“Now when Jesus saw great multitudes about him, he gave commandment to
depart unto the other side. And a certain
scribe came, and said unto him, Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou
goest. And Jesus saith unto him, The
foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath
not where to lay his head.
“And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord suffer me first to go
and bury my father. But Jesus said unto
him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead. And when he was entered into a ship, his
disciples followed him. And, behold,
there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with
the waves: but he was asleep. And his
disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish. And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O
ye of little faith? Then he arose, and
rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.”
(Matthew 8:18-26)
 |
| Dr. Rick Flanders |
The election year of 2016 has
presented Christian voters with unusual challenges and dilemmas. At the
beginning of the primary season, a surprising number of the candidates running
for their party’s nomination for the office of President were individuals with
credible professions of personal faith in Jesus Christ. Not that people who have been born again must
vote only for other born-gain Christians, but candidates who give a testimony
of salvation certainly attract the attention of other believers. But now most of these Christian candidates
have fallen by the wayside in the political process, and the candidates that
are left trouble us with dirty jokes, gutter-level profanity, harsh insults, unethical
tactics, and obvious dishonesty. Some of
them are very vocal on the wrong side of issues that necessarily matter to
believers, such as religious liberty, human life, the family, private property,
the legalization of drug abuse, the public recognition of God, and
religion-based terrorism. Not many
months ago a leading candidate made the statement that “deep-seated cultural
codes, religious beliefs, and structural biases have to be changed” in order
that the progressive agenda be fulfilled.
In many ways, the Christian element in society, which at one time
supported the undergirding values of our culture, feels threatened by the
political scene, and the actors on the political stage. When Election Day comes, should they vote
their conscience, or for the lesser of two or more evils, or shall they stay
home and let the devil have the country?
This year confronts us with facts that press us to re-consider our most
important commitment.
My suggestion is that, at this
pivotal time in the life of our republic, every Christian cast their vote for
Jesus Christ! A fundamental problem in
America is that the people who are the light of the world have let their light
grow dim. In the Sermon on the Mount,
Jesus declared that His would-be followers are “the light of the world,” and He
urged us to let our light shine (Matthew 5:14-16). He also warned us that when we lose our focus
on the Kingdom, our light darkens (get the point of Matthew 6:19-34), and
remarked, “If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is
that darkness!” Shallow discipleship,
and lack of focus on the Kingdom in the Christians has left our once-Christian
society open to moral and spiritual decadence, and the moral decline has produced
our cultural, societal, and political problems.
This year, the big need is for believers in Jesus Christ to forsake all
and follow Him.
Christian discipleship is a
prominent theme of the book of Matthew from the beginning to the last
chapter. And chapter 8 tells the story
of some men whose commitment to follow Jesus was tested. In verse 8 we find Jesus commanding His
followers to get into a boat and ride with Him to the other side of the Sea of
Galilee. In verse 19 we are introduced
to “a certain scribe” who said to Jesus, “I will follow thee whithersoever thou
goest.” The Lord answered him (in verse
20) by explaining that He and His followers have no certain lodging night after
night. Then “another of his disciples”
is introduced who said, “Lord, suffer [allow] me first to go and bury my father.” In other words, he would follow Jesus after
his father died because of responsibilities that event would bring to him. Jesus responded by saying bluntly, “Follow
me; and let the dead bury their dead” (verses 21-22). In other words, the true disciple must not
put anything ahead of following Him. The
narrative continues with Jesus getting into the boat, and His disciples
following him and taking their places in that boat. As they travel across the lake, a storm comes
and threatens to capsize the vessel and drown all of them. The followers of Jesus are recorded as crying
out at this point, “Lord save us: we perish.”
But then Jesus said to them, “Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?”
(verses 23-26). He had told them at the
first that they would go “to the other side,” and if they had taken His words
seriously they would not have doubted that their journey would be successful in
spite of the storm in the middle. Of
course, the situation turned out right, and everybody learned another lesson
about Jesus and what it takes to follow him (see verse 27).
The shallow commitment of these
would-be disciples of Jesus speaks loudly to the problems His followers in our
country seem to have today. Many think
they are following Jesus but are still insisting on a certain level of comfort
in the experience. Others insist on
putting something else, perhaps something personal, first and ahead of what the
Lord might call them to do. Very many who
get a relatively good start in following Jesus give up when they run into
trouble along the path of faith. The
problem with America is not really with the Republicans (although they do have
obvious problems) or with the Democrats (although they have created some
serious problems) or with the rich (who nevertheless have often been characterized
by unethical conduct) or with the working class (although many of them have
been fooled by various radical versions of atheistic socialism); it is with the
Christians who give so little of their lives to Christ. The country would be affected by a change in
who runs the government, but certainly not nearly as much as it would if
believers in Christ would experience a revival.
And any believer can experience revival, as well as influence others to
revival, by just choosing (voting) to deepen their commitment. There is something that you can do to turn
this upside down world right-side up, and a true Christian probably knows what
it is. Decide the issue that stands in
the way of full fellowship with Christ, and decide it on His side. Vote for Jesus Christ this year. Cast your vote in favor
of taking up your cross!
And there are ways that the
shallow Christian can move in the right direction on this very day:
1. If
you get up early tomorrow to pray, you are voting for Jesus Christ.
2. If
you take Gospel tracts with you as you leave home, planning to distribute them,
you are voting for Jesus Christ.
3. If
you will humble yourself in order to ask a family-member for forgiveness, you
will be voting for Jesus Christ.
4. If
you finally deal with the sin-issue today that has ruined your spiritual life
for weeks or years, you will be voting for Jesus Christ.
5. If
you stop right now, get on your knees and surrender your life without
reservation to the Lord, resolving to do His bidding no matter what, in a significant
way you will vote for Jesus Christ.
So let me suggest that it is time
for Christians in this country today to go to the polls and vote for their Lord
and Saviour, intending to carry out His agenda and let Him heal their
land. Leave your complacency,
lukewarmness, and comfort to join the revival movement on this day.
Dr. Rick Flanders
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