How every Christian should vote (from Urbana.com)
Rightly or wrongly, some might expect a blog entry with this title to eventually say, "Every Christian should vote Republican." Because that's what we've heard before.
But I can't go there quite so simply as some, when I read the Bible and try to apply all the principles we find there about citizenship in God's kingdom, as I consider how I should cast my informed and responsible vote as a simultaneous citizen of an earthly democratic nation.
God, the Father of Jesus Christ, and the cohort of the Holy Spirit, and the Son himself -- it would be ludicrous to suggest that any of them are Republicans or Democrats. I suspect that they SO do not care that much for our partisan politics.
(So I guess the triune members of the Godhead would be Independents. Often lacking a strong candidate on the ballot.)
We give God a huge demotion if we suggest that God fits on the platform of any earthly political party. What would God be doing wrapped up in one of these temporal little human institutions? Well not to worry, because unless I'm wrong, God is focused mainly on other things.
If we want to know God's heart and mind on current social and political issues in our world, the Bible does have a wealth of clues. But if we go looking for bits to endorse this or that prior persuasion, it's not, in my opinion, how God intended for us to glean truth from God's revelation.
On one hand I don't care much for politics, yet somehow in my middle-age following of Jesus I increasingly feel like I should care more about politics, because its concentration of power affects so many lives in ways that God does care about.
Political parties as we know them in this country are such flawed human conduits of power and social oversight. They are full of selfish sinful human beings like the rest of us. One difference is they are steered by people who like power a lot more than the average citizen. Yikes.
The struggle is to care about and advocate for all the issues that matter to God in God's own word, while using our limited time and energy efficiently in ways that have some eternal significance. I'm not always convinced American politics is worth any large chunk of our energy, given other good things on which to spend our energy as we follow Jesus.
I hope these few bits of advice are universal and fair, not favoring any particular party, candidate, or choices.
Five things to vote FOR:
Vote for quality leadership ability. I know, we Americans don't often have amazingly great choices for quality leaders on the ballot. I honestly can't remember the last time. You don't vote for the leadership you wish you had, you vote for the leadership you have (to choose from). Study the scriptures for the characteristics that make a good leader. Look for those things (and opposite qualities) in the candidates. Note, the best qualities of good leaders are often at odds with the tactics that secure higher positions of political power in the U.S.A. Don't automatically equate someone's political success with good leadership.
Vote for character, wisdom, and integrity. This is a difficult one, because in these days of dirty campaigns, accusations and rumors leave us uncertain if anyone running for office is blameless. And the answer is no, of course none of them are blameless. But there is still room for measuring character, wisdom, and integrity of a person based on who they are, what they've accomplished in the past, and how they've conducted themselves when they've made mistakes or fallen short. How they function under pressure, adversity, or even failure is an indicator of their future leadership.
Vote for principles -- and not just one or two of them! Vote for people who will do something constructive about the complete needs of whole people, which Jesus taught us all to advocate for. Vote for problem-solvers who have a track record of accomplishing the most important things and not getting side railed by things that don't matter so much.
Vote for substance. Vote for someone who offers an agenda you agree with overall, if they also offer a credible plan to achieve that agenda. If they spend lots of time criticizing past or present leaders, and making vague statements like "we need a new direction" without explaining that new direction, there may be more speechwriting than substance there. Think twice and look for other choices.
Vote your conscience. But be careful! What you think is your conscience might at times amount to someone else's narrow claims about what all Christians should vote for. I regret to say it but this has happened plenty, in American elections: political leaders claiming to be on God's side while pursuing policies that contradict Jesus' most fundamental teachings and example.
Five things to NOT vote for:
Don't vote out of fear. If you hear messages of fear ("vote for me or else you'll get my opponent") coming from candidates, look elsewhere for some substance.
Don't vote for political parties, they'll let you down. Maybe that's easier for me to say, because I'm not aligned with any particular American polical party -- some people are, and I'll almost grant that maybe that's OK for Christians to do. Maybe not. (I mean, look at the 2 main parties' platforms! Neither in synch with the Christian faith on the whole.) But neither party consistently produces the best candidate in any given race, nor a platform that is consistently compatible with a Christ-friendly agenda. I encourage you to vote for the best leader, regardless of their party.
Don't vote narrowly on one or two issues. Please. If you're a follower of Jesus, you'll realize there are a LOT more than one or two issues that matter a lot to God. The Bible is full of examples. The gospels are full of Jesus' teaching about what our priorities should be, and they go far beyond the weight that is narrowly assigned to abortion or gay rights or stem cells. The gospels contain teachings that directly address many dozen other contemporary and hugely critical issues in American politics and society.
Don't vote for someone else's favorite, even someone you respect. Do your own research. Is someone a good choice or a bad choice? Why? Know your own reasons for voting for the candidate you choose. Study but don't trust comparison charts of this vs. that candidate. They are designed and printed by people and groups with their own agenda, and they are not objective.
Don't take lip service at face value. Some candidates will make verbal claims about this or that religious or philosophical alignment. The proof is in the pudding. Remember that this is politics, and the ugliness of the game is that many, probably most candidates will do and say things that aren't entirely from their heart, simply to win the vote of certain groups.
Lastly, because slander is sinful, this might be a good enough reason to NOT vote for someone whose campaign uses slander against other candidates. It might even help them change their behavior if you take 2 minutes to call or email their campaign office, and tell them why they lost your vote. Slander is an unacceptable way to campaign for political office.
You can read any of the gospels in a couple hours. Do it, and then think about which of the candidates you might vote for is most closely aligned with the values that Jesus taught and modeled. (I'm painfully aware that a politician saying s/he is a Christian has virtually no bearing on how closely aligned s/he is with Jesus' values. The lip service thing I mentioned above. As a Christian, I have a certain degree of anger about this. I will remain calm. )
That's my two cents worth. May God be gracious enough to bless the governments and leaders of this earth, flawed as they may be, including ours. May God guide our choosing, and give wisdom and strength to those we do choose to lead us.
But I can't go there quite so simply as some, when I read the Bible and try to apply all the principles we find there about citizenship in God's kingdom, as I consider how I should cast my informed and responsible vote as a simultaneous citizen of an earthly democratic nation.
God, the Father of Jesus Christ, and the cohort of the Holy Spirit, and the Son himself -- it would be ludicrous to suggest that any of them are Republicans or Democrats. I suspect that they SO do not care that much for our partisan politics.
(So I guess the triune members of the Godhead would be Independents. Often lacking a strong candidate on the ballot.)
We give God a huge demotion if we suggest that God fits on the platform of any earthly political party. What would God be doing wrapped up in one of these temporal little human institutions? Well not to worry, because unless I'm wrong, God is focused mainly on other things.
If we want to know God's heart and mind on current social and political issues in our world, the Bible does have a wealth of clues. But if we go looking for bits to endorse this or that prior persuasion, it's not, in my opinion, how God intended for us to glean truth from God's revelation.
On one hand I don't care much for politics, yet somehow in my middle-age following of Jesus I increasingly feel like I should care more about politics, because its concentration of power affects so many lives in ways that God does care about.
Political parties as we know them in this country are such flawed human conduits of power and social oversight. They are full of selfish sinful human beings like the rest of us. One difference is they are steered by people who like power a lot more than the average citizen. Yikes.
The struggle is to care about and advocate for all the issues that matter to God in God's own word, while using our limited time and energy efficiently in ways that have some eternal significance. I'm not always convinced American politics is worth any large chunk of our energy, given other good things on which to spend our energy as we follow Jesus.
I hope these few bits of advice are universal and fair, not favoring any particular party, candidate, or choices.
Five things to vote FOR:
Vote for quality leadership ability. I know, we Americans don't often have amazingly great choices for quality leaders on the ballot. I honestly can't remember the last time. You don't vote for the leadership you wish you had, you vote for the leadership you have (to choose from). Study the scriptures for the characteristics that make a good leader. Look for those things (and opposite qualities) in the candidates. Note, the best qualities of good leaders are often at odds with the tactics that secure higher positions of political power in the U.S.A. Don't automatically equate someone's political success with good leadership.
Vote for character, wisdom, and integrity. This is a difficult one, because in these days of dirty campaigns, accusations and rumors leave us uncertain if anyone running for office is blameless. And the answer is no, of course none of them are blameless. But there is still room for measuring character, wisdom, and integrity of a person based on who they are, what they've accomplished in the past, and how they've conducted themselves when they've made mistakes or fallen short. How they function under pressure, adversity, or even failure is an indicator of their future leadership.
Vote for principles -- and not just one or two of them! Vote for people who will do something constructive about the complete needs of whole people, which Jesus taught us all to advocate for. Vote for problem-solvers who have a track record of accomplishing the most important things and not getting side railed by things that don't matter so much.
Vote for substance. Vote for someone who offers an agenda you agree with overall, if they also offer a credible plan to achieve that agenda. If they spend lots of time criticizing past or present leaders, and making vague statements like "we need a new direction" without explaining that new direction, there may be more speechwriting than substance there. Think twice and look for other choices.
Vote your conscience. But be careful! What you think is your conscience might at times amount to someone else's narrow claims about what all Christians should vote for. I regret to say it but this has happened plenty, in American elections: political leaders claiming to be on God's side while pursuing policies that contradict Jesus' most fundamental teachings and example.
Five things to NOT vote for:
Don't vote out of fear. If you hear messages of fear ("vote for me or else you'll get my opponent") coming from candidates, look elsewhere for some substance.
Don't vote for political parties, they'll let you down. Maybe that's easier for me to say, because I'm not aligned with any particular American polical party -- some people are, and I'll almost grant that maybe that's OK for Christians to do. Maybe not. (I mean, look at the 2 main parties' platforms! Neither in synch with the Christian faith on the whole.) But neither party consistently produces the best candidate in any given race, nor a platform that is consistently compatible with a Christ-friendly agenda. I encourage you to vote for the best leader, regardless of their party.
Don't vote narrowly on one or two issues. Please. If you're a follower of Jesus, you'll realize there are a LOT more than one or two issues that matter a lot to God. The Bible is full of examples. The gospels are full of Jesus' teaching about what our priorities should be, and they go far beyond the weight that is narrowly assigned to abortion or gay rights or stem cells. The gospels contain teachings that directly address many dozen other contemporary and hugely critical issues in American politics and society.
Don't vote for someone else's favorite, even someone you respect. Do your own research. Is someone a good choice or a bad choice? Why? Know your own reasons for voting for the candidate you choose. Study but don't trust comparison charts of this vs. that candidate. They are designed and printed by people and groups with their own agenda, and they are not objective.
Don't take lip service at face value. Some candidates will make verbal claims about this or that religious or philosophical alignment. The proof is in the pudding. Remember that this is politics, and the ugliness of the game is that many, probably most candidates will do and say things that aren't entirely from their heart, simply to win the vote of certain groups.
Lastly, because slander is sinful, this might be a good enough reason to NOT vote for someone whose campaign uses slander against other candidates. It might even help them change their behavior if you take 2 minutes to call or email their campaign office, and tell them why they lost your vote. Slander is an unacceptable way to campaign for political office.
You can read any of the gospels in a couple hours. Do it, and then think about which of the candidates you might vote for is most closely aligned with the values that Jesus taught and modeled. (I'm painfully aware that a politician saying s/he is a Christian has virtually no bearing on how closely aligned s/he is with Jesus' values. The lip service thing I mentioned above. As a Christian, I have a certain degree of anger about this. I will remain calm. )
That's my two cents worth. May God be gracious enough to bless the governments and leaders of this earth, flawed as they may be, including ours. May God guide our choosing, and give wisdom and strength to those we do choose to lead us.