¹⁷  Though the fig tree should not blossom, 
nor fruit be on the vines, 
the produce of the olive fail 
and the fields yield no food, 
the flock be cut off from the fold 
and there be no herd in the stalls, 
¹⁸  yet I will rejoice in the Lord; 
I will take joy in the God of my salvation. 
¹⁹  God, the Lord, is my strength; 
he makes my feet like the deer’s; 
he makes me tread on my high places. 

Habakkuk 3:17–19 (ESV)

On Monday morning, October 2, 2023 the news headline greeted me that “Newsom Taps Pro-Abortion Fundraiser to Fill Feinstein’s California Senate Seat.” “Of course, he did,” I thought. We just cannot kill enough children in this country, so it seems.

It is tempting simply to want to get away from everything. Hard-core Biden and Trump supporters are bent on getting their guy elected next year as our president, senility and massive character flaws notwithstanding. Mr. Biden has shown that he has little reservation about supporting anything pro-abortion. Mr. Trump, expecting coronation as the Republican nominee, ran as a pro-life candidate in order to obtain the Republican nomination during the the 2016 Republican primaries. Now, however, he publicly criticizes states that prohibit abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. 

Thirty years ago, were a man to claim that he was a woman trapped in a man’s body, most medical professionals would say that he needs help to get his mind aligned with his body, as Carl Trueman points out in the must-be-read Strange New World. Now things are different. If a man claims to be a woman, he is accepted as one and given drugs and surgery in the futile attempt to transform his body to female. Not a few children have claimed to be the opposite gender of their sex and have received drugs and irreversible surgery to satisfy their mental delusion.

Additionally, it seems that with increasing regularity we receive news that political champions of traditional morality and freedom of religion, vocal proponents of “family” values, are exposed as hypocrites as they are found in, at best, compromising situations or, even worse, are discovered to be involved in adulterous affairs.

What is a Christian, someone who sincerely believes the Bible to be the authoritative Word of God, to do? Here are a few thoughts that come to mind.

First, recognize that, ultimately, nothing is new. We live in a fallen world. Christians are a minority. We wish it were different, and we may pray and work for things to be different, but Jesus said that “the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few” (Matthew 7:13–14).

Second, remember that people will disappoint us. We should not be surprised. After all, we too often disappoint ourselves. We are counseled, “Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation” (Psalm 146:3).

Third, be an informed citizen. Christians should be good citizens, and being a good citizen means to be informed. Be discerning, however, in your sources. In our day of “twenty-four-hour” news — televised and online — we easily get information overload. Also, we can always find confirmation for our instinctive feelings, but is the source credible? Often our instincts are wrong. We need dependable news reporting. If you can subscribe to one news source, please subscribe to World magazine. You can get digital only or, for a little more money, both digital and print, with the hardcopy magazine arriving once a month. You will receive solid reporting from conservative Christian journalists and informative opinion articles from respected Christian thinkers.

Fourth, vote according to biblical principles, not expediency. Personal character matters. While we never will have perfect candidates (we are not perfect voters!), if a candidate runs on a “faith and family” platform but lives in such a way that contradicts that platform, then why should we expect him or her to be a faithful representative for us? If a candidate views the unborn child as a “potential human,” why would a Christian support him or her? Virtue and character matter all the more in a culture that’s confuses celebrity status with 

Fifth, rest in the sovereignty of God. He uses the good and the evil, the honorable and dishonorable, for his purpose and his glory. You and I will not change the world, but by God’s grace we can faithfully serve him in the world in which he has placed us.