Rick Green

Welcome to the Intersection of Faith and Culture. It's the WallBuilder Show, where we're taking on the hot topics of the day from a biblical, historical and constitutional perspective. Thanks for coming along with us. I'm Rick Green here with David and Tim Barton. We appreciate you being a part of the program today. It's actually going to be a sermon. We're going to share an incredible message from a pastor named Josh Howerton, out of out of Texas, that just nailed it. I'm telling you this is. You know, there's a such a time as this moment seems like almost every day right now. There just seems to be so many things converging and the right people at the right time speaking the right message, and Pastor Josh just nails it. It's essentially an election sermon, much like the Founding Fathers did, much like pastors throughout our history did, until we bought this lie a few years ago that you don't talk about politics in the pulpit. Well, josh hits that right on the head, and so we're just going to jump right in. This is Pastor Josh Howerton at Lake Point Church in Texas. It's going to be today's program and tomorrow's program, so you don't want to miss either one. They'll both be available at our website, wallbuilders.show. We'll be right back. When we come back from the break, we'll go straight into Pastor Josh's sermon. Stay with us. You're listening to the WallBuilder Show.

Break

Rick Green

Welcome back to the WallBuilder Show. Let's jump right in Pastor Josh Howerton at Lake Point Church talking about this year's election.

Pastor Josh Howerton 

Buckle up. What's gonna happen today? It's been said that if you don't wanna ruin a dinner party, don't talk about two things religion or politics. I am here to ruin your party. That's what I am here to do. Today What we're gonna do in the next few minutes is this will be a very I take one week to do this. If you're brand new with us, you're going to be like what did I just walk into? I'm taking one week right now just to have a very direct sermon. The title of the sermon is how to vote like Jesus. And before you freak out, just kind of hang out with me. Let me talk real quick about why I'm doing this and the reason I even need to do this is because somewhere along the way I don't have time to get into this. It's interesting about this. Really developed about 45 years ago. Somewhere along the way, this idea developed that was brand new in all of church history that the church and pastors should avoid politics and stay away from commenting on politics or political leaders. I just need you to know that concept is completely and utterly unbiblical Completely and utterly unbiblical. For instance, let me talk Bible and logic. You cannot read the Bible about Moses, Daniel, Esther, Nathan, Nehemiah, john the Baptist, and think that the church and pastors should avoid addressing government and governmental leaders. You just can't do it. It's all throughout the Bible. Number two let's just use a little bit of logic together. I just wanna point this out, hey guys, as we often say at Lake Point, if the church won't disciple people, the world will. So what's gonna happen check this out is if Godly leaders and Godly pastors and Godly voices all go silent or refuse to be clear on issues related to politics and government, then the only voices that are left are the Godless ones. So we have to understand this, that if we don't do this, they will. They're simply listen.

There comes, there are points when it's the job and responsibility of pastors and spiritual leaders to be like John the Baptist, who rebuked the political leader of his day, King Herod, and just said hey, man, you are doing godless things. You must repent because the people under your leadership can never be blessed while the leaders of this nation lead the nation into open defiance of the living God. So you've got to repent or we got to. Essentially, we got to get you out, okay. So I need you to understand this. If you're brand new, if you've been around a while, then you've heard me say this before, but here's what I need you to understand.

Okay, some of you will hear the first few part of the sermon and be like oh man, Josh, it feels like you or the church are getting more political. That is not what's happening. What's happening right now is not the church is not getting more political, politics are getting more theological and politics are getting more spiritual. When the government moved past things like building roads, issuing driver's licenses and teaching math to things like redefining marriage, erasing gender, reframing abortion as reproductive rights and then using the government school system to indoctrinate everybody's kids into believing those things, hey guys, the church didn't move, politics did. That's what happened. Politics moved, okay. So when that happens, it's the job of Bible-believing churches to grab a Bible in their hand, Holy Spirit in their heart, wisdom in their head, courage in their bones and essentially like hey, man, I got dust your bumper, get back in your lane, get back in your lane, okay. So let me just go ahead and take the air out of the ball real quick on something.

I am not going to be endorsing a candidate in the next few minutes. I'm not gonna do that. I do that people view that as that person condoning whatever, anything that candidate has ever done, is doing or will do in the future, and any. I'll just be very honest. I'm gonna be very honest with you throughout this message. Any thinking Christian with our eyes open would be looking at both of these candidates and going well, we can't do that, can't condone every single thing that person's ever done, is doing or will do.

The other reason I'm not endorsing a candidate is I just need you to know this. I am not here to seek the approval of man. I am not here to seek the approval of a party and I am not here to seek the approval of a politician. I am here on behalf of the living God to speak from his word and just go, man, this is what we are, okay. So while listen, your conviction should pull your vote right or left. We'll talk more about that later. Your conviction should pull your vote right or left, but my ultimate goal is not my highest goal is not your heart should not. I don't want your heart. Let me just make sure I get this right. Your convictions ought to pull your vote either right or left, but ultimately, the most important thing is that your heart goes up into the kingdom of God so that the Holy Spirit can come down on your life and bless your life. That's what matters.

So in the next few minutes, you're gonna hear criticisms of both candidates and you will not like it. You will not like it and I do just one last thing. I need to get out. You won't like it. And if you're here at any of our campuses with the goal of being an agitator, I just need you to know that and you want your 60 seconds of fame. This is not your moment and you may be going. No, wait a second. I thought the phrase was 15 minutes of fame. It usually is, but our security teams are so good you're only getting 60 seconds. That's what's going to happen, all right. So here we go. All right, let's get right in Now. Let me give some credit here. I am indebted to a lot of study this week. I am indebted to the following pastors and theologians Rob Ketterling, Ryan Visconti, Gary Hamrick, mark Driscoll, josh McPherson, Wayne Grudem for their thoughts in what follows.

So here we go. Begin with this question. The question would Jesus vote? Would Jesus vote? Now, interesting, I think a lot of people are like well, there's no way we can know. Actually, I think we can know the answer to this question with the Bible in our hands, spirit in our hearts, wisdom in our heads, and here's what I mean. I need to teach you about this because most Christians are really uninformed theologically on this concept. All right, now let me show you a Venn diagram really quick. I love Venn diagrams.

Okay, so in the Bible, God has established three institutions that he establishes. In the Bible, God establishes the family in the book of Genesis, genesis 2. God establishes the church. The church is officially established in the book of Acts. And then the Bible also teaches that the government was God's idea, that God established the state, the institution of the state. I want you to see this. This is from Romans, chapter 13. It says let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, because those authorities, the authorities that exist, have been established by God. So I need you to see this that God established all three of these institutions the family, the church and the state, all of them established by God. 

Now, right now, I need to do about 60 seconds of a high school civics class and if your eyes roll back into your head. You're like why are you doing this? Well, here's why Because my job is to take the text of the Bible and overlay it on the context of the world that you live in. So in order for me to do that, I need you to understand the context of the nation that you are in right now. You, right now, you do not, contrary to a very popular belief, you do not live in a democracy. That's not what this is. You live in a constitutional republic. That's what America is. This is a constitutional republic.

In a constitutional republic and the questions that I'm going to ask they're not trick questions I think they have obvious answers In a constitutional republic, the elected leaders are representatives of the people. That's right. Great job, you did a great job, okay. So the people? So let me ask this question, and it's not a trick question If, in our form of government, the elected leaders are representatives of the people, who are the leaders of that nation? The people, the people on the org chart of the United States of America at the top, are the voting members of the nation.

Now let me again. We're doing some logic. Let's go a layer deeper. What you're going to see in the Bible is that whatever God creates, satan tries to capture. I'm going to say that twice Whatever God creates, satan tries to capture. So let me go back to this. For instance, God established the family in Genesis 2. First family established in Genesis 2. In Genesis 3, because Adam was a weak and passive husband, he stood idly by and Satan stepped forward and led Adam's wife, instead of Adam leading Adam's wife. Big idea, husbands, if you won't lead your family, satan will. Now let's do the next one, the church. God establishes the church in the book of Acts, acts chapter two Very interesting, I'm right now studying for a series next year in the book of Revelation.

So in Revelation two and three, there was churches with passive, weak pastors who, instead of calling their church to repent of sin, they led their church to tolerate sin. As a result, what the Bible says is those churches. Satan's step forward began to lead those churches and Jesus calls them in Genesis two and three quote a synagogue of Satan. Big idea If Godly pastors won't lead their churches, satan will be happy to. Now let's apply this to this third institution, the institution of the state.

Let me make something. What I hope is obvious to us If godly people won't lead their nation through voting. If godly people won't lead their nation, godless people will the only people that are left become godless people. This is what the book of Proverbs means when it says this when the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice, but when the wicked rule, people groan. So I'm gonna say something that has a bit of an edge to it, but I need you to understand this biblically when Christians do not vote, what they're doing is they're abdicating their leadership position in the constitutional republic that God has placed you in, and it's a form of passive rebellion against God. In the exact same way that it would be wrong for a husband to refuse to lead his family and it would be wrong for a pastor to refuse to lead his church, it would be wrong for you to refuse to lead. Take part in the leadership of the nation that God has put you in. Does this make sense? Yeah, this makes sense. So, if we go back to ask the original question, would Jesus vote? Yes, yes, he would, because he wouldn't abdicate the responsibility that God has given him.

Now let's talk real quick about a few things. This is gonna be fun for me. We'll see if it's gonna be fun for you. Let's talk about a few things that voting is not, because there's a lot of concepts right now that well-meaning but naive Christians they're just. They don't understand what a vote is and is not okay. So let me talk about a few things. A vote is not Number one. A vote is not a Valentine. A vote is not a Valentine.

Do you remember when you were in middle school and you were trying to decide? You know who to give your Valentine to, and you would look around the class and if you were a girl, your eyes would fall on somebody and you'd be like, oh, he's so cool and cute and funny. If you're in middle school today, you'd be like his aura is like crazy, okay, that's it, that's it Now. And you would see them and you know this is warm fuzzies and then, because of that feeling about them, you would give them your Valentine. Now, I know this may shock some. That's how a lot of people vote, in fact, some of you. I wasn't alive for this. Some of you guys were alive for this. I wasn't alive for this In the 1960 presidential election.

It was the first time ever in our nation's history that there was a televised debate between two candidates. It was John F Kennedy and Richard Nixon, 1960. I wasn't around for this, okay. So what you had is this is what happened before the first televised debate Nixon was crushing Kennedy in a pulse. But then they did this televised debate and Richard Nixon was much older, was apparently not very attractive I wasn't around for that he, because it was the first time ever it had ever been done he chose not to do the makeup artist from the TV station. So you had him on one side. John F Kennedy, much younger, apparently attractive, did the whole makeup thing. And so what happened was, as soon as people watched the debate and they saw an unattractive person, an attractive person, the vote, the polls, radically shifted towards John F Kennedy because a lot of people just went he's so dreamy and they decided to give him their vote.

Now I hope this is very obvious, but this is not how mature Christians should vote. In fact, God says this when choosing a governmental leader. In the book of 1 Samuel, the Lord said to Samuel do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things. People look at People, look at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart. Let me say a few uncomfortable things.

Mature Christians do not vote on superficial things. They don't vote on vibes. They don't vote on looks we shouldn't vote on. He's got the same skin color as me, or she'd be the first woman president, or I've always wanted an orange leader. We don't vote based on whether they give us they had a delayed reaction around the room. We don't vote based on whether they give us they had a delayed reaction around the room. We don't vote based on whether they give us the warm fuzzies. Why? Because a vote is not a Valentine. So, some people, what Christians are doing right now is they'll look at these two candidates and they'll look at them and go oh, I don't like their personality. Hey guys, can I say something? Personalities come and go Policies last a long time. Personalities come and go policies last a long time. So let me just say this don't vote for who you like most. Vote for who will lead best, because a vote is not a valentine, okay. Number two, a ballot box is not a mailbox for you to send a message, okay.

So there was a husband that his birthday came around and he desperately wanted a sports car and he was frustrated because his wife wasn't figuring out that that's what she should give him. So he decided that he was gonna send a message. So when his wife asked him what he wanted for his birthday, he said huh, this is my chance, I'm gonna send a message. He said huh, I want something that's gonna go from zero to 200, like that. And she went say no more On his birthday. He woke up and she gave him a bathroom scale. Okay, now you see what I got here. Here's what I wanna point out. Just kind of understand. What I'm saying is he thought that he was sending a message but no one was receiving it. Do you get that?

Rick Green

All right, folks, another break. We'll be right back. Stay with us. You're listening to the WallBuilder Show.

Break

Rick Green

Welcome back to the Wall Builder Show. Thanks for staying with us. We'll jump right back in with Pastor Josh Howerton

Pastor Josh Howerton 

Okay, here's what's happening to frustrated Christians right now who are a little naive, is they're looking at what's in front of us and they're going well. Neither candidate perfectly meets my standards, so I'm going to send a message by not voting, or I'm going to send a message by just for voting for a third party, or I'm going to write you in, pastor Josh, please don't. I've been on the news enough this year. Let's do something else. So let me just this is what they're doing, and can I just say this to you is hey guys. And can I just say this to you is hey guys, there's no point in sending a message if nobody is reading it. There's no point in doing that. Let me just. Let's be very honest. The only thing that people read on election day is who won. That's the only thing people read. So the goal isn't to make a point. The goal is to make a difference. Don't waste your chance to make a difference trying to make a point that nobody gets. Don't do that, okay.

Now number three a selection is not a sacrament. This is one of the biggest misunderstandings Christians have right now. A selection is not a sacrament, so that's a big churchy word. Here's what a sacrament is A sacrament it's a religious ritual like communion or baptism or marriage, that it's really important not to let any impurity into. And, like I said, what Christians are doing right now is they're looking at our current candidates. And if you have any eyes open and I'm just going to say this, I need to be honest with you any Christian that's got a Bible open and their eyes open and their brain working ought to be looking at both of the candidates we're looking at and going. Man, I see some flaws in both things I got in front of me. And what Christians are doing is they're going well, I just can't vote because there's no candidate I can fully support. And what they're doing is they're thinking that their selection is a sacrament, that somebody has got to be totally pure for them to be able to vote for them. Can I just point this out I'll only vote for somebody if I can fully support everything about them.

Guys, you don't do that with any other choice in your life, the reason you come to this church. You might come to this church and be like, ah, I like the preaching, but the music's a little loud. Or, you know, probably more likely, I like the music, but the preacher's a little annoying. I never know what he's going to say. All right man, movies, music, all these things.

Nothing is a hundred percent. Are you married? Like, let me just point this out Are you married? You did not choose your spouse because a hundred percent, in every single thing about them, they met your desires perfectly, in every area. Here's what you loved them and you went best available. That's what happened. You loved them, you went best available.

Okay, now here's what I know. In the lobby there's gonna be some dude that's like yeah, pastor, you're wrong. She's perfect in every way. Okay, well, bro, you're not. She got a beer belly and food on your beard and all the things, okay so. So let me just let me just hey, guys, let me say in a straightforward way Jesus is not on the ballot. Guys, get over it. Jesus is not on the ballot. Get over it, okay.

So, and now this is let me, let me go a layer deeper with this. This is this next part of the sermon. I need to teach you about this. It might be the most important part of the sermon. So here's how you need to think about leaders.

In the Bible there's three types of leaders. This is a taxonomy in the Old Testament three types of leaders. On the one hand, you have leaders I'm gonna call them Josiah leaders. Josiah leaders they're righteous people who promote and celebrate righteous things. Josiah is a great example of this. Young kid becomes king, really young, walks into like a church closet, rediscovers the law of God that Israel had forgotten about for years. He's like he reads it. The Holy Spirit fills him. He's like this is amazing. He literally walks out, grabs and gathers all of Israel and just reads line by line through the Bible in front of the whole nation. He personally repents, leads the entire nation to repent. There's an outpouring of God's spirit. There's revival in the nation all these things. Josiah was an amazing. Every mom in Israel could say to her son I hope you grow up to be like King Josiah someday. Now listen, we all, as Christians, we want a Josiah leader. We beg God to raise up Josiahs. But Josiah is not always on the ballot.

So there's a second kind of leader in the Old Testament leaders like Ahab and Jezebel. I'm choosing them because the Old Testament says they were the most wicked leaders Israel ever had. These are leaders who are unrighteous people, who promote and celebrate wicked things. This is what Ahab and Jezebel did. They led Israel into idolatry and Baal worship. They persecuted the Bible teachers and closed the churches. Just gonna let that sit for a second. They murdered innocent people. They stole from citizens. Ahab was a passive, weak man and Jezebel was a promiscuous, manipulative woman and her husband was controlled by her emotions instead of leading his family because of his passivity and his weakness. Now, these were evil people.

Okay, now let me ask this question what happens to a nation when Ahab and Jezebel leaders lead? Well, here's what happens. The cities of that nation begin to be filled with lawlessness and theft. There's chaos in the cities. Entire months in that nation's calendar that begin to celebrate perversion. That same perversion begins to get taught to the children of that nation in sex ed classes. Nine month old babies are murdered in the womb. Parents have their children taken away from them if they refuse to affirm their child's gender identity.

Bible-believing Christians are stigmatized and marginalized. Terrible things happen when Ahab and Jezebel leaders lead. Now, a lot of Christians what they do is because they're just a little naive. They think these are the only two types of leaders there are. But in the Old Testament there's a third type of leader. Third type of leader is I'm gonna call it a Jehu leader.

These leaders are people who are flawed. Flawed people that are used to do some good things. Jehu, king Jehu, was an example of one of these types of leaders. In 2 Kings 9 and 10, he was used by God to do some awesome things for the country. He executed judgment on Ahab and Jezebel, the godless leaders. He did it with swiftness and ferocity. Some Bible scholars would say this was a guy that was anointed but not saved. I actually find this really, really awesome. He destroyed all the altars of Baal and turned them into toilets. I think that's awesome. This is really cool thing he did. But he was a deeply, deeply flawed man. He tolerated some forms of idol worship in his nation. He let golden calves be worshiped in Israel. He let this happen, okay. So these three types of leaders exist Josiahs, Ahab’s and Jezebels and Jehus.

Now let me say two things on this. Number one don't treat a Jehu like a Josiah. Do not ignore imperfections. Don't do that. But number two, we all want a King Josiah, but sometimes God uses a flawed leader for good purposes, and when you don't have the option of voting for a Josiah and your choice is between Ahab and Jezebel and Jehu, that choice is very obvious, because a flawed leader used to do some good things. Is better than suffering under wicked leaders. It's better, okay, so we need to now. Here's the question. Okay, here's the next question. So, if that's what voting's not, what is voting and I want you to see this Voting is, it's your power to pick the best available path forward.

Rick Green

That's what a vote is All right, folks, we're going to get the rest of Pastor Josh's sermon tomorrow, so make sure you're sharing this with friends and family. This is a timely message for all Americans, but especially, especially, for the church. So share with as many people as you possibly can, get them in the right mindset of being good stewards of what God has given us. Thanks so much for listening today to the WallBuilder Show.