounds — we're all called by one name, the name of Jesus. We all have one Spirit, the Holy Spirit. And we all have the same blood, the blood of Jesus Christ that cleanses from all sin. So our citizenship is in heaven. We look at however many years we're going to live down here — 70 years, 80 years, however many years it's going to be — well, that's only a small fraction of our total life, because in eternity we'll be with the Lord. So our citizenship is in heaven. But of course, what I'm going to talk about tonight is what we're supposed to do while we're here on earth. So we have a heavenly citizenship, and we have an earthly citizenship.

Now, I'm going to share some Scripture. For the sake of time, I'm going to just refer to some that you can read at your leisure; others we'll slow down and take the time to read. And so, in thinking about our earthly citizenship, our earthly home: the psalmist David — of course, he was writing originally to the nation of Israel in Psalm 122:6 — he said, "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem." I think that's a good statement for all of us today, but in the original context he was saying: pray for your nation's capital. The focal point of the nation of Israel was the city of Jerusalem, and the temple that was in Jerusalem. So if you go by what the Old Testament says, we're supposed to pray for our own nation; we're supposed to pray for our own capital. And then the book of Jeremiah, chapter 29, verse 7 — it's talking to people in exile — and it says: whatever city you go into, pray for the peace of that city. So even though you may be in a pagan country, like Babylon — because the Babylonians conquered the tiny nation of Judah, and many of the Jewish people were taken into captivity — but Jeremiah says, even if you are taken into a strange country, another city, pray for the peace of that city, because if that city has peace, you will have peace. So even though our citizenship is in heaven, we actually live in Austin, Texas right now, or the surrounding area. So it's in our own best interest to pray for Austin, or Round Rock, or wherever you live, or Texas — because if our area prospers, then we're likely to prosper.

Now, I'll just say this little thing here: the word "peace" in Hebrew — you might have heard of it: shalom. But it means a lot more than what we might think of just by a translation of the English word "peace." It does, of course, mean peace, but it encompasses wholeness, health, welfare, well-being. So if you pray for someone's peace, or you say "peace be unto you," it's not just meaning "don't get into a fight," but it's saying: I hope you're in health; I hope you're well; I hope you prosper; I hope your life is fulfilled. And so to pray for the peace of our nation, and to pray for the peace of our city, means we pray for its safety, its health, its welfare — for the people to prosper, to do well, to have security, wholeness. So that gives us a little bit of idea of how we should pray for our own city, our state, our county, our nation, our world.

Now, sometimes — since we as Christians, our citizenship is in heaven, and since we know this world is full of sin, and everywhere we go we talk about politics, we see people that do things we don't agree with — and we're supposed to vote, but yet some of the people that we would choose to vote for are living very imperfect lives, and some of the laws that they want to pass may not correspond completely with God's plan — and so we have this struggle. So some people say, well, just stay away from politics altogether. But that doesn't seem to be what the Bible says. Some people say, well, you can't be involved in secular government in any way, because it's sinful. Well, unfortunately, if you work on a job, you're going to be faced with sinful situations, right? If you go to school, you're going to be faced with a sinful situation. So as long as you're in this world, you're gonna have to deal with these things. It's not just government that's the problem; it's humans that are the problem. So how do we, as Christians, live in a fallen world? How do we work on a job where you've got sinners? And how do you go to school where you've got sinners, and where you hear some things that you as a Christian would rather not hear? You see some people do things that you as a Christian would rather not do. Well, that's not just limited to politics. That is what it means to live on planet earth in 2020.

And we do find examples in Scripture of actually godly people participating in secular, pagan governments. I won't take a lot of time, but Joseph became a leader in Egypt. God used him. Daniel became a leader in Babylon, later in Persia. His friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego became leaders — those are their pagan names; their actual Hebrew names are Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, but they're better known by their pagan names, because that's the names that were used in government. Of course, Queen Esther was greatly used by God in the Persian Empire. We have those examples where godly people served in secular governments. But notice: they did not compromise their convictions. They maintained their commitment to God, even when they were pressured to bow to idols — they refused. When they were told they needed to eat the king's food, which didn't correspond with the Jewish dietary laws, they refused. So we have examples of people who served faithfully in high positions of secular government, but they did not compromise. They did not engage in the sin around them. So it is possible to serve even in government capacities.

The Apostle Paul was a Roman citizen, and when he was persecuted for his faith, he reminded people: wait just a minute, I'm a Roman citizen; I have certain rights. So he appealed to the law. It's okay. Now, we're not supposed to sue brothers and sisters in Christ, but sometimes it is appropriate to stand up for our legal rights. The Apostle Paul did so. Cornelius — if you read Acts chapter 10, verse 1; I'll read from the NLT: Cornelius was a Roman army officer, captain of the Italian regiment. So he had a high position in the military. Another man you may not have heard of: Erastus was a Christian in the city of Corinth, and you can read in Romans 16:23, according to the NIV, he was the city's director of public works; or the NLT translated, he was the city treasurer. So we're not quite sure the exact equivalent in modern terms, but it was a high position in the city government of a very well-known city in the ancient world, Corinth. And he was the city treasurer, or the director of public works. He was in the inner circle. He was next to the mayor — although they didn't call it a mayor; I'm not sure exactly what they called it — but he was right up there in the inner circle of political position of a major city in the Roman Empire. A Christian, a member of the Corinthian church. He spoke in tongues. He was baptized in Jesus' name. And yet he served. So we do have these examples.

So let's ask ourselves: well, how are we supposed to relate to our secular government, our secular society? Let me give you some passages of Scripture that you can read later. Romans 13:1-7 is one passage that talks about the Christian's relationship to the government, to the state — Romans 13:1-7. And another passage is First Peter 2:13-17 — First Peter 2:13-17. Now, these two passages give general guidelines, and what they say is: we should be good citizens; we should obey the law; and we should pay our taxes. So if anybody thinks, well, you know what, the government's so sinful, I don't think I should pay my taxes — well, don't tell the IRS that, because they might arrest you. But actually, the Apostle Paul said you should pay your taxes. You should obey the law. You should be a good citizen. You should respect authority. And he wasn't talking in Romans 13 — he wasn't talking about church authority, although obviously we're supposed to respect church authority — but he was talking about secular authority, because he says the secular leader bears the sword, and he doesn't bear the sword in vain. What does that talk about? That's talking about the police force, or the military. It's talking about capital punishment. Saying: look, if you disobey the law, the government can cut your head off with the sword, and so you need to obey the law. So the basic principle is: Christians should be law-abiding citizens. We should cooperate.

Now, you might say, well, what about if there's an evil law? What about this? What about that? Well, let me just hasten to add: in these two passages, the Apostle Paul and the Apostle Peter — which, by the way, would be the two most foremost apostles of the New Testament, if you're looking for the highest authority; of course, Jesus Christ, and His apostles, especially the Apostle Peter and the Apostle Paul, more than any others you would think of as representatives, or spokesmen, or leaders of the church — and so both Peter and Paul agree. And by the way, Jesus also said to pay taxes. In that famous passage of Scripture where somebody — the Jewish people, of course, you have to understand, they were under the Roman government, so it was a dictatorship. The Romans had conquered their land, so it wasn't like an elected representative that you're supposed to honor. It was this foreign dictator, the emperor, that you're supposed to honor. He was a dictator. He was a foreigner. He had conquered your nation by force. And so some people came to Jesus — some Jewish religious leaders — and they said: should we pay taxes to Caesar? They thought they had Him caught, because if He said yes, then all the Jewish people would say, you mean you're supposed to honor a dictator who conquered our country? But if He said no, they would say, you mean you believe in disobeying the law? Let's call the authorities right now and arrest You. And so Jesus said: well, give me a coin that you pay taxes with. So they brought a denarius, which of course had the image of Caesar on the coin. He says, "Whose image is on this?" They said, "Caesar's." He says, "Well, give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar; give to God what belongs to God." Well, they couldn't really argue with that, could they? He wasn't saying obey and worship Caesar, but He was saying: give Caesar secular things, because he's a secular ruler; give God spiritual things, because He's the spiritual ruler. And so, even if it's a dictator — and thankfully we do have a democracy, at least in some ways — and so if someone gets elected, even if it's not the person we want, we're still supposed to respect them for their office and follow the law. Okay? If the early Christians were supposed to obey the evil dictator, foreign oppressor Caesar, then at least we should try to cooperate with our duly elected officials. Doesn't mean we agree with them. Doesn't mean they're right.

Now, that is, of course, if you read it carefully: the Apostle Paul in Romans 13 explained the role of government is to punish evildoers. So even though it's a dictatorship, they did catch criminals. You know, if somebody broke into your house and robbed your house, they would catch that person and deal with them — probably execute them. Or somebody murdered someone, they would catch them and they would execute them. So even though they were evil dictators, they fulfilled the basic functions of order and peace and justice in society. Now, of course, what Paul doesn't address: what happens when the rulers actually do the opposite? Well then, that's a different story. And of course Romans 13 doesn't go into that. What if there's an evil, unjust law? What if there's a law that's contrary to God's plan? It doesn't go into that. It just gives the general principle: when government is trying to keep order, government is trying to punish evildoers, we should be good citizens. We shouldn't be the robbers and the thieves and the murderers and the criminals. We should be the law-abiding citizens.

Now, you know, somebody says, well, if you break the speeding law, are you sinning and going to hell? Well, I don't know that that's criminal law. I had one teacher that said: well, it's not a sin, but if you go faster than the speed limit, the angels get off of the car, and you're on your own. So maybe that's the way it works: as long as you're keeping the speed limit, the angels are protecting you, but once you pass the speed limit, they get off and you're on your own. I don't know. But I would say, as a law-abiding citizen, if you do speed and you get caught and you get a ticket, then you're supposed to pay it. You're a law-abiding citizen. So, or you show up in court and explain why you don't need to. But in other words, you're not supposed to disobey. And even if it's some infraction of a civil nature, not a criminal nature — which every one of us have done something like that — well then, you pay what you owe, you take your punishment, and then you're still a good, law-abiding citizen. Okay. Now, that's getting a little too close to home, maybe. So we could debate: how many miles over the speed limit is it okay, and still maybe the angels won't know or won't care, or, you know, just where is that? I'll leave some things — some things you have to leave between your own conscience. I can't tell you everything. It's between you and the Lord. But my main point is: we're supposed to obey the law.

But it doesn't really discuss what happens when maybe the government is doing the opposite of what a government's supposed to do. We do have some hint of that in Acts chapter 5, when the apostles were arrested, and they were forbidden to preach Christ. Well, even though that was the government, still: obey the Lord, and preach the gospel. You can't stop being a Christian. You can't stop worshiping God. You can't stop preaching truth. And so what did the apostles do? They kept preaching and teaching Jesus. They were arrested and asked, why are you breaking the law? And the Apostle Peter said, in Acts 5:29: "We ought to obey God rather than men." So I'm not saying that government is infallible, and I'm not saying that we follow it into sin, because there is a higher law: we ought to obey God rather than men. But as a general rule, we as Christians want to be known, and want to be, law-abiding citizens. That's what we're supposed to be. We're supposed to be a good witness.

Now, we are thankfully — we're not in a dictatorship; we're not in the Roman Empire; we're not conquered by a foreign ruler. We have what's called a republican democracy. And if you go back and read the Declaration of Independence, or even the US Constitution, what you'll find: we're a democracy in that it's government by the people. The people ultimately have the final say. We have rulers or leaders, but they lead with the consent of the people. So we don't have a monarch, a king. But our leaders are elected, because ultimately they're accountable to us. So that's a democracy. But it's a representative democracy. So a perfect democracy would be: every law — 330 million Americans, or whatever portion are voters — they would have to vote on every law. Well, obviously that's not very practical. So we elect representatives, and that would be Congress, for example, or here in Texas, the state legislature. So, you know, millions of people can't vote on every single thing, so we elect leaders who will pass the laws. So that's called a representative democracy, or a republic. It's a republican democracy.

And what's really interesting, if you want to study this out — and I find it fascinating; in fact, I just got finished reading a book called America on Trial, which talks about the founding of our nation. It's kind of a little deep philosophical book, but it makes a very important point. It says — of course, you may or may not know — but the US Constitution is the first constitution of its nature that would provide for a government like I just described, a republican democracy, and it's still the oldest living constitution in the world. So what we take for granted — when America was founded, there was no nation in the whole world that followed these principles. We were the first. Now, there are a few partial experiments, like ancient Greek city-states and a few small entities that had some type of democracy. But what I've just described — there was no nation of the world that was a republican democracy. All the nations of the world were led by kings, dictators. They didn't have what we take for granted.

But the book that I read — and I've done some other study — this type of thinking actually arose from the Christian faith. It doesn't mean America was exactly a Christian nation, but here's the point: the reason why we believe in a republican democracy is because, first of all, we believe in one God, and we believe that all of us are accountable to God. The highest authority is not the king or a dictator; the highest authority is God. And every human being has been created in the image of God. That comes from the Bible. That doesn't come from Greek philosophy, or Hinduism, or Buddhism. It comes from the Bible. And because every human being is created in the image of God, every human being has certain rights that you cannot take away. The government didn't give you — and the government didn't give you life, so therefore the government doesn't have a right to take your life, unless you have forfeited it through some heinous crime, such as murder. You are accountable to God. So you have freedom of conscience. The government doesn't have the right to tell you what to think, because you have a relationship with God that came before there was a government. And so things like freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of peaceful assembly — the Declaration of Independence says these are unalienable rights. They're rights that cannot be taken away from you. Government didn't give them; government can't take them away. Why? Because God gave them when He created you as a human being in His image, with a will, with knowledge, with a relationship, and with a responsibility to serve Him. That God gave you that. So the government has no right to interfere with that. Now, if you commit a crime, the government can put you in jail. But they have no right to tell you what to think, to tell you who to worship, to tell you what to say. That was given to you by God.

Now, we take that for granted, but when America was founded, there was no nation in the world that followed that. We were the first. And it was based on this belief in God, and humans created in the image of God. And so from that came a lot of other things. Equal justice under the law: it doesn't matter if you're rich, poor, black, white, whatever — you're a human being, you're created in God's image, you should be treated fairly, same as everybody else. Of course, that was our ideal from the Declaration of Independence: all men were created equal. Obviously we didn't fulfill that when it came to such horrible things like slavery, but that was our ideal. And thankfully, over time, we've tried to get closer and closer to that idea. But notice: that comes from our belief in God, and that comes from our form of government.

I'm taking a little time to share this because — okay, also our economic freedom. So think of it like this: you're created in the image of God. God has given you life. So you have ability — you have ability to think like God; you have an ability to create things. Human beings can paint pictures that nobody's ever thought of; they can write music, poetry; they can invent machinery; they can build a house; or they can create things with their hands and their minds that nobody else has ever thought of. We have that creative ability. God gave us that. The government didn't give us that. So that means we have a right to our own work, our own labor. So there's your economic freedom. The government didn't give you that ability to think, and that ability to make things with your hands. And so your right to have a job, and your right to support your family — that didn't come from government; that came from God. So that means: yes, the government has to function, so therefore it has to charge taxes, and that's reasonable. That's like anything else: you have to pay for what you use. The government builds roads; the government has a police force to protect people. So yeah, we've got to pay taxes. But our basic labor — that didn't come from the government; that came from God. And then if we work hard, and we grow our own crops, then we have a right to eat that food. The government doesn't have a right to take it away from us. Of course, in our modern economy, we don't all grow our own crops and make our own clothes. So what we do is we have transactions using money: where I do one form of labor, you give me money, then I can buy all the other stuff. So it's kind of an agreement, but that money represents your labor. It represents your time. And if you buy a house with that money, that house represents so many hours of your labor, so many hours of your time. So in essence, private property is something that government didn't create. It comes, ultimately, from God. Are you following me? So our belief in economic freedom, private property, the ability to own our own home, to grow our own crops, or to do some other form of work and get compensated so we can buy food — the government didn't create that. God is the one who gave you that. So there's a basic principle that each person gets to have the fruit of their own labor. If you go back to Genesis: by the sweat of your face, you will grow food. So that's part of God's plan for us.

Okay. I took all that time to say that under our system, then, we believe in a limited government. Government only has certain purposes. And if you believe in God, the highest purposes are beyond what government can do. Government is supposed to give us security and safety, so we can pursue the higher goals. Let me give an example. Let's read from First Timothy chapter 2, 1 through 4 — First Timothy chapter 2 — and this will show us what the limited role of government is, and how it fits into God's overall plan. First Timothy 2:1-4. And I'm just going to stick with the New King James. First Timothy 2: "Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority" — okay, notice: we're supposed to pray for our secular government. Why? So they can do their job. What is their job? "That we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." So the government's job is to give us peace and safety and security, so we can serve God. But what are we supposed to do? We're supposed to live a holy life. We're supposed to win souls. We're supposed to preach the gospel. The government's not supposed to preach the gospel. The government is supposed to secure our rights, so that we can preach the gospel.

Now, here's the problem, and this is what we're facing in America today: if you take God out of the picture, then rights come from government. And what the government gives, the government can take away. And then majority rules. But in America, the majority rules, but the rights of the minority are protected. So the majority can vote for a president, but the majority can't vote to outlaw our religion, because that's an unalienable right. But when you take God out of the picture, there are no rights except what government gives. And if government is ruled by the majority, then the majority can say, you know what, your form of Christianity is not allowed anymore. Or, if you insist on your form of Christianity, you're going to be taxed for it — because there's no higher authority. And that becomes the tyranny of the majority. So we believe in democracy; what we don't believe is that any form of government — not even a democracy — is absolute, because we believe there are certain rights that we have from God that no government, not even a democracy, can take away from us.

When you take God out of the picture, you take away rights. But another thing you do is: then now government has to supply all the needs. And this is what we're finding today. Human beings still long for peace, for meaning, for purpose, for value — and that comes from serving God. But if there is no God, then people look to government to supply their needs. They look to government to give them a happy family. They look to government to give them all these things. And so what you find is, the secular people start using politics as their substitute religion. You wonder why there is such hatred and attacking. It's not just like, well, your party has a wrong policy; it's: your party is a heretic; your party is a false doctrine; your party has a false god. Because when you take away belief in God, people are going to substitute. And so for them, politics becomes their higher meaning. But the true purpose of government is to give us security, safety, peace, and harmony, so we can pursue God's will for our lives. And the government can't tell us what God's will is. But when you take God out of the picture, then now the government starts telling you how you're supposed to live your life. And that's what's happening in America today. So we as Christians have to speak up, to say: wait a minute, you can't take away this.

So what do we do as a church? Well, let me be plain. As a church, we do not, and should not, promote political candidates or parties. Why not? First of all, we want everybody to come to church. I don't care if you're Democrat, Republican, or independent. I want you to come to church, and I want you to be saved. And so if I try to make statements that are political, then you might not even feel comfortable coming, and you won't get saved. So the purpose of the church will be thwarted, because we become excessively political. However, that doesn't mean the individual shouldn't care. No — I do think individuals should be participants. Now, we've already seen in Scripture, we should pray. So at the least, if you're a Christian, you should pray for your government. You should pray for leaders. You should pray for elections. Now, the Bible doesn't say, go out and vote. Why not? Because there was no vote; it was a dictatorship. But since we do have that right under our democracy, and since I've explained to you the evolution of that form of government actually came from biblical principles, then I feel like certainly we should vote. So I plead with you — I think you already have to have been registered — but you need to vote. I'm not going to tell you who to vote for, or what policies to vote for, but you need to inform yourself: city, state, national, referendums, propositions, whatever — learn what they mean, and get out there and vote, because your voice needs to be heard. If we want to protect our freedoms, we have to participate. Praise God. So I would challenge you to pray and to vote.

Now, as individuals, you can also be involved in other things. You can support candidates. You can run for office yourself. That's all fine. I showed you the examples of the Old Testament of people involved in government, and the New Testament examples of government. And I think we should vote according to biblical values. Now, here's the problem: there's probably no candidate that's going to perfectly represent us. Okay? So you look at candidate A: they may have some moral sin. Candidate B may have a different sin. Candidate A may have some moral sins, but some good biblical policies. Candidate B might have no gross moral sins, but bad biblical policies. So who are you going to vote for? And that's why reasonable Christians could have different opinions on different candidates. So we have to agree to disagree. But the point is: in an imperfect world, we're not looking for someone who's our pastor. Okay? We're not voting for the pastor of Austin, or the pastor of the US. We're voting for someone who has the policies that we feel will best fulfill our needs. And what policies are those? We're informed by biblical values.

Now, another point is: not all biblical values can become public policy, because we're in a pluralistic society. So like, we as Christians, we believe we should abstain from alcoholic beverages, because we know of the devastation that that causes. But in America in the 1920s, they tried what was called Prohibition. It didn't work. It actually led to more crime, because you can't really legislate holiness. I do think we need good laws. But when you have a pluralistic society, where many people aren't even Christians — and some who are don't have the Holy Ghost — you're not going to be able to fulfill all moral laws. This is not a theocracy. So in that case, you have to decide which policies are more workable and more important. So we're not trying to find perfect candidates who would be our pastor. And we're not trying to implement every belief that we have. We're not trying to legislate all people dressed like we think is appropriate. We're not trying to outlaw cigarettes and tobacco. We're not trying to say that all forms of sexual immorality should be punished by people going to jail, because that's not practical in the world we live in. Okay? So we as Christians should — could disagree on which policies and so forth. But we should bring our values into play in deciding who we're going to support. And we need to make sure to hold government accountable, that it stays in its place. Like I just said: government should not trample on our rights. It should be limited to its proper function, and it should not step into places where it doesn't belong — where the church belongs, where God belongs. So that's our big concern in our society: is to make sure we vote for candidates, and we vote for people who will choose judges that will respect the limits of our Constitution, and respect our religious freedoms. To me, that's first and foremost.

Now, in that regard, I'd like to read another passage of Scripture: Zechariah chapter 7, verse 9 through verse 10. Now, the Old Testament prophets are full of admonitions for society, because they were dealing with real injustices in society. And I don't have time to go into all that — in fact, I'm just going to take a few more minutes here tonight — but these are a few important minutes, I think. I'll just give you this one example from the prophets, in Zechariah chapter 7, verse 9 through verse 10: "Thus says the LORD of hosts: Execute true justice, show mercy and compassion everyone to his brother. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien" — that's the foreigner — "or the poor. Let none of you plan evil in his heart against his brother." So what rings loud and clear: in our society, we should work for justice; we should work for mercy; and we should work to help the vulnerable, the most needy. So many of us have good jobs; we have good lives; we're not subject to being unjustly treated. But look for the people in our society that are hurting, that are needy. And we could say, well, they should work; they should do this; they should do that. And I realize, at some point, everybody has to take responsibility for their own lives. But we as a nation can try to facilitate and give opportunities. We can't completely give everybody everything they want or need, but we can try to create a fair, just, and merciful society that gives everybody maximum opportunity. That's why I think economic freedom — that's why I'm against socialism, because it's well-meaning, but it doesn't work. It actually takes away opportunities.

So the Bible gives the examples of the widow, that in that society — particularly if a woman's husband died, she didn't have a means of support; there's no easy way for her to make a living — the fatherless (and we have lots of people that are fatherless; some, their fathers have died, but many, their fathers are just never in the picture, or left the picture; well, they're still needy and deserving of support), and so the foreigner — so the stranger among us, the immigrant — and the poor. So we should have policies that try to help people in our society.

Now, let's try to put this all together. Now, here's going to be — you're going to get — I've tried to be as biblical as I can, and support what I'm saying by Scripture. But how do you apply this practically? Who to vote for? Well, I've already told you: I'm not going to tell you that — what policies to vote for. Well, I don't have time to tell you all that, but I believe, based on everything I've said, there are four priorities that every Christian should look at when you decide who you're going to vote for, what policies you're going to support, what parties you're going to support. I suggest you look at these four big things.

The first one is freedom. To me, everything depends on freedom of conscience, freedom of religion. If you don't have that, you're gonna lose everything else. So we need to support people who will respect and uphold freedom of conscience, freedom of religion, speech, press, peaceful assembly, and protection of religious institutions. So what's happening: they're going to go against churches and say, well, if you don't support our agenda, we're going to tax you. Or they're going to go — it's businesses now. I think a business should not discriminate; it should treat everybody fairly. But a business should not be required to support functions or speech it doesn't agree with. So if a KKK member says, I want a KKK barbecue, and I want you to give me the barbecue — a private business ought to be able to say, I'm against racism; I'm not going to do that. You're not discriminated against the person — the person might be a KKK member, and they come and buy something; that's their privilege — but you don't have to support their activity. You see what I'm saying? So there needs to be protection of our freedom of conscience. That's the first thing: freedom.

Second thing is justice. The church needs to stand for civil rights for everybody. It needs to stand for equal justice under the law. We've heard a lot about minorities being discriminated against, and maybe even without people fully realizing it, some have borne the brunt of being discriminated against, even to the point of mistreated by the police. So we believe in upholding the law, but we believe that the law officers must be accountable, right? So that's what I'm talking about: justice for everybody, civil rights, equal justice under the law, the rule of law. But we're against anarchy. We're against looting and burning; that's wrong. But we also believe that law enforcement officers need to be accountable to do their job, and to treat people justly and fairly. So that's what we say: we're for justice across the board.

Number three: respect for human life. We believe humans are created in the image of God, so we respect all humans. We respect human life. And of course that starts with the unborn. It includes the most vulnerable, as I've said: people like seniors, the poor, minorities, immigrants. We want — now, we can have policies when it comes to immigration; obviously every nation has to have policies — but we can still treat people with respect, with kindness, with courtesy, as humans. Especially those who have been mistreated historically. There's nothing wrong with saying we want to take special efforts to help those who have been mistreated in the past, or even in the present. So that's why I mentioned the poor, the minorities, the immigrants. That's because we respect human life. Now, that also means support for families, because as I said, one of the biggest sources of vulnerability is absent fathers, absent husbands. And so if we have policies that support families, that's going to help the poor, the needy. So families are worthy of support. And of course, respect for life means we want a defense against terrorism or state aggression. So as a nation, we have to have a defense against these kinds of things. And I also would single out the nation of Israel. Do you know, the nation of Israel, even to this day, is the only democracy in the Middle East? It's the only country in the Middle East that has freedom of religion. It aligns with our values, and I also believe that it aligns with the plan of God. That doesn't mean Israel is perfect. That doesn't mean we have to support everything that government — Israel — says. But we should support their right to exist, because God is the one who gave Israel that land, and that right to exist. So part of our defense of human life should include making sure we try to help the nation of Israel.

Okay. And then the fourth is economic freedom and opportunity. As I've said, economic freedom is what's going to help all of us. Socialism and communism sounds great in theory, but the problem is: humans are sinners, and they're not going to fulfill a utopia. We have to have a system that balances the needs of everyone. And so when I say economic freedom and opportunity, I'm saying: government should be limited; regulation should be limited as much as possible; we should have local self-determination. And of course that involves things like providing education, health — because if you're not educated, how can you really have a good job? If you're not in good health, how can you work? So the government has a role in helping us in these areas. The environment: we need a good environment, clean air, clean water. So I'm not giving you specific policies, but I'm saying part of economic freedom is not just making money, but it's all these other things that help us all to be able to have good jobs and a good economy. All of that comes together.

Okay, so let me summarize. Obviously I've covered a lot of ground. And when I mention something like health, or education, or environment, or the poor — obviously, you could have different policies. You could have Republican Party policies, Democratic Party policies, on all these things. So I'm not making a political judgment. But I'm saying these are the kind of things that we should carefully evaluate: which is best for our country, which most closely aligns with biblical values. So I suggest we look at: freedom, first and foremost — if you don't have freedom, everything else falls. Freedom, even over security: we have to have freedom. Second: justice. Third: respect for human life. Fourth: economic freedom and economic opportunity.

So here's my summary: we're not going to have a perfect government until Jesus Christ comes back to earth and establishes His kingdom. Praise God, that is going to happen. We do believe it. So we're not striving for perfect government. Actually, we're striving for limited government — that government fulfills its role, so the church can fulfill its role. We don't want government to do everything. We don't want government to try to put perfection on us, because we know that'll never work. And the most scary people are those that think they have an answer for everything — those that think they can have a perfect government. You know why? Because they will use force to enforce it. Because they think their way is the only way, they will take away all rights to implement that. That's what Adolf Hitler did. That's what Joseph Stalin did. That's what Mao did. Did you know communism killed over a hundred million people in the 20th century? Their attempt to impose utopia over people who didn't agree — they were willing to kill people in order to put heaven on earth. Well, it never got to heaven on earth, did it? So our ultimate hope is not in government, but in Jesus Christ.

So in a few weeks we have an election. Some people are going to be happy, and some people are going to be disappointed. Let me just say: to those who are happy, it's not going to be as good as what you think. And to those that are sad, it's not going to be as bad as what you think. Because you know what? We're going to still have church. I don't care who gets elected president. I don't care who's elected the city council. I don't care who's elected senator — I mean, I care — but at the end of the day, it's not gonna change one thing I do. I'm gonna still pray. I'm just gonna worship. I'm just gonna go to church. I'm gonna love one another. I'm going to try to be just and fair and merciful. So the government's not the answer to my problems. I want a good government. I want the right people. I want the best policies. But my hope is not in the government. I refuse to be depressed over who gets elected. I might be discouraged for a few hours; I refuse to let my day be ruined by whatever an election brings, because my hope is not an election. My hope is in the Lord Jesus Christ. And I'm going to speak in tongues just as much the next day as I did before. Praise God.

The most important thing — and I close: I want you to pray for our elections and our leaders. I want you to vote. I want you to carefully inform yourselves according to godly values. And I hope some of you will start participating more. We're a big church. I'd like to see some of you participate in Austin politics — it could use Christian voices — or Cedar Park politics. We did have, one time, one of our members was elected to the city council of Cedar Park. So I hope we can get more people involved in practical ways. But at the end of the day, the most important thing that all of us can do is share the gospel of Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Ghost. If we do that, we can do more to change human hearts, human destinies, and do more to change our community than all the politicians in the world. I do respect the job that good officials do, but I'm saying: at the end of the day, the most important thing we can do is preach the gospel of Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit, because that is the ultimate solution for Austin, Texas. Can we praise the Lord together? Amen. Let's worship the Lord together. Amen.