Straw Polls and Values Voters

It seems as though the media has been inundated with the latest popularity polls and results for who may be our next president. Straw polls and their results have been headlining the national and local newspapers for weeks, and it doesn’t seem to be slowing down.

Conservative Christians even held their own Values Voters forum where they questioned candidates on moral issues, and then took their own straw poll of the candidates. The delegates voting were chosen by national conservative leaders.

The September 17, 2007 press release from ValuesVoters.com states: “This isn't about partisanship. It's about values. It’s not about the letter behind the name, rather it’s about the values of the heart and the policies that effect the public.”
(Source: http://www.valuesvoterdebate.com/ )

My sincere hope and prayer is that the Values Voters will look beyond political party affiliation when they choose a candidate to support. Christians should have Biblical standards for choosing political leaders, regardless of what office the candidate is running for. We should not be choosing the most popular or the most likely to succeed, but instead we should choose the man who meets God’s requirements for civil leaders.

I would like to share this “Checklist for Evaluating a Candidate” written by Buddy Hanson of the Christian Policy Network (http://www.graceandlaw.com/ ) with you and America’s Values Voters, while asking that the Christian earnestly seek to please God rather than man with their vote in the upcoming elections:

• He has a regenerated heart and therefore seeks truth rather than prestige or personal profit and power. Deuteronomy 1.17; Chronicles 19.6-7
• He has a humble attitude and will not succumb to flattery or be bought by favors or bribery. Deuteronomy 16.19
• He trusts in Christ’s sovereign control of His Kingdom and puts the best interests of the people (God’s interests) above the pressures of private and special interests. Deuteronomy 17.17; Leviticus 19.15; Psalm 118.9
• He demonstrates a godly lifestyle, governing himself and his household well. (The personal habits of conduct of those who seek office are rightly matters of concern). 1 Timothy 3.4-5; Proverbs 25.28
• He exercises sound judgment; he upholds God’s principles of self and civil government. 1 Timothy 3.6-7; Mark 12.16-17
• He “loves righteousness and hates iniquity.” Exodus 18.21

(Source: The Christian Prince by Buddy Hanson, chapter one, and page 15.)

When choosing a government leader, we must seek out those men who have a well developed Biblical worldview. All too often we hear candidates speaking of their faith, but their Christian walk doesn’t match their talk. We must be wise as serpents and harmless as doves in the voting booth. If there isn’t a godly man on the ballot, then perhaps our best course of action is to simply pray and write in the name of a godly man or the words “none of the above.”

After all, heaven is watching to see what we will do and who we will choose.