Selecting Godly Judges

Listen Online:

Transcript:

We’re going to be in Exodus chapter 18 this morning. Exodus chapter 18. We are coming into a very important time in the future of our country, the future of our state, in the future of our local communities.

If you have not already voted, then the election is Tuesday, and you’ll have the opportunity to do so. I’ve already voted on Friday. Might as well get that out of the way.

I wore my I voted sticker Friday night when I went to Southgate for the fall festival. And people said, you already voted? I said, yes. I figured if I died between now and Tuesday, it would still count.

So I went ahead and went down to Norman Friday and got that taken care of. And that’s out of the way now. And I want to talk to you this morning from the Bible, not from my opinion, but from the Bible about selecting godly leaders.

And I want to reassure you from the very beginning that even though I’m talking about the subject of the election and I’m talking about what the Bible says on the subject, I am not here this morning to tell you how to vote. That is not my job. That’s not what I try to do.

Now, if you have any questions, I’ll be glad to talk to you about it outside the pulpit. And I can tell you there’s at least one judge on the Court of Civil Appeals I’d like to see defeated Tuesday. but I’d be glad to tell you that outside the pulpit.

Not because I think I can’t. Ladies and gentlemen, we have what’s called in this country, I think it’s called the Johnson Amendment, that was put in place by Lyndon Johnson after a particularly tough Senate race that said the churches couldn’t talk politics because they’d lose their tax-exempt status. I don’t think that that has ever been successfully prosecuted because it’s unconstitutional. It is against the law to tell the churches, If we as a church wanted to say, you know, we stand for this candidate or against this candidate, I think we legally could.

But I also think it’d be a very bad idea. And it’s not for any fear of reprisal that I say I’m not going to tell you who to vote for. It’s because I think it’s a bad idea.

And I’ve told people before that just as soon as I publicly stood in the pulpit and said, as a pastor, yes, you vote for this candidate, you know, it wouldn’t be a month that candidate would be caught with an intern or eating puppies or something, that then we’re on the record as a church supporting that candidate, and they have not lived up to our. . .

So it’s better, I think, for us to deal in principles than deal with candidates. And then you apply those principles as the Holy Spirit and the dictates of your conscience lead you to do. But it is not my job to stand in the pulpit and tell you how to vote.

But there are biblical principles that apply anytime we go to select our leaders. And folks, we do have, in this country, it’s a right to vote, but it’s also a privilege to be able to select our leaders. Now, I believe that government was, excuse me, I’m tongue-tied this morning.

I do believe that government was instituted by God. We don’t have a choice whether or not we’re going to live under a government. There is one.

There needs to be one, as much as that pains me to say, as someone who doesn’t like to be told what to do. We do need a government to protect life, liberty, and property. But a lot of people around the world don’t get to choose their form of government.

We do. We get to elect our leaders, and that’s a great right and privilege that we have. And with that privilege comes great responsibility that we need to be informed.

We need to know what people stand for. And when I’ve talked about this subject in years past, I’ve talked about issues, and we need to know where they stand on this issue, on that issue. And I’ve come to the realization that we need to be realistic.

This is Oklahoma. In many races, we’re going to find ourselves looking between two candidates on the ballot who say they support all the things that we support because this is Oklahoma. Around November of even numbered years, everybody in office becomes pro-life.

Everybody becomes pro-family. Everybody becomes pro-Second Amendment. And you’re going to find people in both parties who are and say they are, and you’re going to find people in both parties who aren’t and say they are.

And so it’s not enough just to look and say, well, where do they stand on the issues? We need to look at the character of the individual. Because quite frankly, I would rather, I think it’s biblical that we want to choose godly people for our leaders, but I think it’s also practical to say I would rather vote, in some cases, depending on what issues we’re talking about, I would rather vote for somebody who I only agree with on 50% of the issues, but is humble and teachable and godly and willing to learn, than I would for somebody who votes 80% the right way, and you can’t tell them anything. I would rather vote for somebody I disagree with on some issues.

There are some issues that I’ve told you before are non-negotiable for me. But there are some people that I’d rather vote for on some issues, somebody I disagree with a little more, who has a proper perspective of their role and God and how God put them in there and what he put them in there to do. And we’re going to look for just a few minutes.

This is one of these. I’m going to be careful this morning because this is one of these messages that I could easily go two or three hours if I’m not careful. Those of you who friended me on Facebook know that I can talk about politics for two or three hours.

I’m going to try to stick very closely to my notes this morning and get us through, but I want to look at some principles that we should look for, not necessarily where they stand on the issues, but some principles as far as it being the character of the people that we’re looking to elect on Tuesday. In Exodus chapter 18, Moses is dealing with his father-in-law, and God has put Moses in leadership over the people of Israel, and it’s become a burden on him at the time when he’s leading them around in the wilderness as they’re wandering in the wilderness. And Moses’ father-in-law, Jethro, sees what Moses is doing, and it’s what we would call today a workaholic kind of situation.

And Moses is very quickly getting burnt out because he is the God-given authority that has been placed over the nation of Israel at this time. And so they’re bringing all their disputes to him. If they’re arguing over something big, like which way they’re going to go in the wilderness, they come to Moses and say, Moses, what do you say?

It could be something little and irritating, like, she took my toy. They’re coming to Moses. I get so tired of that.

He hit me. Well, what did you do to him? Why were you out of your seat?

You wouldn’t have gotten hit if you weren’t out of your seat. But from the big to the little, every dispute was being brought to Moses. Every question of what should we do?

Which way should we go? Every question of leadership was being brought to Moses. And it was killing him.

Because it says here that he was from the morning to the evening. And it came to, verse 13, and it came to pass on the morrow that Moses sat to judge the people. And the people stood by Moses from the morning to the evening.

From the time that Moses got up in the morning until the time that he went to bed at night, which I’m sure was late at night, he was doing nothing but dealing with the complaints of the very childish sometimes Israelites and judging between them in their disputes. And his father-in-law looked at him and said, you cannot go on like this. Not in those exact words, but reading between the lines here, you can’t go on like this.

This is going to kill you. You need to do something different. You need to set up some other people in leadership and authority under you, but over the people of Israel.

He says you need to set them up. He says that just kind of sets up the story. And he tells him in verse 19, Jethro says to Moses, Hearken now unto my voice, I will give thee counsel, and God shall be with you.

Be thou for the people to Godward, that thou mayest bring the causes unto God. He says here, listen to me because I’m going to give you some advice. And he says, and may God lead you in this.

But he says, you need to be available. You need to focus on the role that God has given you. And you need to be available at this point to be a sort of go between, between the people and God.

You need to take their cause before God. And you can’t do that. See, it was really going to cut into Moses’ time with God if he was dealing with putting out brush fires all the time.

And he says, so you be thou for the people to God, that thou may bring the causes to God. And thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws and shalt show them the way wherein they must walk and the work that they must do. His job was really not unlike that of a pastor in the New Testament.

That he was supposed to be, not that I intercede before the people with God. We have a high priest who does that, Jesus Christ. But Moses was supposed to spend time with God and he was supposed to spend time learning from God that way that he could turn around and teach the people what God had said. And the apostles found themselves in this same predicament and realized that their job that God had given them was prayer and teaching of the word.

And yet there were all these brush fires that popped up everywhere that needed putting out and the people had these disputes and Jethro says to Moses, you’re not going to be able to accomplish what God has really given you to do if you’re having to put out all these brush fires. And so he says, moreover, in verse 21, thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness, and place such over them to be rulers of thousands and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens, and let them judge the people at all seasons, and it shall be that every great matter they shall bring unto thee, but every small matter they shall judge, so shall it be easier for thyself, and they shall bear the burden with thee.

If thou do this thing, and God command thee so, then thou shalt be able to endure, and all this people shall go to their place in peace. So Moses hearkened to the voice of his father-in-law, and did all that he had said. Now there’s a principle that applies here in ministry as well, that I’ve talked about, that if you are trying to do all the ministry yourself in a church, it’s not going to get done.

I’ve made this point numerous times, that if the pastor is trying to do all the ministry in the church, it’s not going to get done. I mean, there’s more ministry even in a small group, in a small church, more ministry than one person can do. That’s why God made all believers ministers.

Now, we don’t all have the same ministry, but I used to tell them all the time in Fayetteville, if you’re counting on me to get done everything that needs to get done, you’re going to be waiting a long time because I’m just one person and have the same number of hours in a day that you do. The apostles ran into this early on and realized that what they’d been called to do was the prayer and the teaching of the word and teaching the people. And they couldn’t do this because there were disputes arising about, well, the food needs to be distributed here or the benevolence needs to go over there.

And so the Bible says God led them to select deacons from among them to do the work of the ministry. And everybody has a role in the ministry. Well, it was the same thing for Moses.

He could not accomplish what God put him there to do if it was just him trying to take care of all these little brush fires. And so he said, as far as the governing of the people of Israel, and folks, it’s the same way here, too. We don’t want or need one person having all the authority, all the power.

Thank God our founders had the foresight to realize we needed to split the power up, needed to split the authority up. Do you want to have to appeal to Washington, D. C.

every time you need a pothole filled? You really want to deal with Washington, D. C.

every time you need a pothole filled? Or there’s a problem with the water line? No, we have city and county governments that deal with those things.

And thank God they had the foresight to see this very biblical principle that we need some of the authority divided up here. And so Moses said, okay, I’m going to do what Jethro said. I’m going to do what my father-in-law said.

And I’m going to appoint some people to help govern the nation of Israel so it’s not just me. And it wasn’t Moses being lazy and saying, I’m not going to do anything. He was going to go back to doing what he was supposed to be doing with God, spending time with God, learning from God, teaching the people.

And then when they had the big disputes, bring them to Moses. But he said, we need some other people in leadership here. But it wasn’t just anybody Moses said, let’s put in leadership.

It wasn’t just anybody that Jethro encouraged him to put in leadership. He said select good men, select the right kind of men to be in leadership over the people of Israel. He didn’t go with the people who had the most money or the most name recognition or the highest polling numbers if they even had such a thing back then.

He said these are the characteristics, and there are three things that we’re going to look at this morning. These are the characteristics of the people that you should put in power. And I realize that we’re talking about a different time, a different circumstance.

Here we have Moses, the nation of Israel, sort of a theocracy because God was their king, and he’s appointing from the top down, here are the kinds of people you want to put in authority. I realize that’s very different from living in 1400s BC, a theocracy, Moses appointing all of the leaders, to say now we’re in 2014 AD, and we live in a constitutional republic for the time being, and the people are selecting their leaders, but these biblical principles are timeless, they still apply. So whether we’re talking about Moses appointing people to be in leadership over Israel, or whether we’re talking about you going to the polls on Tuesday, there are biblical principles here that should guide us in who we’re looking for.

We don’t want scoundrels in office, do we? And I’m not naming, folks, I’m not naming names or parties. But we should want good people in office.

We want people who have our best interest at heart. And I dare say, you know, I’m not saying somebody has to agree with me on everything scripturally. We’re not electing a pastor here, but we should want men and women who fear God.

I am not going to support a Catholic to be pastor of this church or any other Baptist church, but I don’t have a problem voting for a Catholic if they fear God. Now, you know me by now, we’ve got lots of problems, lots of difficulty when it comes to what we believe, and I’m not going to agree with them and they’re not going to agree with me. But we want people in office, Catholic, Baptist, Methodist, it doesn’t matter, who at least try to live by biblical principles, who at least try to live godly lives.

Those are the kinds of people we want. First of all, we as Christians who are going to select our leaders on Tuesday, Christians should prefer leaders who are exemplary, leaders who set an example. I remember back around 98 when they were debating everything going on with Clinton and the perjury and the scandals with the women.

It was being talked about even in my school. I was in junior high school at the time. I want to say seventh grade when all of that broke.

My dad threatened to pull me out of school for a week because they were talking about the Ken Starr report in one of my classes, and he said that is not appropriate for a seventh grader, for his seventh grader to be listening to. But they were talking about it, and I remember the debate over, was it a big deal, was it not a big deal? Did he break the law?

Did he not break the law? And I remember my pastor, I think it was my pastor at the time, saying, you know, our kids are going to grow up thinking certain things are normal because of the example set by those in authority. And you know what?

There’s a lot of truth to that. You know, six years ago, I have never seen a shift in public opinion. Never, not that I’ve been on this earth that long, but never even read about a shift in public opinion in such a short time that’s been so dramatic as the change in public opinion over the subject of same-sex marriage in the last 10 years.

10 years ago, it was the kiss of death for a candidate to come out in support of same-sex marriage. Now, folks, legal is not the right word because it wasn’t passed through by our representatives, but I can’t think of a better word. It’s now legal in Oklahoma, of all places, just 10 short years later.

And polls are saying, especially, polls are saying that the majority of Americans now favor this. And when you get down into my generation, the numbers, I am in the tiny minority, evidently, of standing behind the biblical definition of marriage. You know what?

I know there were a lot of causes, and I’m not going to say I just blame one particular person or even one particular group of people. There’s been a lot of stuff. There’s been the inundation of it with the media constantly, and that’s been a big part of it.

But I realized we were at a tipping point when the sitting president of the United States came out and said, no, I support this. Things really started moving in that direction after that. Folks, the example that our leadership sets for us.

We may think what goes on in Washington doesn’t really affect my life. Some of it does and some of it doesn’t. Some of, you know, regardless of who gains control or keeps control of the Senate on Tuesday, we’re going to wake up Wednesday morning and some things are just going to be the same.

It’s not going to change. But ultimately, there are some things about the direction of this country. There are some things about the culture of our people.

There are some things about the way that the next generation goes that are set by those in leadership. And we want people who are a good example. I’m not talking Republican, Democrat.

I’m talking about I don’t want my kids to grow up in a country where they look at their leaders. They look at the governor. They look at the president.

They look at the mayor. They look at whoever it is. And every day in the papers, they’re involved in a sex scandal or fraud or some kind of bribery thing.

I don’t want my kids growing up thinking that that’s normal and that that’s the kind of leaders that we elect and that that’s the kind of people that they should grow up to be. We should be paying very close attention. It’s important to know where they stand on the issues, but we need to look at these people and the way they live their lives.

Do they set an example for us, for our children? Now, most of us in this room are grounded enough in Scripture that even if the country elects people who set a bad example, we’re not going to just go running wild because they do, so it must be okay. But you’ve got to think of how it looks.

You’ve got to think of how it looks to the next generation. Things that were scandalous 10 years ago, 15 years ago, are now joked about and laughed about on television. I can tell you stories, and I know I’ve told you some stories that I think are funny about my kids at school, but some of the things that they’ve said, I can tell you that just make me want to go lock myself in the bathroom and weep and think, where are we as a culture?

And it’s because bad examples are being set and have been set for a long time, not just in our elected officials. The ones that we look up to as celebrities, we don’t really have a choice about that. The ones in the media, we really don’t have a choice about that.

This is one area though, where we have a choice of what kind of examples we put in front of our kids. We want people. He tells them in verse 20, thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws and shalt show them the way wherein they must walk and the work that they must do.

So even though we’re talking about Moses appointing other people to be in leadership, he still was going to be the leader of them. He was going to be the leader of these other leaders. And he was still going to be the leader of the nation of Israel.

And even though we’re talking about appointing other leaders, they needed to be people who were going to follow his example. And the example he set of being one who would teach the ordinances and laws of God, show them the way that they must walk and the work that they must do. There was no way Moses was going to purposely appoint people who were going to undermine the example he was setting.

And whether we’re talking about the president of the United States, and I know I mentioned his stance on same-sex marriage, he’s not on the ballot anymore. So I’m still not telling you how to vote. I forgot where I was going with that.

I’m sorry. But there’s an example to be set. There’s an example to be set.

Oh, I know where I was going with it. Whether we’re talking about the president who we don’t elect this time, or the governor, or our senators, or our mayor, or leaders that our kids may not even ever know who they are. We have a choice.

Are we going to put people in authority who are going to undermine the example we set or who are going to undergird the example that we set? And so we want to elect, we want to prefer leaders who are exemplary in their beliefs. Yes, here’s the thing about the issues.

Do they believe the same things that I believe? Or are they teaching, are they setting an example for my kids that is completely different from what I believe? You know what, there are some things that I believe, and even though they’re controversial, I’m not ashamed of them because they come from God’s Word.

I believe in the right to life. I do. I believe that marriage is between one man and one woman.

And I believe it’s supposed to be a lifelong commitment. I believe, well, there are a lot of things I believe. I could go through the list for you.

And given the preference between a good person who, a good moral person who believes as I do, and a good moral person who does not believe as I do, yeah, I’m going to prefer someone who sets an example for others. As far as belief, believing the right things. But even more important than that, what do they believe about God?

Do they believe that they’re in charge, that they’re in control, that they can do to the citizens whatever they want, treat them like subjects? Or do they believe in government the way God set it up and intended it in Israel, the way we’ve been fortunate and been blessed with here, that yes, they rule, they govern over us, but they’re here for our good. They’re here for our benefit.

They’re here for our peace to protect our freedom. What do they believe about government and what kind of example does that set? We want people who set a good example in their behavior, obviously.

We want people who are going to walk the right way, live the right way. I can overlook some wrong votes if you’re not out doing things you’re not supposed to be doing. So when we go to the polls on Tuesday, as we have the opportunity to select our leaders, we should prefer leaders who are exemplary, people who set a good example.

And unfortunately, it seems like in many races we come to a point in the life of our country where we’re thinking, really, these are the worst people. We’re no longer electing the best people in our society to be our leaders. We’re electing some of the worst at times.

And I’m not saying they are the worst people, but we need people we can be excited about and can be examples and can be leaders. And there were a couple of races this time that it’s so unlike me. I was undecided until the day before I went and voted.

I mean, big statewide offices. I was undecided until the day before I went and voted because I thought, well, they’re not terrible, but they’re not great either. They’re just, folks, whatever happened to picking people and putting them in authority to set an example because they were the best. They were the most moral. They were the right man or woman for the job.

That’s what we need to be looking for. Second of all, Christians should prefer leaders who are competent. There are a lot of nice people, and I find myself saying this more and more.

I’m sure he’s a perfectly nice man, but he doesn’t belong in Congress. I’m sure she’s a lovely woman, but why is she on the city council? We should prefer leaders who are competent.

Yes, we want good, godly, moral leaders. You know what? There are good, godly, moral people who are competent at what they do too.

And there are some good, godly, moral people who might be competent to, you know, to do a lot of things, but probably are not competent to be making decisions for the rest of us. Now, I take this from the fact that Jethro tells Moses in verse 21, Moreover, thou shalt provide out of all the people able men. Able men.

There are some people who, for all their niceness and for all their right beliefs and right behavior, can’t run their household well, can’t find their way home at night, let alone make decisions for the rest of us. Here are some of the things that come out of Washington, and I do wonder how some of them find their way home at night. But we should prefer competent leaders.

Are they suited to the job that they’re looking for? There are some people that I would think, okay, yes, I would vote for you for insurance commissioner. You have no business running for governor.

You would be great. I would be perfect. And nobody on the ballot this time that I’m talking about.

I would be perfectly comfortable with you running the state insurance department because that’s what you know. Making decisions about taxes, making decisions about firearms, making decisions. No, I don’t want you doing that.

That’s not to say anybody in insurance couldn’t run for governor. But I’m talking about there are some people that are they competent for the job. Are they competent for that particular job that they’re running for?

If you’re voting for superintendent, you want somebody who knows about education. If you’re electing a labor commissioner, you want to elect somebody who’s competent in the field of labor relations and workplace things. If you’re electing somebody to Congress, you want somebody who knows about the things that the federal government is supposed to deal with.

If you’re electing somebody for the state legislature, you want somebody who’s competent in dealing with the 85% of stuff that is actually supposed to be handled by the state and not the federal government. You want people who are competent. If you’re electing a county commissioner, you want somebody who knows about potholes, quite honestly.

I think it’s most important that we select leaders of godly character, but we also can’t discount the fact we want competent people. We should look for are they competent, are they prepared for the job that they’re running for. And third of all this morning, Christians should prefer leaders who are obedient.

Who are obedient. I’m not talking about obedient to the chamber of commerce or the labor unions. I’m not talking about obedient to the people who donated in their last campaign.

I’m talking about are they obedient to what God has put them there to do? Are they obedient to the things that God has put them there to do? It says in verse 21, Such men as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness, and place such to be over them.

Place such over them to be rulers of thousands and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties and rulers of tens, and let them judge the people at all seasons. And it shall be that every great matter they shall bring unto thee, but every small matter they shall judge. So it shall be easier for thyself, and they shall bear the burden with thee.

So he talks about the people who are going to do the right kinds of things in office. Again, I have friends who are elected officials. I have acquaintances, too, who are elected officials.

And I like them because I know what kind of people they are. And there are times that I disagree with some things that they’ve done. I’ll give you an example because it’s not anybody who’s on your ballot anyway.

Paul Wesselhoft is my state representative up there in Moore. He’s a good friend of mine. I met him 10 years ago when he was running his first state house campaign, and he was in a three-way Republican primary, and I volunteered to campaign for him and helped him through the primary and helped him through the general election, and we got to be good friends as a result of that.

He and I disagree about some things. We agree about a lot of things, but we disagree about some things and some fairly big things. And there have been times I’ve written him a message on Facebook or sent him an email and said, in all due respect, what are you thinking on this particular issue?

We disagree from time to time, and he knows that, and we’re still friends. Because I respect the man, and I respect what he’s done, and I know what kind of man he is. Even if we disagree on an issue here or an issue there, I’m not going to be angry with him because I know his character.

I know that he’s being obedient to what he’s sent there to do. I’ve never known of any hint of scandal with the man. There are some people in elected offices that you worry, okay, are they taking bribes?

Are they doing something they’re not supposed to be doing? Are they ignoring their job? you know the things that we worry about with elected officials.

And I’m not holding him out to you to say, oh, he’s perfect and there’s nobody else like him. I’m just giving you an example. There are other people probably that you know in this area that you think, I may disagree with them on some things, but I know what kind of person they are.

And so I’m willing to overlook the times that we disagree. We want to look for those kinds of men and women of character. The ones that are looking for the truth, the ones who are willing to admit when they’re wrong, that’s a big one.

You get in a position of authority. Even as a pastor, you may not realize this, you can get in a position of authority and think you know everything. And people tell you you’re wrong on something.

It’s a big deal to be able to say