EDITORIAL
By Pastor Darrell Morgan
As I sit here writing, we as a community and a nation are in the middle of choosing the leaders who will guide our city, our county and our nation for the next two to four years.
At the founding of our nation when the people wanted to know how to vote, they usually went to their local church and listened to ministers who taught them what the Bible had to say on the subject. I personally believe that we as a nation today need to explore or re-explore this subject.
In Romans 13:1 we read that all authority is of God; notice that it does not say everyone in authority is of God. So we can see that God set the government of our world to be ruled by people over us and people under us. Let’s take a look at a story from the book of Matthew that stresses this point.
In Matthew 8:5-13 we see a centurion approaching Jesus to heal his servant. When Jesus agreed to come to his house the centurion exclaimed, “I am not worthy you should come under my roof, but speak the word only…” Verse 9 says, “For I am a man under authority having soldiers under me. “ In verse 10 it says, “…Jesus marveled and said,…’I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel.’”
What did the centurion recognize in Jesus? He saw that the miracles Jesus did were because He was a man under authority, therefore he was a man in authority.
So, the next question we must ask is: Are the men and women we are voting for under authority and, if so, whose authority are they under? If we know American history, we can see that our founding fathers did not set themselves up as final authority. They made it very plain that God and His Word would always be the final authority, or say so, in all matters of government. So much so that they printed it right on the coins that we carry - “In God We Trust”.
Proverbs 29:2 says, “When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; but when a wicked man rules, the people groan.” I cannot think of a better scripture that depicts America today.
So, what are we looking for in our leaders, because we all know that people are not perfect? The #1 question I always ask is: Are they a Christian - does their life exemplify their confession of faith? The #2 question: Is their personal life under the authority of God and His Word?
If not, I will not put my name on them or endorse their leadership – and neither should you!
Darrell Morgan is the Senior Pastor at The Word of Life Church in Apopka
http://www.wordoflifeapopka.com/
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