OPINION: What can we learn from the 2020 election?

What is the most concerning thing about the 2020 election? It's not so much about who won and who lost -- the votes are still being counted as I write this and legal battles are likely to follow. It's not even the allegations of fraudulent votes being added to the tallies in order to alter the true results of the election, although such, if true, would undermine the very core of a government by the people.

What's most troubling is the fact that so many Americans, in many cases our neighbors and coworkers, voted against life for the unborn and elderly, against Biblical marriage and family, against the God-given right to protect life and property, against the freedom to preach and teach God's Word, against our nation's founding documents as written, and, sad to say, for immorality and humanism. It's certainly fair to say that people may have voted for or against a candidate for other reasons, but many voted as they did because of their support for or opposition to a political platform.

As a student of the Bible and a preacher of God's Word, I can tell you that one cannot be or continue to be a Christian and also continue to reject the teaching of the Bible regarding life and morality. One cannot be a follower of Christ and look to Him and His cross for pardon and forgiveness and at the same time set aside what He said about serving Him, about little children and babies, about the elderly, about marriage, about property, and about continuing in sin and immorality.

What this election indicates is that many, many people in this nation, even many professing to be Christian, are not Christian at all since they oppose the teaching of Christ, the Son of God, who reveals Himself as our creator in the Bible, who was there with Abraham discussing the wickedness of Sodom and Gomorrah and then raining down fire and brimstone on the cities of the plain, who spoke to Moses on Mt. Sinai giving him the Ten Commandments and again in Leviticus 18 condemning sexual perversion, who commanded the utter destruction of the wicked inhabitants of Canaan, who commissioned the Apostle Paul and gave to him the teaching written in his epistles, and who pointed out the sinfulness of lust and adultery, etc.

While God is gracious and forgives the sins of penitent sinners who look in faith to Christ and His atoning sacrifice on the cross for the sins of the world, He also judges those who rebel against Him and reject His words (cf. Ex. 20:5-6; 1 Sam. 12:15; Isa. 30:1; 63:10).

If there was any question beforehand, this election makes clear to us that the United States of America is not a Christian nation and that many who hold church memberships are likely not Christians and will end up in eternal torment unless they repent of their sinful and rebellious ways and look to Christ and His cross for pardon and forgiveness.

But, perhaps most importantly, this election tells us that we have much mission work to do. We live among the lost in a nation which has lost its way.

It will do no good to impose Biblical morality on ungodly people by government legislation and enforcement. What is needed in America is a change of heart among the people. We as Americans need to see that we have sinned against the Lord God who created us and sent His Son to redeem us. We need to acknowledge our sins and the judgment we deserve and then look in faith to the crucified and risen Christ Jesus for pardon and forgiveness.

Our mission work, as Christians, is to first read and study the Word of God and then to share the Bible's teaching with our friends, neighbors and coworkers, for it is only through the speaking and hearing of God's Word that the Holy Spirit will convict our guilty hearts of sin and then assure us of forgiveness and life eternal through faith in Jesus.

When we think of mission work, distant lands and unfamiliar languages and people often come to mind, but this election shows us that we have much mission work to do right here at home. We live in a largely pagan nation, among a people that do not know God and know little of His Word!

How important it is for us to hear and study the Scriptures ourselves and also pray that the Lord of the harvest would raise up men to faithfully and boldly preach and teach His Word that our friends, our neighbors and our coworkers, too, would hear, repent of their sins and look to Christ Jesus and His cross for mercy and forgiveness!

Only by preaching the saving Gospel to the souls of our friends and neighbors can the heart and soul of this nation be changed into one that fears the Lord God and seeks to govern its affairs according to the truth revealed in His Word.

God grant that we pray and then rise to the task!

Randy Moll is the managing editor of the Westside Eagle Observer and a pastor at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Rogers. He may be contacted by email at [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author.