November 9, 2022

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.

1 Timothy 2:1–6

Like many of you, I have entered that familiar November process of checking the news throughout the day to keep up with election results. Voting selfies with stickers have been posted, friends and family members have been reminded - and now we all tune in to discover what the Lord has done in the US through the process of our voting. It might be jarring to hold up the Lord’s will and voting results in the same sentence - but it is a very biblical idea. God the Father is the omnipotent fountain of all power and authority - and he orders the world in such a way that there are no civic leaders that have gained authority apart from his sovereignty.

Now, that does not imply that everything these leaders do is endorsed by God - leaders sin and political authority is subject to the same depravity and corruption that touches everything else in the world around us. For that reason, we come to this passage today. God calls the Church, his covenant people, to pray for their civic leaders. This is an imperative with a result attached: that we would lead peaceful, quiet, godly, and dignified lives. This call to pray for our civic leaders also connects to our beliefs about salvation - we are to pray for men and women in office - that they would know and trust the LORD in his crucifixion, death, and resurrection. This is as true for the parties and politicians we prefer - and those with whom we disagree.

-Matt Allhands