Why not? Jesus Christ is the Lord of my life, my whole life. Politics is a part of my life. For me personally, all that entails is voting in elections and keeping aware of the political climate as it affects my rights as an American citizen. Some people are more involved, others are less so.

     Many Christians were involved enough in politics to persuade the Roman Emperor Valentinian to stop the gladiatorial games and revoke the laws of mannus. The historian Edward Gibbons (no friend to Christianity), said the stopping of the gladiatorial games was the greatest moral victory in all of recorded history…and he gave the credit for it to Christians. Years later, the British government was influenced enough to make laws that were bible based. The politician William Wilberforce got slavery outlawed in the British Empire in the 1800’s because of his Christian convictions.

     In the early USA, much of our legal system was based on biblical principles. In the Revolutionary War, the 2^nd most popular battle cry was “No King but King Jesus”. Many pastors preached in support of the war from a biblical position. 53 of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence were active Christians, and I do mean ACTIVE. Many were founders of their state’s bible societies. 29 of them had seminary degrees.
John Adams, 2^nd President of the USA and a signer of the Declaration of Independence said, “The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were…the general principles of Christianity”.
Patrick Henry said “It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religion, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ”.
     Abraham Lincoln, President of the USA, said that he wasn’t worried if God was on our side but if we were on God’s side.
The Civil War was largely fought because of biblical admonitions against slavery. Two thirds of the northern abolitionist movement was made up of Christian pastors. The civil rights struggle of the 1960’s, lead by the Christian pastor Dr. Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, was bible based. Even today, the pro-life and pro-traditional marriage movements are largely influenced by Christians. The spiritual freedoms that we have in Christ spilled over into the political arena. That’s why America was founded and that’s why totalitarian governments always persecute the Church. They see it as a threat to their control of the country.

     God has placed us in a country where we can exercise our right to directly influence the laws and government that we live under. We do this by our right to vote and by standing up for certain rights and principles. I am NOT saying everyone needs to be actively involved in politics. But our minimum involvement should be to vote. By voting we are saying thank you to God for putting us in a free country where we can freely talk about God to any person who will listen. If we don’t stand up for these freedoms, we may be in danger of losing them.

     Are you an educated, biblical voter? Are you thankful that God has put you in a free country where you can talk about Jesus without fear of intimidation or arrest? Are you thankful for the freedoms that you do have? Are you thankful that other Americans fought and died to protect those freedoms?

Book references:
“Faith and Freedom: The Christian Roots of American Liberty” by Benjamin Hart
“Original Intent” by David Barton
“Jesus is involved in politics” by Neil Mammen