Doing our duty on Nov. 8

Maybe it all comes back to our eschatology. Southern Baptists tend toward pre-millennialism, after all.

As pre-millennialists, we assume the world is going to get worse instead of better. We assume that the kingdom of God will be perfected by the bodily return of Christ and not by our impact on society. “The best we can hope to do is slow the decay a little bit,” we say, a little condescendingly.

Apparently we doubt even this. Time and again we are dragged unwillingly (if we go at all) into some kind of social involvement. When evangelical Christians turn out to vote, our culture’s elite panic, because it’s unusual and because the elite class loses. It’s happened two or three times in my lifetime. Even then, nothing like a majority of us get involved enough to even vote.

Granted, most of us aren’t very involved in the things we count as more urgent, missions and evangelism, for example. We feel guilty about that, though. Our pastors preach about those things, often. Many of our churches have regular evangelism emphases that we are encouraged to attend. I’ve been certified in no fewer than six fairly elaborate evangelism programs, all in churches–and have heard no more than two sermons on Christian citizenship in those same churches. It’s possible I’ve not heard even one but I make allowances for my failing memory.

Our Nov. 8 referendum election will offer us the chance to vote on nine amendments to the Texas Constitution. We won’t be electing a governor or president and thus the turnout will be very low. One of the amendments of special interest is Proposition 2, which constitutionally defines marriage as being between a man and a woman and further forbids our state or any “political subdivision of this state from creating or recognizing any legal status identical or similar to marriage.” It passed overwhelmingly in the Texas legislature and similar laws or amendments have passed in 15 other states. I think some of those states might not have passed it if the vote had not been in conjunction with a presidential election. The voters turned out and so the outcome reflected the opinions of the citizens. Elections with a paltry turnout are more likely to reflect the viewpoints of activists. In this case, the activists who would redefine marriage are outworking the rest of us.

Readers of the Texan don’t need to be convinced that homosexual “marriages” would be negative for our society and biblically bogus. We do have to be convinced that it matters enough to get our attention amidst the other important things we should be about. Let me suggest a few reasons we should bump it higher up in prominence during the few weeks leading up the special election.

Truth–The things said by those who would redefine marriage to encompass anything people take a mind to do are just not true. All models of family are not equally effective. Single parents who work at a disadvantage in raising kids may be doing so against their better wishes. Willfully novel models of family will torture all the participants with the promise of stability and none of its substance. They aren’t equivalent.

Mercy–While it is a mercy for God’s people to exalt the truth in a culture that hears so much else, mercy also applies to those who are victims of unstable adults who experiment with family-like behavior. Specifically, homosexual unions are unstable and will drag any children, or for that matter the adults, in the dirt of their wake for a few years before fracturing. We mustn’t codify or exalt a relationship that can be expected to be casual.

Stewardship–Marriage is an institution that applies to more than the two people who stand at the front of the chapel. The fact that it is a religious institution has been bizarrely used by some to cheapen its cultural significance. Far from it. Marriage is the business of all human institutions. The bride and groom make promises to their families, their community, their church, and their God in a service sanctioned by their government. Marriage is not all white doves and harp music, it is solemn promises made by sober people, or it is something far less. Admittedly, the institution is reeling from the effects of merely romantic vows broken by selfish men and women. That’s an indictment of our application of the institution, not the meaning of it. Marriage is entrusted to us by God and so is government. We must say strongly what government may and may not do with the other institutions.

Witness–Applying the truth of the gospel to timely issues is not a diversion from missions and evangelism; it is part of missions and evangelism. In doing so we lay the groundwork for evangelism by showing that Jesus is Lord of all creation. We show our love for our neighbors by our care for the community we share. Christians can also show courageous and prophetic love by condemning sinful behavior that destroys people. Maybe we won’t be acclaimed for doing so but at least they’ll know that there are people of God in the neighborhood. God can speak through that awareness.

Duty–This matters and transcends the practical. I think we will win this, for now and for Texas. But what if it is a lost cause? What if the best we can do is fight a rear guard action in a corrupting culture that won’t improve until it is divinely renewed? We’re still here at this moment with a rare (in human history) opportunity to affect the laws of a nation. God knows this and expects us to do more than rail futilely as the cultural tide rolls by. He expects us to do what he has enabled us to do until we are relieved of our post. Shouldn’t we do that without regard to our own evaluation of the success or prospects of our work?

I offer a final word of comfort to my fellow pre-millennialists. It is mistaken to assume that energetic involvement in the life of our communities, state, and nation is unworthy of our time. We are not, as they say, rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.

More appropriately, think of the stewards banging on doors, trying to convince passengers to leave their warm staterooms because of what they perceived to be a subtle list in the deck of the great ship. Compare us to the engineering crews who worked at peril and with loss to keep the flooding boilers from exploding, thus allowing passengers to board life boats. Some of us may be like Wallace Hartley’s small, legendary orchestra that was playing “Nearer My God to Thee” until finally the tilt of the deck dumped them all into the icy water. They couldn’t undo the disaster and they weren’t in charge, but they had their duty. Because of the warning or time or comfort these men provided, surely some were saved who might have otherwise been lost. If some of their efforts were apparently in vain, they were still heroic to stay at their posts until dismissed or overwhelmed. I’d be happy to have that said of us when America’s final tally is made.

Please vote, and encourage your fellow church members to vote, on Nov. 8.