Voting Guide - Applying Lutheran Confessions to Political Choices

1. The powers ordained by Thee • With heavenly wisdom bless; • May they Thy servants be • And rule in righteousness. • O Lord, stretch forth Thy mighty hand • And guard and bless our Fatherland. • —“To Thee, Our God, We Fly” (TLH 580:4)

2. What you have before you does not constitute a voting guide—this study is not intended to lead you to a particular candidate or the sweep of any party platform. The subject at hand is far from that simple. Rather, this study provides congregations and pastors with a tool that is designed to spark a thoughtful biblical conversation about voting in a democracy. Specifically, it addresses ways in which the Lutheran confession of faith may be applied to political situations in which choices must be made. For example, when approaching a complex subject, we can start by taking a cue from the Lutheran Confessions, which urge us to make appropriate distinctions in the proper places (see Apology of the Augsburg Confession XXIV 16).

3. 4 Sessons “Thus says the lord” vs. Human Judgements God’s two modes of ruling “ruled” vs. “Ruler” Repentance

4. Apology of the Augsburg Confession XXIV 16 In Plato’s Phaedrus, Socrates says that he is especially fond of distinctions because without them nothing can either be explained or understood in a discussion and that if he could find someone skillful in making them, he would pursue and follow in his footsteps as in those of a god. Robert Kolb, Timothy J. Wengert, and Charles P. Arand, The Book of Concord: The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2000), 260.

5. Distinctions

6. During the 1830s, Alexis de Tocqueville noted that while many in Europe thought the king cannot fail, the feeling in democratic America tended to be that the people cannot fail. Distinctions

7. What is your basis for right and wrong? • God’s Word Distinctions

8. God’s Word • “Whoever is of God hears the words of God.” (John 8:47 ESv) Distinctions

9. God’s Word • “Whoever is of God hears the words of God.” (John 8:47 ESv) • “the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, (2 Timothy 3:15–16, ESV) Distinctions

10. God’s Word • “Whoever is of God hears the words of God.” (John 8:47 ESv) • “the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, (2 Timothy 3:15–16, ESV) • “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105, esv). Distinctions

11. God’s Word • “Whoever is of God hears the words of God.” (John 8:47 ESv) • “the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, (2 Timothy 3:15–16, ESV) • “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105, esv). Distinctions

12. God’s Word Distinctions

13. What is your basis for right and wrong? • God’s Word Distinctions

14. What is your basis for right and wrong? • God’s Word • Human Reason Distinctions

15. Human Reason • scripture does not directly address every question Distinctions

16. Human Reason • scripture does not directly address every question • Here your human reason has to enter into your considerations—always subject to God’s Word, though, never above it. Distinctions

17. Human Reason • scripture does not directly address every question • Here your human reason has to enter into your considerations—always subject to God’s Word, though, never above it. Distinctions

18. Human Reason • Here your human reason has to enter into your considerations—always subject to God’s Word, though, never above it. Magisterial vs. Ministerial Distinctions

19. Distinctions Christian citizens should carefully distinguish what God tells us in Scripture from the judgments that we make, even those at which we have arrived within a general biblical framework. It is important to know the difference between “Thus says the LORD!” and human opinion.

20. Q1. Does the Lord know what He is talking about only when He says things that might be considered “religious”? Why or why not? How does Luke 5:3–6 help you to understand this matter? Why is this point important to observe?

21. Luke 5:3–6 (ESV) — 3 Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. 4 And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” 5 And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” 6 And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. Luke 5:3–6 Luke 5:3–6

22. Q1. Does the Lord know what He is talking about only when He says things that might be considered “religious”? Why or why not? How does Luke 5:3–6 help you to understand this matter? Why is this point important to observe?

23. Q2. What does the Lord say when people try to pass off their own thinking as His Word? What results when people do this? See Jeremiah 23:31–32 and Matthew 15:8–9; compare Revelation 22:18–19. Why should Christians bear this in mind with respect to political matters?

24. Jeremiah 23:31–32 (ESV) — 31 Behold, I am against the prophets, declares the Lord, who use their tongues and declare, ‘declares the Lord.’ 32 Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, declares the Lord, and who tell them and lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when I did not send them or charge them. So they do not profit this people at all, declares the Lord.

25. Matthew 15:8–9 (ESV) — 8 “ ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; 9 in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ ”

26. Revelation 22:18–19 (ESV) — 18 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, 19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.

27. Q2. What does the Lord say when people try to pass off their own thinking as His Word? What results when people do this? See Jeremiah 23:31–32 and Matthew 15:8–9; compare Revelation 22:18–19. Why should Christians bear this in mind with respect to political matters?

28. Q3. We know we must differentiate carefully between what God says in His Word and what human reason has come up with. Now let’s apply this truth to a political issue: abortion. Read the Fifth Commandment (Exodus 20:15) and Proverbs 6:16–17; Psalm 51:5; Jeremiah 1:5; Luke 1:41– 44; and then compare these to Proverbs 31:8. What should be said about abortion based on God’s Word? Is there anything more to say, based strictly on human judgment? If so, what?

29. Exodus 20:13 (ESV) — 13 “You shall not murder. Proverbs 6:16–17 (ESV) — 16 There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: 17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, Psalm 51:5 (ESV) — 5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.

30. Luke 1:41–44 (ESV) — 41 And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, 42 and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! 43 And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.

31. Jeremiah 1:5 (ESV) — 5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” Proverbs 31:8 (ESV) — 8 Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute.

32. Q3.We know we must differentiate carefully between what God says in His Word and what human reason has come up with. Now let’s apply this truth to a political issue: abortion. Read the Fifth Commandment (Exodus 20:15) and Proverbs 6:16–17; Psalm 51:5; Jeremiah 1:5; Luke 1:41– 44; and then compare these to Proverbs 31:8. What should be said about abortion based on God’s Word? Is there anything more to say, based strictly on human judgment? If so, what?

33. Q3. Here’s another political issue: poverty and what should be done for the poor. Rather than debate the issue now, focus on what God’s Word says. See the Seventh Commandment (Exodus 20:15) and Ephesians 4:28; 1John 3:17–18; Luke 10:27–37; Proverbs 14:31; James 5:4; 2 Thessalonians 3:10. What does God’s Word say about what we should do for the poor? What else can be said based on human judgment?

34. Exodus 20:15 (ESV) — 15 “You shall not steal. Ephesians 4:28 (ESV) — 28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest å with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. 1 John 3:17–18 (ESV) — 17 But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? 18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.

35. Luke 10:27–37 (ESV) — 27 And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” 29 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead.

36. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him.

37. 35 And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ 36 Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” 37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

38. Proverbs 14:31 (ESV) — 31 Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker, but he who is generous to the needy honors him. James 5:4 (ESV) — 4 Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. 2 Thessalonians 3:10 (ESV) — 10 For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.

39. Q3.Here’s another political issue: poverty and what should be done for the poor. Rather than debate the issue now, focus on what God’s Word says. See the Seventh Commandment (Exodus 20:15) and Ephesians 4:28; 1John 3:17–18; Luke 10:27–37; Proverbs 14:31; James 5:4; 2 Thessalonians 3:10. What does God’s Word say about what we should do for the poor? What else can be said based on human judgment?

40. Q3. Think broadly about your own participation in past elections. For whom did you vote? This is not to ask, For which candidate did you cast your ballot? but rather On behalf of whom did you vote? See Matthew 22:35–40; Philippians 2:3–5; and Romans 12:9–10. What does God’s Word say on this matter?

41. Matthew 22:35–40 (ESV) — 35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

42. Philippians 2:3–5 (ESV) — 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, Romans 12:9–10 (ESV) — 9 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. 10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.

43. Q3.Think broadly about your own participation in past elections. For whom did you vote? This is not to ask, For which candidate did you cast your ballot? but rather On behalf of whom did you vote? What does God’s Word say on this matter?

44. Conclusion American Christians who participate in the political process do so as a result of being moved by the love of Christ, who first loved us. Christians go to the polls informed by God’s Word and our own best thinking. But we should never forget to distinguish between the two. What is the role of the church? There’s another distinction, for next time.

45. Closing Prayer Almighty and ever-living God, You make us both to will and to do those things that are good and acceptable in Your sight. Let Your fatherly hand ever guide us and Your Holy Spirit ever be with us to direct us in the knowledge and obedience of Your Word that we may obtain everlasting life; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.