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Hi, this is Pastor Roger Jimenez from Verity Baptist Church in Sacramento, California. Today I'm making a video to answer the question, how should Christians vote? On Tuesday, November 6th, our nation will be heading to the voting booths, and in this video I'd like to give you my personal guidelines for how a Christian should vote. I want to begin by talking about when it comes to voting for laws. Here in California, we vote for propositions. These are laws that are being proposed to go into effect in the state. And when it comes to voting for a law, the guidelines that I follow are these. Number one, I say no to any increased taxes. If the law calls for increasing taxes in any way, whether it's local, state, or whatever it might be, the answer is no. I also say no to any empowering or growing of the government. If the law calls for giving additional power or growth to the government in any way, again whether it's local or state, then the answer, in my opinion, is no. And my third guideline is if the law is proposing an attack on our freedoms, then the answer is no. So for example, if they're trying to pass a law that would make it harder to homeschool our children, the answer is no. So as you can imagine, if I'm saying no to any increase in taxes, if I'm saying no to any sort of increase in government power, and if I'm saying no to anything that's hindering or attacking our freedoms, as you can imagine, I'm saying no to probably most things that are being proposed as a law in our state. The second aspect of an election and voting an election is not just voting for upcoming laws, but also voting for a politician, voting to elect an individual. And when it comes to that, I want to begin by saying the Republican Party has done a good job at fooling Christians into voting for them by teaching them to vote for the lesser of two evils. And today you have many Christians who will vote for a certain party and they'll justify it by saying, well, I don't agree with either one, but I'm going to vote for the lesser of two evils. And I would caution you in regards to that. In 1 Timothy 5 and verse 22, we learn a principle that we can apply here. Now let me say this, 1 Timothy 5 22, the verse is about ordaining a man for the ministry, for leadership and ministry, and that's the context of the verse. But I believe we can learn a principle that we can apply to all leadership. In 1 Timothy 5 22, the Bible says this, lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men's sins, keep thyself pure. Here the Bible teaches that when you choose or when you get behind, when you endorse a leader and then that leader sins, you are a partaker in that man's sins. So if you take the stand that I'm going to vote for the lesser of two evils, if you're voting for someone who is evil and they are doing wicked and evil things, the Bible teaches that you are partaking in the sins of that individual. So when it comes to electing a politician, the question should not be, how should I vote? But the question should be, should I vote? Is there a politician that I can get behind? Is there a politician that I can endorse with a clear conscience? And if there's someone like that, then praise the Lord, get behind them and vote for them. But I would encourage you as a Christian not to just say, well, I'm going to vote for this candidate even though I don't agree with them or even though they're going to do things that are sinful just because they're not as bad as the other guy. A Christian should also, when it comes to voting for a politician, and what I'm about to say is going to be extremely unpopular and not politically correct, but a Christian should never vote for a woman to be put into political power. And I understand that's not popular, but that's what the Bible says. First Timothy chapter two and verse 12 says this, but I suffer not a woman to teach nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. The Bible teaches us here that a woman should not usurp authority over a man. In Isaiah chapter three and verse 12, God speaks about a woman being put into a political position as a negative thing. It's a curse upon the people of God. Isaiah chapter three and verse 12 says this, as for my people, children are their oppressors and women rule over them. Oh my people, they which lead thee, cause thee to err and destroy the way of thy path. And you know, as a Christian, no matter what the political views of that woman is, we should never endorse or vote for a woman to take on a political position of authority. Let me say one more thing when it comes to voting for individuals, because sometimes when you teach these things and you tell people, hey, there might not be a politician that you can vote for and you should not even vote for them because they're evil and they're wicked. People will often throw at me when I say something like that, they'll say, well, if you don't vote, then you don't have a right to complain. You know, and here's the thing, when it comes to speaking up against the government and politicians and the wickedness of our nation, people will say, if you don't vote, you don't have a right to do that. The problem with that thinking is that it's our constitutional right to complain. We have a constitutional right of freedom of speech. So I can choose not to vote because of the fact that there is not a politician that's worth endorsing and still have the right to speak up against the wickedness and the evil of politicians, which is the exact reason why I choose not to vote. Let me just kind of end by saying a couple of ending thoughts when it comes to voting as a Christian. You know, as a Christian, our focus should be on the spiritual and not on politics. When you study the life of the Lord Jesus Christ, Jesus did not mobilize his followers to bring about political reform. In fact, Jesus was specifically asked about bringing political reform. In Acts chapter 1 and verse 6, this is after his resurrection, the Bible says this, when they therefore were come together, they asked of him saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And they're talking to him in political terms, they're saying, are you going to restore the kingdom at this time? And in verse 7, the Bible says this, and he said unto them, it is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the father had put in his own power. There is coming a day when Jesus will bring political reform to the entire world. It's called the millennial reign of Christ, but Jesus is basically saying to them, that's not something you need to worry about. In verse 8, he tells them what they should be concerned with. He says, but ye shall receive power. After that the Holy Ghost has come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth. And you know, in his ministry, Jesus mobilizes followers to reach people with the gospel of Jesus Christ. So I would encourage you to make sure that you don't get too wrapped up into politics, to realize that our purpose is to spread the gospel and to reach people with the gospel. And the truth of the matter is this, that as a nation, we get the leaders we deserve. All throughout the Bible, you find this concept that the political leaders that are placed above us are a direct result of the people and the actions of the people. If you have a nation that is wicked and evil, then you will have politicians that are wicked and evil. And the truth of the matter is that the best way to influence the politics of our nation is to reach people with the gospel of Jesus Christ. The White House will not influence the church house, at least not for good. But the church house can have a major influence on the White House by transforming our society. We will bring more reform to our government by transforming lives one at a time. Because the Bible says this in 2 Corinthians chapter 3 and verse 17, Now the Lord is that Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. If you like these videos, we want to encourage you to subscribe to our YouTube channel. And if you have an idea of a video that we could make, we'd love for you to leave your idea in the comments section below. We hope that was helpful. Thanks for watching. We'll see you next time.