Vote for people with character

Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry coming to you from Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston. No Compromise Radio is a program dedicated to the ongoing proclamation of Jesus Christ, based on the theme in Galatians 2, verse 5, where the apostle Paul said, but we did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour, so that the truth of the gospel would remain with you.

In short, if you like smooth, watered-down words to make you simply feel good, this show isn't for you. By purpose, we are first biblical, but we can also be controversial. Stay tuned for the next 25 minutes as we're called by the divine trumpet to summon the troops for the honor and glory of her King.

Here's our host, Pastor Mike Abendroth.

Voting, Sovereignty, and Character in Public Leadership

Welcome to No Compromise Radio ministry. We try to get you to think biblically, we try to do it by using provocative subjects, and we try to keep it in that order. After all, if it was just provocative and really biblical, that wouldn't be good.

This is a Christian radio station, and we want to tell you things from a Christian perspective. I'm going to do something now that I probably thought I would never do on No Compromise Radio. Maybe I'm actually compromising.

Maybe I'm compromising my own non-compromised position. The good news is, after all, we're all compromisers. Every listener's a compromiser. I'm a compromiser. And I was gonna say, I'm a listener. But I don't want to be a compromiser, so that's what keeps me going.

And what keeps me going even more, as Jonathan Gershwin would say, even more, what keeps me going is the fact that we worship, that I am allowed to worship, that I have been given the privilege to worship the man, the God-man, Christ Jesus, who, in fact, never, ever compromised.

And so that is a very excellent thing when we think to ourselves, focus on Christ Jesus, the one who never compromises. Voting day is coming up soon. Now, lots of people are mad about the current administration.

Lots of people are glad to have the current administration. You've got Democrats and you've got Plutocrats and you've got Republicans and Independent and Green Party, Purple Party, Passion Party, Purple Passion, you've got all kinds of things.

And they all are vying for election. And of course, we realize in light of Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2 and other passages, some of the gospels, that all leadership is ordained by God, that all leadership is a delegated leadership, that is to say, the authority that people have now, it's a delegated authority, delegated by God himself, and that God is sovereign over all things.

And that should make us feel very good, especially when you don't like the current administration. And you can say to yourself that God's kingdom is one that will be forever. Daniel 6, his dominion will be forever.

And so this God that we serve, he certainly is not off his throne when someone gets elected. I remember in seminary, at the Master's Seminary, when Bill Clinton was voted in as president first term, the next day I went to class, and I would have thought by the actions of one particular gentleman in class that the world was going to end.

But God is sovereign. And it is true what Daniel says in chapter four, "'His dominion is an everlasting dominion, "'for his kingdom endures from generation to generation. "'And we can trust in the Lord.'".

All that to say, I have in front of me a general election voter guide. That is to say, some social questions were asked the candidates, for both governors, state representatives, et cetera. The questions were asked of them and to them to answer.

And I thought it was very interesting because I'm not going to say who said what. Oh, Tim Cahill said such and such. And Steve D 'Amico said blah, blah, blah. I don't care the particular people. I'm trying to get you to think not candidates, not parties.

But I just want you to understand that I'm going to ask some of these questions because these are the questions that were asked to the candidates. And then I want you to realize, basically, how far we've fallen, how far removed we are from being some kind of Christian country.

And I also want you to think through issues like character when you vote. Some people, especially evangelical Christians, maybe some listening today, they're one-issue voters. And that is to say, if the person is pro-choice, that is pro-killing the baby in the womb, that they would not look at anything else.

They don't care about any other social issue, any other kind of economic issue. They would say to themselves, I can't vote for that person. And I'll say a little bit more about that later. But there are other issues that you can ask candidates to figure out where they stand morally, socially, religiously, for that matter.

And you can get right on the internet and figure that out. My daughter just turned 18 and she got to register to vote. And so we thought, well, we better do a little research on some of the candidates and teach her how to vote.

Whether you eat or whether you drink or whether you vote, you should do that to the glory of God. I think it is a privilege for us to be able to vote in a free country. And so I try to vote. Most often, I try to vote.

And I began my voting career for president in 1980, the first time I was able to vote. I actually think I voted for Jimmy Carter in 1980. And then in 1984, I think I wised up. Actually, I just began to make money in corporate America.

And then I voted for Ronald Reagan in 1984. Let's see, in 88, I must have voted for George Bush Sr. 92, I must have voted for George Bush Sr. 96, I don't know, it was probably Bob Dole. I can't keep track of all these things, now can I?

So all that to say, I think you can vote with education. I think that you should say to yourself, if you're a Christian and you don't want to vote, you don't have to vote. But if you're able to vote, I think you should do so.

Not even down the line. Oh, I vote all Republican, I vote all Democrat. I don't want you to do that. I want you to work through the issues so that you can vote intelligently and use the mind that God gave you.

And actually, I'd like to spur you on today, even though I hate abortion, and it is a thankfully forgivable sin, but it is a horrible sin. It is murder of the baby. There are more issues than just abortion for you to consider, especially if you live in the state of Massachusetts.

I'm sure that goes true if you're listening to any other, listening to me in any other state, or we have some overseas listeners, the same issues go there. But we need to remember, you need to remember that you should vote intelligently.

And here are some questions on No Compromise Radio that are on a general election voter guide for the primary election day, November 2nd, 2010. By the way, no matter what happens on November 3rd, 2010, whether Republicans take over the House and the Senate, or the Republicans don't take over either, the world gets hit by a nuclear bomb.

I don't know. Whatever happens on November 3rd, I still know it is true that Daniel 4 says, all the inhabitants of the earth are as counted as nothing, but he God does according to his will in the host of heaven, and among the inhabitants of earth, and no one can ward off his hand, or say to him, what have you done?

We as a people, we as evangelical Christians, need to remember that God is sovereign, not just over our skin color, not just over our parents, not just over what city we were born in, not just sovereign over what hospital we were born in, or the back of a car for that matter, or in your tub at home, not just sovereign over salvation, but God is sovereign over the political environment, and he is sovereign over the Estados Unidos, over the United States of America.

And so I suggest that you vote with intelligence, and you ask questions, because character matters. Character matters. And I think it was not too many years ago when people would say things like this, it's the economy, stupid.

I think most people today are thinking the same thing. It's the economy, stupid. And so let's vote for the people that can help our economy the most. Or maybe you say to yourself, I'm going to vote for the people who have hurt the, I'm going to vote against the people who have hurt the economy the most.

So there's lots of ways we could go about this, but I want to focus on this aspect today. Character matters. And what people believe is a litmus test of who people are. Now you've got to remember that.

You've got to remember that. Don't buy, don't fall for, don't stoop to the false bifurcation. The false bifurcation that says, oh, I am different than what I do. No, out of our hearts, all these things come.

And show me somebody that has bad character, I'll show you someone that I would not want to vote for. I want to vote for people with the right character. Now let's think about it this way. Isn't it the same thing when it comes to local church leadership?

I think it's the exact same kind of principle. And that principle is this. It matters to God, and therefore it should matter to you that people who lead should have the right kind of character. So much so that when you look at the pastoral epistles, both in 1 Timothy 3 and in Titus 1, the character of the elder board and then the deacon board, the character of the elder board is the most important thing.

As D .A. Carson would say, the most remarkable thing about the list in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 is that it's unremarkable. Except I would just add this. You must have remarkable character to lead a church, and I'm going to vote for people who have remarkable character to lead the state and to lead the country.

That's what I'm after. I'm after those who lead the country with remarkable character. When you look at 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1, it's a trustworthy statement. If any man aspires to the office of the overseer or elder, it's a fine work he desires to do.

And then there's a list of things. What I'm not saying is, examine the unbelieving candidates who are running for office and see if they measure up to the New Testament office of elder. I'm not saying that.

I'm simply saying this on No Compromise Radio, that character matters in leadership. And so therefore, I want to know what people who are vying for leadership think and believe about social issues, because that lets me see into their heart more than what they believe about financial issues, economic issues, foreign policy issues, social issues, what we call today social issues.

Many times they're moral issues, and so I want to know what people think about moral issues, and that lets me know what their character's like, and then I can decide whether to vote for them or not, because I don't want to vote for, you know, the characters that are rascally.

I don't want that. And so when the text says in 1 Timothy 3, verse 2, an overseer then must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable. The list goes on and on.

Able to teach. That's really the only thing that tells us what this person does. The rest tells us who he is. So leadership is key for the home. It is key for the local church, and it's key for our country.

So I want to vote for leaders that have character. Now, we're leading all up to this. Here on my voter guide, there are some questions, social questions, and these candidate positions are from candidate questionnaires, voting records, public statements, and other sources.

And so this is a very interesting set of questions. Now, listen to some of these questions. And I think these questions, you should look at your candidate. Do they answer these questions? What do they believe about these questions?

And what's their answer? Because it will tell you, should you vote for such a candidate? Here's one. Number one, would you support Massachusetts citizens' right to vote on a constitutional amendment that would define future marriages as between one man and one woman?

So would you vote on something that would let the people vote on a constitutional amendment to define marriage between man and a woman? And it's very fascinating to see what the governors say, what the state representatives say, et cetera.

And you are going to be very surprised what people say. Now, sometimes it's political expedience. Sometimes they have no backbone. Sometimes they're compromisers. Sometimes they're hypocritical. Sometimes they're just being politicians.

That's why I don't wanna be a politician because by definition, politicians need to increase their platform. And to increase their platform, you've gotta decrease sharp edges of your beliefs because otherwise you're not gonna get the popular vote because it's not a popular subject, especially evangelical Christianity today.

And so if someone says, no, I don't think we should let the people decide, that gives me a little light into what they believe about marriage. And marriage in the Bible is very simple. One man, one woman for life.

That is God's design. And it goes all the way back to the garden with Adam and Eve. And all attempts to somehow make families a place where there's just love to be had. There's two dads or two moms or 18 dads and one mom.

The new polygamy series on TLC with one dad, four moms. I think they're up to 13 kids, but as long as they're love, it's a real family. Marriage defined by God is one man and one woman for life. And the reason why marriage is such a big deal and why quote unquote gay marriage or homosexual marriage is in fact not marriage.

It could be very well in fact a civil union because civilly we say that they can be united. But in God's eyes, it's not a marriage and it'll never be a marriage because of the fact that marriage has shown itself to be a picture of Christ loving the church.

We have Christ not loving himself. We have the church not loving herself. We have Christ loving the church. We have Jesus, the great head of the church who dies sacrificially for the sins of his bride, the one bride, and then he is raised from the dead.

And he is the one and marriage is the one that reflects Christ Jesus and his perfect substitutionary death for his bride. So let's go to question number two. Would you veto the transgender rights bathroom bill or any legislation substantially similar which would allow males to use female restrooms, locker rooms, or any facilities that admit the public including public schools?

So if the bathroom bill is going to happen, that means men, that means boys, that means males of all ages can go in and use bathrooms that are for girls or ladies. So for instance, in junior high, you could have a ninth grade boy who says he's transgendered go into the bathroom where you've got the sixth grade girls and that would be all fine and dandy.

So would you veto that? I think if you can't say I would veto such a bill, then you have no character. You have no moral leg to stand on. I can see that you want votes and therefore you would not veto it.

Whether it's Charles Baker, Timothy Cahill, Deval Patrick or Jill Stein, that's not the issue. What they, and that's not what I'm talking about on this show, but these are good questions to see into the character of the person.

I have children, three girls, and I don't want men, I don't want transgendered men going into the same locker room. What's going to have to happen eventually probably is you're going to have to have three bathrooms, transgendered bathroom, male bathroom, female bathroom, but then you're going to have to have transgendered from man to woman as a bathroom and then transgendered women to men for a bathroom.

And it just gets to be disgusting. And so you ought to ask yourself the question, character should matter for leadership. I actually think you can be an unbeliever and still have good moral character that is compared to society.

That is to say, have a high view of the family, of marriage, et cetera. Not every person who has been a great leader over the centuries has been a Christian. Of course, they're not great in God's eyes.

Of course, they need Christ's righteousness. I would acknowledge that, but there can be character, at least perceived character by other humans that is excellent, and those are the people that I want to lead the country.

Question three, would you veto any taxpayer funding of the Independent Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered Youth Commission, which promotes alternative sexualities in the public schools and in public policy?

Would you veto tax money going to those things? And then you see the answers. Do people veto or do they not veto? As governor, they have veto power certain times, and so will you veto this or will you not?

We are going to pour money, our money, into Independent Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered Youth Commission, and they are going to promote these deviant sins, these heinous sins, these sins that go against God and His will.

God invented sex. God wants us to enjoy sex. God wants married people to enjoy one another, and you can look at Proverbs 5 and Song of Solomon, 1 Corinthians 7. The list goes on, but all sex outside of marriage is not clean, is not righteous, is not wholesome.

In fact, it is sin. The good news is it's a forgivable sin, but it is still, in fact, sin. So whether it's fornication, adultery, bestiality, homosexuality, it is a sin, and I don't want my tax money going to fund sin.

Do you? Would you support legalization of casinos, our slot machines, in Massachusetts? Well, that's an interesting question. Would you support trying to take money from poor, stupid people? That's maybe a better question, but I'm going to get off subject and I better be careful.

Number five, do you support legislation mandating the inclusion of comprehensive health education? You know what that is. In the core curriculum, which would make it a graduation requirement. By the way, comprehensive sex education is what it is.

And that also teaches children on how to get an abortion without parental consent. And you learn about alternative sinful sexualities beginning in about kindergarten. And so would you support that? I don't want to have my politicians support such a crime.

That is to say, a sin. Number seven, excuse me, number six. Do you support Laura's Law, which would require that women consider abortion, receive more complete information about their pregnancies so that women can give more informed consent as is required of every other medical procedure?

And then you see their answers. By the way, if women go in and they see the new ultrasounds of the baby, I just read the percentages last night and I've forgotten. But if they see the baby, the percentages go astronomically up for them to keep the baby.

Because if you see the baby and you see them sucking the thumb and you see the lips and the eyes and everything else, it's hard to kill that baby and to murder the baby in your own womb. And so this is what we want to do.

We want to tell people it's not some blob. It's not some fetus. It's not some tissue. As some of the feminists say, it's not a cancer. It's not some kind of parasite. No, it is a living human being and it is not your body.

It doesn't have your blood type. It doesn't have your DNA. It's a different person and you are the one to protect that baby. And so would you support Laura's Law? Number seven, should the Massachusetts sales tax rate be reduced or increased from the current 6 .25

See, I could really care less about that. Do I want to pay more taxes? No, and I think I could pay less taxes if I didn't have to subsidize sinful procedures like abortion and bathroom bills, et cetera.

But, you know, that issue along with do you support giving taxpayer funded benefits to those in the country illegally? Those issues to me, they're big issues and I guess I have certain feelings about them.

But today on No Compromise Radio Ministry, here is what I'm after. Well, let me just make a comment. If you're in this country illegally and you call yourself a Christian, you need to make that right and you need to get citizenship or you need to move back to your country because you are breaking the law of this land and therefore you are sinning.

And so you need to do the right thing. 2010 voter guide for governors, state representatives, and the list goes on and on and on. I'm asking the question today, should character matter? And I think it does matter.

I'm kind of surprised at myself today that I'm talking about politics because I really, people have left the church because I'm not political enough. Whether Democrats win or Republicans win, whether it's Ronald Reagan or President Barack Obama, God is still on the throne and God is, Jesus Christ is building his church and so day to day, it doesn't change that much in terms of what we're to do.

Doesn't change it at all. We have a salvation mandate. Republicans and Democrats and independents, green parties, they all go to hell unless they're born again. So we have a different issue but I'm trying to say that leadership should have the right character and you should ask yourself the question, on social issues, what do they believe so I know how to vote for them?

Not just with abortion but also all this other stuff from bathroom bills to Laura's Law so you can get an inside look on what their character's like. Show me your character by opening your mouth and answering these questions and I can know a lot about the person on the inside.

So, Mike Abendroth here today, No Compromise Radio Ministry. Whether you eat or whether you drink or whether you vote, do all to the glory of God. Always biblical, always provocative, always in that order.

Ministry Sign-Off and Station Disclaimer

No Compromise Radio with Pastor Mike Abendroth is a production of Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston. Bethlehem Bible Church is a Bible teaching church firmly committed to unleashing the life-transforming power of God's word through verse-by-verse exposition of the sacred text.

Please come and join us. Our service times are Sunday morning at 10 .15 and in the evening at six. We're right on Route 110 in West Boylston. You can check us out online at bbchurch .org or by phone at 508 -835 -3400.

The thoughts and opinions expressed on No Compromise Radio do not necessarily reflect those of WVNE, its staff or management.