by Eric M. Hamilton<\/p>\n
“This is the most important election of our lifetime.” I am quite certain I’ve heard that every four years since I started paying attention to politics. For some people, including many Christians, this refrain is a powerful one. It can fill people with a sense of urgency and dread. If the vote goes the wrong way and the wrong leaders get elected, what will happen to our country?<\/p>\n
Certainly, concern about our country, the stability of life, and the leaders who make decisions affecting such things are important and mentioned in the Scriptures. “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all<\/em>,” (Romans 12:18) the apostle Paul exhorts us. Our desire and aim should be for a peaceable life with all people. And the quality of a leader can have a major impact on the quality of life of the land he rules. We are told, “by justice a king builds up a land<\/em>” (Proverbs 29:4a) and “this is gain for a land in every way: a king committed to cultivated fields<\/em>” (Ecclesiastes 5:9). A king focused on building up the prosperity of his country and ruling with justice will benefit his entire country and would certainly go a long way toward that peaceful life Paul talks about.<\/p>\n In the period of the judges, when there was no stable leader, the nation fell into sin and was invaded by foreign nations, cycling between peace and instability. The author of Judges sums up the period in these words: “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25), lamenting the lack of true leadership that led to this disarray with the nation of Israel.<\/p>\nEven when Israel had a king, the quality of the king had a direct impact on the prosperity of the kingdom. Just as an example (of which I could have chosen from many), it says of King Jehoahaz in II Kings 13:2, “He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin; he did not depart from them.<\/em>” Notice that the quality of That seems like something to avoid. Unlike the children of Israel, who had little choice in king, our “king” has been divided into different government branches, some of which we elect. We individually have a small (but sometimes pivotal) impact on the leaders we have. And we can get very caught up in elections, very certain that we should vote one way or the other. On top of\u00a0that, there is the urgency and fear that the “wrong” candidate might win. Pushed along by political messaging, we begin to sink into despair, fearing the worst because we know history and how bad things could get with the wrong leaders. And we begin to think that if this or that politician isn’t elected then our nation will be doomed.<\/p>\nShould this be the Christian’s response to the emotional weight of elections? It is so easy to be carried away, either in fear by the uncertainty of the future or in ecstasy by the charisma of certain Instead, we should have a different relationship with our leaders. We need to recognize that “there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God<\/em>” (Romans 13:1), and that we are to “fear God, honor the emperor<\/em>” (I Peter 2:17). And lest we think this is only a directive for “good” governments, Paul and Peter give Christians these commands who lived under Roman rule, hardly a model of godly governance. Christians are expected to live righteously regardless of whether they find themselves under a good king or a bad king.<\/p>\nThis attitude is found among the godly throughout the Scriptures as well. Despite the general moral by Eric M. Hamilton “This is the most important election of our lifetime.” I am quite certain I’ve heard that every four years since I started paying attention to politics. For some people, including many Christians, this refrain is a powerful one. It can fill people with a sense of urgency and dread. If the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[310],"class_list":["post-70613","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-government"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":91026,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/political-discourse\/","url_meta":{"origin":70613,"position":0},"title":"Political Discourse","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 4, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Zeke Flores Political discourse is like the Las Vegas of Christianity; it's an environment in which we think our sin is excused.\u00a0Christians feel free to go wild, fear is perpetuated, strife is intentional, and hate is winked at. The thing is, what happens in this \"Vegas\" doesn't stay there;\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":32024,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-happens-when-social-issues-and-politics-collide-with-the-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":70613,"position":1},"title":"What happens when social issues and politics collide with the church?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 28, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What is your opinion of where sinful social issues and politics collide in the church? To be honest, I am not sure where I am at on it.\u00a0 It seems that we are dangerously close to the Lord's church being driven underground.\u00a0 Looking back at history we need to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":32636,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/religion-and-government-patriotism\/","url_meta":{"origin":70613,"position":2},"title":"Religion and Government: Patriotism","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 26, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Ken Green Patriotism is defined as \"Love for or devotion to one's country.\" Some consider patriotism a form of idolatry. Others wrap the cross in the stars and stripes and make little or no distinction between them. They associate loyalty to their nation with loyalty to God. Many churches\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":25643,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-a-christian-vote\/","url_meta":{"origin":70613,"position":3},"title":"Should a Christian Vote?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 1, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Matthew 5:13-16 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0David Lipscomb was a famous preacher from the late 1800's and early 1900's \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0He wasn\u2019t an apostle. He wasn\u2019t inspired. But he was a knowledgeable man, and his words carried a lot of weight. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0He taught that it was a sin for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":35246,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/safe-in-the-midst-of-counsel\/","url_meta":{"origin":70613,"position":4},"title":"Safe in the Midst of Counsel","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 12, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Charles N. Spence, Jr. Sentry Magazine, September 1999 The wise man said in Proverbs 11:14, \"Where there is no counsel the people fall, but in the multitude of counselors there is safety.\" In an age in which people want to do their own thing and go their own way,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":37736,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-wrong-to-find-your-own-mate\/","url_meta":{"origin":70613,"position":5},"title":"Is it wrong to find your own mate?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 11, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, I am extremely thankful for your guidance in my spiritual life. But until we die, we have to keep fighting Satan. Things could have been gone easily, but they are not. I was brought up in a very reserved family. I am not comfortable talking freely to my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70613","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70613"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70613\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70613"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70613"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70613"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nJehoahaz did not simply stay with Jehoahaz, but as king, he had a direct impact on his subjects: “which he made Israel to sin<\/em>.” We find this countless times throughout the Bible: the goodness or evilness of the king has a direct impact on the character and quality of the entire nation. The declining quality of kings and of the people led directly to the captivities of the Assyrians and Babylonians.\n
\nleaders, that you can lose yourself. But as Christians, we need to be sober-minded in all things, including our attitudes toward our leaders and the processes we use to select them. The Psalmist warns us, “Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation; when his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish” (Psalm 146:3-4). Whether our leaders are good or bad, they are mortal, and things will change. We cannot rely upon a man, even the best man (or woman), to save us from a decline in our nation. It is unwise to place our hope for the salvation of our country on any <\/b>politician. Instead, “it is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man; it is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes<\/em>” (Psalm 118:8-9).\n
\ndecline of Israel during the period of the judges, men like Boaz lived according to the law of Moses even if his countrymen did not. God told the Prophet Elijah that even under the rule of the
\nevil King Ahab, “seven thousand in Israel, all knees that have not bowed to Baal<\/em>” (I Kings 19:18) remained. And a faithful remnant was saved through the captivities and returned to the land of Israel. Despite bad kings and bad circumstances, there were those who remained faithful to God.\nSo regardless of how the upcoming election goes, and regardless of what the future may hold for our country, as Christians, we ought to place our faith in the Lord and live by faith no matter what
\ncomes.\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"