EDITOR'S
NOTE: Steve Gaines is president of the Southern Baptist Convention and pastor
of the Memphis, Tennessee - area Bellevue Baptist Church.
MEMPHIS,
Tenn. (BP) -- One of my favorite movies is an old classic starring Gary Cooper
called "Sergeant York."
The
story is about a Tennessee mountain man named Alvin York,
a poor farmer who kept running into bad luck. But along the way he became a
Christian. When World War I broke out, he designated himself as a conscientious
objector because he believed the Bible taught people not to kill.
While
he was in basic training, he excelled as a marksman. He came to a crisis during
his early days in the military. During a long period of meditation and prayer
he read this verse: "Then [Jesus] said to them, 'Then render to Caesar the
things that are Caesar's; and to God the things that are God's'" Matthew 22:21,
NAU).
In
the movie he mulled over Jesus' words and came to the conviction that a
follower of Jesus could also be a patriotic citizen of the United States and
could fight to defend his country.
My
father, Edgar Gaines, was a lot like Alvin York.
No, my father did not receive the accolades York did. But when World War II
broke out, my father left his farm in Lauderdale County, Tenn., and went to war
to fight in the United States Navy. He had never been out of his county, much
less America, but he went all over the world on a warship fighting for our
freedoms.
One
of the freedoms men and women like Alvin York and
Edgar Gaines fought for was the freedom to vote. Many brave men and women have
died so we can have the privilege to choose our own leaders. They fought and
died so we could have a government "of the people, by the people, and for
the people."
I
believe voting is my patriotic duty as a citizen of the United States. I love
my country and I thank God that I live in America. Is it perfect? No. But
neither am I, and neither are you. Does America need to repent and turn afresh
to Jesus? Yes. And so do I, and so do you.
The
greatest issue in our land in my opinion is abortion. Sixty million babies have
been slaughtered via abortion in America since Roe v. Wade in 1973. That is 10
times as many Jewish people that were killed by Hitler and the Nazis in the
Holocaust. I have four children and 10 grandchildren. I cringe when I think
that there are people in America who believe it would be alright to take a
baby's life when it is only a month, a day or a week away from being born. We
have not only lost our morals, we have lost our minds if we think that is right.
I
believe that New Testament marriage -- one woman married to one man -- is an
issue all Christians must stand for in America. The only marriage that the New
Testament supports is heterosexual, monogamous marriage (cf. Matthew 19:5; Ephesians
5:31).
I
also believe Christians must champion the fact that racism must stop in
America. There is only one race -- the human race. Bible-believing Christians
believe that we all come from the same biological parents -- Adam and Eve, thus
we are all biologically related to one another. All lives
matter because God created all people, God loves all people,
Jesus died for all people, and anyone can be saved!
Christians
should vote and we should carry our Christian convictions into
the voting booth with us. Find out what candidates believe and vote for or
against them based on your biblical principles.
Christians,
do not sit this one out. Do not stay home and avoid voting on Tuesday, November 8.
Stand in line five hours if you have to, but make sure you register your vote.
People have fought and died to give you the privilege of being salt and light
in this sinfully dark world.
Vote
and pray on Tuesday. In other words, "Render to Caesar the things that are
Caesar's; and to God the things that are God's."
-Pastor Steve Gaines
-David R. Brumbelow, Gulf Coast Pastor,
November 7, AD 2016.
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