Whenever presidential election years arrive most of us can hardly wait until election day comes so that we no longer have to listen to political ads and supposed news reports that purport to tell us this failings and deceit of the members of one political party or the other. This year seems to be particularly nasty. Many of us have seen how polarized this nation has become as both the left and the right vie for political power. There is not much of it that one could call good for this nation.
Our nation seems to be evenly divided between those on the left who see more government involvement as the answer to most of our economic and cultural problems, and those on the right who believe many of those same problems are a direct result of too much governmental control.
I am personally convinced that this unparalleled polarity is a wonderful opportunity for Christians to make the difference in the 2012 national elections. We have a God whose desire is to see His creation come to Him. If we keep in mind that God wants to redeem all people, then we need to understand how important it is for His people to stand in the gap. It is His people, when they call on Him, who will make the difference.
There are good Christians on both the left and right politically. There is very little that could be said here that will change any one’s political leanings. But I do believe it is not only important that Christians prayer over this nation and the upcoming election, I believe they have a moral responsibility to do so. We have a responsibility to match the candidate’s record and actions against Scripture. This means the Christian has the responsibility to seek the truth about each candidate, and each party.
This involves more than simply praying and waiting for the “voice of God” to guide us to the right choice. We must not only search scripture, but we must look beyond all the political talking points we see every day, and do honest, unbiased research to determine if what they say, and what is said about the candidate, coincides with what are the actual facts. We must not become like the nation of Israel of whom God said, “I searched for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I found no one.” (Ezekiel 22:30 NASB)