Loren Lippincott
U.S. Census records show that during the last presidential election in 2020, nearly 155 million votes were cast with 69 percent of those votes being cast in a non-traditional way, that is early or mail in voting. Meanwhile, last month pollster George Barna, interviewed 2,000 self-identified church-going Christians and found 49 percent do not intend to vote in this election and just 51 percent are likely to vote.
In the same survey, Barna found that inflation and the cost of living was the top issue with 67 percent saying it was their highest priority in the election. Meanwhile the economy was listed by 64 percent, immigration and border control scored 60 percent, crime was at 59 percent, poverty 43 percent, poor leadership 42 percent and abortion 41 percent.
On cultural issues 56 percent of the church-goers surveyed believe there are no absolutes, 42 percent support allowing abortion under any circumstances, 29 percent prefer socialism over capitalism, 69 percent frequently use social media and 33 percent said they read their Bible once a month or less.
Probing deeper, Barna went on to ask what would motivate non-voting people of faith to vote. Seventeen percent of those polled said if churches taught voting as a Biblical responsibility they would be more apt to vote, 14 percent said if their family or friends were convinced of the importance of voting they would vote, 14 percent said if they thought the race was close enough to make their vote count they would vote, 14 percent said they would vote if they received an unbiased briefing of what each candidate supports and opposes and 10 percent would vote if a religious leader they respect endorsed a particular presidential candidate.
As the above statistics show, America is rapidly moving away from being what it once was — a society that found its source of truth and major influence in its Christian roots. A regular routine in our nation’s infancy was something called the “Election Sermon.” After every election a pastor would preach a sermon to the newly elected state and national leaders, normally in their legislative chambers. This sermon was meant to be an encouragement and exhortation to adhere to Biblical principles in order to set the course for the citizenry they would represent.
Also, leading up to an election it was common practice for candidates to be vetted in the church during services. The idea was for candidates to be held accountable to the parishioners, their pastors and God’s Word with regard to their beliefs, principles, core values and legislative priorities. In those days elections were often won or lost depending on how closely the candidates held to Biblical values.
In the 1954 U.S. Senate race in Texas then Senator Lyndon Johnson slipped an amendment into the Internal Revenue Service Code prohibiting churches and other non-profit organizations from endorsing or opposing political candidates. Many say his motivation was to silence the followers of his opponent and it did. Surprisingly, the amendment passed without discussion or debate.
In the 70 years since, pastors and churches have cowered and often remained silent on political issues, fearing they will lose their non-profit status, even though the issues are often things the Bible directly addresses. Sadly, the result has been an increasingly ignorant church-going public when it comes to matters of politics. And when the church is silent, society sinks ever lower into cultural depravity. As Proverbs 29:18 says “Where there is no revelation (preaching of God’s Word), people cast off restraint…” In May 2017 President Donald Trump moved to end the 70-year reign of government fear and intimidation by eliminating the consequences of violating the Johnson Amendment. Many churches since then have purposely violated the rule and have even informed the IRS of their planned violation in hopes the agency will take them to court so the constitutionality of the amendment can finally be tested. The IRS has yet to act. Unfortunately, however, many churches across the land remain silenced by the fear of government intervention should they speak out on cultural/political issues. One of the results of this silence is that the world is molding the American church into its image rather than the church influencing the world for Christ. The church’s influence is waning as the polling above clearly shows. Many in the pews clearly do not know what to believe in the face of the multi-frontal attacks on values related to issues of sexuality, procreation, abortion, debt, taxes, self-defense, free speech, free enterprise, security and justice. However, Scripture addresses all these matters and nearly all our laws are derived from the Old and New Testaments.
In His care for this world, God created three institutions that were to be the vanguards of society — the family, the government and the church. And throughout the Bible we see numerous accounts of godly individuals who either served in government or confronted government officials about their misdeeds, but how many people who attend our churches on Sunday mornings even know this?
Americans need to know the reasons behind the breakdown of society, but how will they know if someone doesn’t open up the scriptures and teach it to them? Without a return to Biblical values beginning within each of us, an unraveling of our beloved nation will continue, but if preachers will boldly proclaim the truth of God’s Word as it relates to the issues before us, there is hope.
To return to our passage quoted earlier from Proverbs, “Where there is no revelation, people cast off restraint; but blessed is the one who heeds wisdom’s instruction.”
Loren Lippincott represents Legislative District 34 in the Nebraska State Senate. Read his column in the Nance County Journal.