By Gregg Boll, Executive Director of Missions
I want to say a few words about the upcoming election and specifically Amendment 3. I think, as pastors, we are afraid of offending people, so we often say nothing about biblical and moral issues that are being decided by elections. We are afraid of being too political. Or, maybe you view all politics and political activity as so corrupt and tainted that you believe the more spiritual position to take is disengagement from all things political. Let me share with you why I believe this is not the most spiritual position. Every issue of life that eventually makes it into an amendment or election was a moral/spiritual issue long before it became a political one. Whether life is sacred from conception to the grave is a biblical issue. Whether God created people with only two genders is a spiritual issue. As Josh Howerton so eloquently says, “Politics affects policy and policy affects people and people matter to God, so I will always speak out about biblical issues that intersect with politics and policy.” Even our own Baptist Faith and Message 2000 encourages political engagement in the important issues of the day. I encourage you to read it in its entirety, but here are a few excerpts from Article 15. “All Christians are under obligation to seek to make the will of Christ supreme in our own lives and in human society. Means and methods used for the improvement of society and the establishment of righteousness among men can be truly and permanently helpful only when they are rooted in the regeneration of the individual by the saving grace of God in Jesus Christ. In the spirit of Christ, Christians should oppose racism, every form of greed, selfishness, and vice, and all forms of sexual immorality, including adultery, homosexuality, and pornography. We should work to provide for the orphaned, the needy, the abused, the aged, the helpless, and the sick. We should speak on behalf of the unborn and contend for the sanctity of all human life from conception to natural death. Every Christian should seek to bring industry, government, and society as a whole under the sway of the principles of righteousness, truth, and brotherly love.”
It may seem morally virtuous to disengage from all political discussions and to refrain from voting, but that is to abdicate our civil and biblical responsibility to work for the welfare of the city and the nation God has placed us in. God instructed the exiled Israelites in Babylon to “Seek the prosperity of the city where I have sent you into exile and pray to the Lord in its behalf; for in its [d]prosperity will be your prosperity.” (Jer. 29:7)
Our constitution gives us this wonderful opportunity to express our Christian values through voting. I would just ask those who believe that all politics are absolutely corrupt and wrong: what do you do with Romans 13:1 and 4, which says that all government is ordained by God? Government is the minister or servant of God to you for good. True, politicians, candidates, and amendments we are asked to vote for are never purely good or righteous, but, for one, they are a part of a governmental system which God ordained. And, secondly, we will never have the luxury of living in a perfect world until Jesus comes again and establishes His eternal Kingdom. We just happen to be blessed to live in a representative republic which was established ‘of the people, by the people and for the people’ that has granted us the real power to vote and choose. When I must choose between two candidates, I don’t refuse to vote because neither candidate is morally perfect; I’m voting for the policies and actions they are most likely to enact, which are closest to my Christian, biblical values. When I must choose whether to vote for or against an amendment, like Amendment 3, I don’t refuse to vote because the amendment isn’t perfect or doesn’t try to achieve all I might idealistically hope for. I vote because the outcome will have real-world consequences on the lives of people, and I have a civic and moral obligation to use every right and opportunity I’ve been given to promote the greatest good and righteous outcome.
So, with reference to Amendment 3, yes, it is far from perfect. I wish it could end all abortions. But I’m going to vote for it because of the lives it will save. I’m aware that our abortion abolitionist brothers want a 100% eradication of abortion. We all want that. Because Amendment 3 doesn’t legislate the complete elimination of abortion, most of them will not vote for it. Respectfully, allow me to share why I don’t believe this to be the most prudent path for a believer to take. It is true that Amendment 3 makes an exception for abortions for rape or incest up to 12 weeks, fetal anomalies where the baby could not survive outside of the womb, and to save the life of the mother; so the anti-Amendment 3 television ads are flat-out lying to us. Yet, these three exceptions only make up 2% of all abortions. 98% of all abortions are abortions of convenience, after the fact “birth control,” and the unnecessary taking of life. Think about it this way: if 100 children were in a burning building and you were a fireman, how many of those children would you hope you could save? All 100 of them. But what if you could only save 98 of those children? Would you refuse to save 98 of them because you couldn’t save all 100? No sane person would do that. You would save as many of them as you could. So, yes, I am going to vote yes on 3 because while I’d like to save every child from abortion, I would rather save 98% of them than none of them, which is exactly what could eventually happen if Amendment 3 fails. After all, Missouri’s current anti-abortion laws are set to run out, to sunset in August 2027, and there is no guarantee that the Missouri Legislature will vote to reinstate those laws.
Now, what the second portion of Amendment 3 accomplishes is to end the barbaric, horrific practice of subjecting children to sex change procedures and surgeries. The data is now coming in about the irreparable harm that “gender affirming care” does to children. I never could have imagined that we’d get to the point as a nation when we were purposely trying to confuse children about their gender assigned to them at birth by God, pumping them full of chemicals to aid them in their denial of reality and irreversibly mutilating their bodies. Yet, here we are. You know, it’s amazing how much more profound and relevant certain verses in the Bible seem with the passing of time, but when Jesus said that it were better that a millstone were tied around your neck and you were cast into the sea than to harm or offend one of these little ones of mine, I think he had exactly this kind of pure evil in mind. Friends, voting on Amendment 3 will not fix every problem of society, but our government is putting before us the opportunity to make a moral choice about two important issues. If I failed to vote yes on Amendment 3, I would feel responsible and complicit with those who desire to murder children in the womb and irreparably damage gender confused children. Folks, these were biblical issues long before they were political issues. I will always speak about biblical issues, even when they intersect with current politics and policies.
