Side Bars – Our Obligations – The Purpose of Civil Government – The Witness of the Reformational Church to the Role of the Civil Magistrate – Closing Exhortation

Ballot Recommendations Summary Measure 26 Measure 27 Measure 28 Measure 29 Measure 30 Measure 31 Measure 32 Measure 33 Measure 34 Measure 35 Measure 36 Measure 37 Measure 38 Measure 39 Measure 40 Measure 41 Measure 42 Measure 43 Measure 44 Measure 45 Measure 46 Measure 47 Measure 48

How Shall We Then Vote?
Presuppositions - The Purpose of Civil Government

“God, the supreme Lord and King of all the world, hath ordained civil magistrates to be under him, over the people, for his own glory, and the public good: and, to this end, hath armed them with the power of the sword, for the defense and encouragement of them that are good, and for the punishment of evil doers.”

But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. Rom. 13:4;

Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well. I Pet. 2:13-14

In evaluating ballot measures, we must begin with a consideration of the proper role of civil government. The above quotation is taken from the Westminster Confession of Faith. (Chapter 23 - Of the Civil Magistrate, Section 1). This document is one of the finest of the great confessions to come out of the tremendous period of reformation in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. This time of reformation and revival was one in which men once more tested all propositions by the rule of Holy Scripture, thus laying the foundations for western liberty. It is the Church’s failure to test all things by God’s Word that has led to a now rapid decline of liberty and rise of evil in our culture. Ours is a time of judgment, and the answer of the Church must be repentance.

But repentance that does not move to godly change is not biblical repentance. Esau offered up tears for what he had lost and what he wanted to gain, but this was not true repentance. There was neither a Godly sorrow, that is, a sorrow for his great offence to God, nor a change of actions on his part. Unlike most modern “preachers,” John the Baptist had no problem insisting that those who expressed a desire to enter into his baptism of repentance offer up fruits “meet for repentance.” That is, fruits, changes of actions, that would indicate a true sorrow to God and a resultant turn from their sinful ways.

Let’s face it. Most of us have voted for measures because they would put more money in our pockets. Or we have voted for measures to get tough on crime, not bothering to think over whether it was God’s way of getting tough, or man’s way. We have voted to increase the size of civil government, thinking that through the arm of flesh, we can be made secure.

But the Scriptures tell us that judgment begins at the house of God (1 Peter 4:17). God is ticked off that we don’t apply biblical discipline to sinning members of the church. We don’t guard the most holy body and blood of our Lord from profane men, but we still expect the state to protect our bodies from wicked men. We have reinterpreted the Bible so it doesn’t interfere with our three day weekends, our amusements, our debt, our divorces, or (God forgive us) our abortions. Our “loose construction” of God’s Word (particularly the Old Testament) long predated the loose construction of the Constitution that we complain about so often. Did we really believe that our Sovereign Lord would let us keep the original intent of our Constitution after we had turned His Word into pious advice?

It’s time for a 180, stop on the dime, hard turn in the opposite direction. Its time to repent of sins and embrace God’s Word as it interprets our world for us. We must begin to evaluate ballot measures based on what God’s Word says the civil government should do - punish evildoers (evil as defined by God’s Word) and thus defend and encourage the righteous.

A simple reflection on this God-defined role of the state leads to some rather obvious but important conclusions. First, we must as Christians act to decentralize the massive amounts of power and control that have migrated into the hands of the State. Second, and related to this, we must move to restore representative government. Third, we must restore the primary function of the state, punishing evildoers. Fourth, and related to this, we must act to stop the State from what some have referred to as prior restraint. And, fifth, we must engage in a “benefits revolution” as a compliment to a tax revolution.

Decentralized Government - The Bible puts forth two basic functions to Adam in the garden - guarding and nurturing. The political state is primarily a guarding institution, as Romans and 1 Peter point out. The family and church are to be the primary nurturing institutions. But a decline in faith in God has been replaced increasingly by a rising faith in civil government to take care of all of our problems. Some of the ballot measures in 1996 represent an increasing role for the state in health care, home mortgages, commerce, and transportation. Nowhere in the Bible is the state to involve itself in these things, unless there are evil-doers to be punished. While we all want to see better health care, family home ownership, ease of transportation and profitable commercial transactions, we must use God’s means to achieve these ends.

The tower of Babel is a good symbol of what pagan man does. Godless cultures are, for the most part, collectivist cultures. If man is god, then collective man, the State, is the amplified voice of God. Then political action becomes true religion, the way to bring about health, prosperity and salvation. Obviously, God judges such efforts by men, and our cultural and societal breakdown is a sign written in large letters by God to repent of such idolatry. Several of this year’s ballot measures (#30, 32) are opportunities to demonstrate our commitment to a decentralized civil government.

Representative Government - This is related to decentralization. One of the means by which centralization of power in the state has occurred is by turning over more and more authority to bureaucrats. Various state agencies now have rule-making authority that in effect is law-making authority. The Legislature may pass a bill, but these bills are usually policy statements. The implementation of these policies is up to the particular state board or agency that must write the rules by which the policy is enacted. These rules have the force of law. The end result of this is that bureaucrats, not accountable to the electorate, actually rule in our state. A few years ago, for example, the State Board of Education came close to writing rules that would have all but eliminated all legal home schooling in Oregon. On the other hand, there is also a tendency to move toward raw democracy instead of representative government. Biblical government stands at the midway point between radical collectivism on the one hand and radical individualism on the other. Some of the ballot measures this year (#27, 29, 33, 40, 41, 43, 45) have the effect of rolling back bureaucratic over-regulation, or of maintaining representative government as opposed to raw democracy.

Punishing Evil-doers - Ecc. 8:11 tells us “Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.” In Deut. 17:12,123, we read “And the man that will do presumptuously, and will not hearken unto the priest that standeth to minister there before the LORD thy God, or unto the judge, even that man shall die: and thou shalt put away the evil from Israel. And all the people shall hear, and fear, and do no more presumptuously.” When is an ounce of cure worth a pound of prevention? Well, the above Scriptures seem to indicate the answer is “When the civil magistrate does his job of punishing evil.” Several of this year’s ballot measures (#26, 31) give us the opportunity to speak up for righteousness by speaking up for the punishment of evil in our state.

Reduce Prior Restraint - One of the biggest problems with current civil government is that it now seeks to prevent crime instead of punishing it. Sounds good, but the mind of Christ as revealed in the Bible says that the prevention of crime is simply not the job of the State, except through the actual punishment of evildoers. When we ask the State to prevent crime by any means other than punishing evil-doers we do this at the great cost of the loss of liberty. It is the job of the nurturing institutions of church and family to prevent crime. It is the job of the State to punish actual, not possible, criminals. Several of this year’s ballot measures (#35, 38) should be opposed, because they seek to impose prior restraint on possible crime, instead of punishing actual crime, Others (such as #34) should be supported because they seek to remove prior restraint on what are clearly not evil activities in and of themselves.

A “Benefits Revolution” - It is understandable that Americans in 1996 are participating in a tax revolution of sorts. The civil government now takes nearly half of what we earn to provide for all the goodies we want it to do. In I Samuel 8:15-18, God told Samuel that anything approaching a ten percent taxation level would be a sign of His judgment via increasing tyranny. Well, God has give us a sign five times as big, but we still seem to have trouble reading it! We still think of this as the government’s problem, rather than our problem. As in Samuel’s time, America and Oregon has demanded a “Gentile” government, one that provides insurance for everything, education, jobs, perks, and much more. If we are serious about our desire for reduced tax levels, we will engage in a benefits revolution. We will stop voting ourselves benefits from moneys collected form other people. Home schoolers are the vanguard of the benefits revolution. They started taking responsibility for the education of their children without waiting for their taxes to be reduced. Praise God that they are still nowhere near as interested in getting tax breaks as they are to simply do the job of educating the children that God has given them in stewardship. Several ballot measures this year (#28, 32, 35, 36, 37, 39, 44) may well test your commitment to participate in the benefits revolution necessary if we are to engage in true repentance before God.

This voters' guide produced by Parents Education Association, PAC.