Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
Select a thought to read by choosing a collection, the month, and then the day:
"Enter ye in at the strait gate, for wide is the gate, and
broad is the way that leadeth to
destruction, and many there be that go in thereat.
Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, that leadeth into life,
and few there be that find it."
Jesus, Matthew 7:13-14
In the Scripture quoted above, Jesus was telling us that among people on earth, those who do the will of God are always in the minority. At any given time in history, there are many more people living in sin than there are people living according to the will of God. If you are doing the will of God, then you are on the seldom-found narrow path that leads to eternal life.
This is one reason that saints of God who are wise do not put their trust in majority rule. Democracy, to the saints, is just one more of the earth's vain systems of government.
Nevertheless, to participate in a system of elections is what some men try to persuade God's children to do. They are being encouraged by religious leaders to engage in the American system of democratic elections. But is majority rule really what Jesus wants us to trust in? In a world populated by a majority of wicked people, does our Lord want us to commit ourselves and to trust our future to the will of the majority?
In many countries, leadership is decided upon by bloodshed. The men at the top are the men who have been successful at killing their rivals or driving them into hiding. In some other countries, leaders are chosen by elections. In these places, there may be no street battles for political power and no bloody conflicts between military generals, but the hateful attitudes are the same. Even when leadership in an earthly government is determined by ballots instead of bullets, there remains the hatred, the strife, and the spirit of contention that impels other men in other places to war.
The kingdom of God is not a democracy; it is a kingdom. We are governed by an irreplaceable King, and His will is the only law. There has never been an election in God's kingdom because God will not allow it. The only way to attain to an office in His kingdom is be appointed to it by the King. Authority over the saints of God is of such importance to our heavenly Father that "no man taketh this honor unto himself, but he that is called of God". Many have claimed to represent Christ, but only Christ himself can enable anyone to really do that.
Paul told Timothy that if a child of God would please his heavenly Father, then he must not become entangled in the "affairs of this life". Ask yourself, "Is military battle an affair of this life"? Of course, it is. Then do not participate in any of the wars that men fight against other men. God's children are not to carry earthly weapons and use them for one earthly government against another. Ask yourself, "Is politics an affair of this life"? Obviously, the answer is yes. Then stay out of all politics, even the nicer kind of politics where men don't shoot each other with guns. Let men of the world fight for high positions in the world. Let them fight with knives and guns or with sharp, cutting words. But on our part, we trust in the living God to determine for us who will rule anywhere, whether on earth or in heaven.