How Would Jesus Have Voted?
Recently the national convention of a very large Southern de nomination met in Atlanta. Its proceedings were widely reported in the news because of a struggle for power between two factions divided by questions of biblical inerrancy. One side was said to insist that the Bible be taken literally—its stories accepted as actual history, and its entire contents respected as God’s word. The other group did not feel these matters should be made an issue. Focal point of the convention was the vote for president and consequent control of the denominational colleges and seminaries.
In deciding questions of a spiritual nature, it is always appropriate to ask: “What would Jesus do?” We find it interesting to ask this question in regard to this convention: “How would Jesus have voted?”
What Did Jesus Believe? The Old Testament as we have it was the Bible of Jesus’ day. We know from His teaching what He believed about it.
Jesus considered its stories accurate. He based His teaching concerning marriage on the story of Adam and Eve, quoting the very words spoken by God when He created them (cf. Mat thew 19:4-5 and Genesis 1:27; 2:24; 5:2). He said that the day of His coming will be as the days of Noah (Luke 17::26-27). He also compared it to the day when Lot went out of Sodom and fire and brimstone rained from heaven and destroyed them all (Luke 17:28-32). He gave as a sign of His divinity the sign of Jonah: “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matthew 12:40). It is obvious that Jesus took literally these stories which are the most ridiculed and allegorized stories of the Bible.
Jesus considered its words inspired. In Mark 7:10 Jesus quotes Moses, but in verse 13 He calls the words “the word of God.” In John 10:35, He calls the law “the word of God.” What clearer statements could be made to indicate inspiration?
Jesus considered its original text pure. “For assuredly I say to you, till heaven and earth shall pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled” (Matthew 5:18). The jot and tittle were the smallest parts of a Hebrew letter, corresponding to our dot of an i or cross of a t. He considered even the text of His day sufficiently pure to permit Him to base an argument for the resurrection on the tense of a verb (see Matthew 22:32 quoting Exodus 3:6).
Jesus considered its canon complete. Jesus did not talk about lost books, nor did He accuse the Jews of omitting inspired books. They had the same books that we have in our Old Testament, though arranged differently. In Matthew 23:35, Jesus made a significant statement: ‘That on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you killed between the temple and the altar.” Abel was mentioned in Genesis (the first book of the Old Testament) and Zechariah in 2 Chronicles (the last book in the Hebrew arrangement of the Old Testament). Thus, Jesus approved the collection of books from A to Z. He used the usual Jewish classification of books in Luke 24:44 when He speaks of the Law, the Prophets and the Psalms.
Jesus considered its teaching infallible. “For I say to you that this which is written must be accomplished. . .” (Luke 22:37). “…All things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me” (Luke 24:44). “…And the scripture cannot be bro ken” (John 10:35).
From all of this it is clear that Jesus believed in the inerrancy of the Scriptures which He had in His day.
How Would He Have Voted? How Jesus would have voted is a different question entirely. It is altogether unlikely that Jesus would have voted at all. He never attached any significance whatsoever to the number of people believing or favoring a proposition. He never proposed that anything be settled by vote.
In fact, we can be confident that Jesus would not even have participated in such a convention or been concerned about its presidency. Conventions, denominational offices and the col leges and seminaries they control are all of human origin and were never mentioned by Jesus or His apostles as being any part of His church.
For Jesus to participate in one such denomination would separate Him from His followers who are not in it. This He would not do. This we must not do!
via Christianity Magazine, September, 1986
