Responding to Tyranny as Christians, John Frame on Why We Should Vote, and Staying Spiritually Grounded Amid Political Upheaval
AN IDEA FROM ME
How Should We Respond to Tyranny Now?
So now what? Now we can be free from fear of punishment, pain and disapproval. Jesus took on all the condemnation this world could muster, and He shook it off. United with Him, we have nothing to fear, and everything to gain by obeying God. Yes, we might die (implied by Jesus Himself in Matthew 16:24), but they can never truly harm us.
Does this mean we will go around looking for laws to transgress, in the name of resisting tyrants to obey God? No. But it does mean that we will faithfully—meaning consistently *and* trustingly—keep obeying God, doing, saying and thinking what He commands, without fear of government, society, or anything else. That's how Jesus won, and that's how we'll win.
"For whoever has been born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world: our faith" (1 John 5:4).
—from “How Should Christians Respond to Tyranny?”
A QUOTE FROM SOMEBODY ELSE
We support government, not because it is savior, but because our God, our savior, has ordained it for [our good].
Does this include unbelieving governments? Certainly. The Roman government was unbelieving. Furthermore, it was involved in much evil, including emperor worship. This was the point that the Jews found so hard to accept. How, they thought, can we serve a government which opposes our God and all of our values? But God had answered this question even in the Old Testament. Back then, he told Israel that if they would not obey him he would place them under the rule of foreign kings- Philistines, Assyrians, Babylonians- to drive them to repentance. God told them not to resist these governments, but to bow their necks (Jer. 27:12) and accept God’s discipline. So today, God calls us to be good citizens, even when the government opposes our values. We are not to withhold taxes or prayer or obedience in order to protest their policies.
—John M. Frame, “Why Should I Vote? Christianity and Politics,” 30 May, 2012, accessed 15 July, 2024, at https://frame-poythress.org/why-should-i-vote-christianity-and-politics.
SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
The past few weeks have brought their fair share of political upheaval. Fmr. President Donald Trump was almost assassinated (saved, I believe, by God’s intervention), and the GOP Convention featured a Sikh prayer to someone called Waheguru (whom the speaker called the “one true God”), not to mention the release of a new platform that is no longer expressly pro-life nor pro-biblical sexuality. Meanwhile, the Democratic Party platform still supports abortion, same-sex “marriage,” transgenderism, etc. Here’s my question for you: how do you stay abreast of political happenings while staying spiritually grounded and not making an idol out of politics?