On November 4th, somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2 of all Americans will vote in the mid-term elections for their Representative to the House and for some their Senators. Also on the ballot, depending on your locale, there will be a host of state & local elections. You've probably seen a lot of political ads on TV or on the web. Some of you may have even heard your pastor or church make public comments on how you should vote. In fact in a recent poll, more and more Christians, be they Catholic, Protestant or Independent want their church to speak on political issues. It's not the majority of Christians yet, but it's a growing group. While I'd never allow politics in the midst of congregational worship, in this space I thought it might be interesting to explore some reasons why we vote, and how as Lutheran Christians we should view our relationship with politics. So, this election cycle, as an ELCA pastor, I thought I'd give a guide for voting.
1.) VOTE: Participate in the election process. Learn about the candidates and issues from a reliable source and then go vote. As Lutherans we believe our calling is found in the world as much as, if not more than inside a church building. Don't be ignorant in how you act or how you vote, but go as educated as you can be and be an active citizen of this country. Or if you don't vote, do so out of conviction, not apathy. Let your actions be actions of integrity.
2.) Forget Piety: Candidate A claims to be a faithful Protestant Christian, Candidate B claims to be a devout Roman Catholic, Candidate C claims no real faith at all. Whom should you vote for? The one you think will do the best job, regardless of the faith they claim. Our national leaders do not have to be the most religious and pious people, they just need to do their job well. It's my job as a pastor to spread the Gospel, not my elected leader's job. After all, publicly professed piety is not always the most genuine faith. Jesus pointed that out in Matthew 6.
1.) VOTE: Participate in the election process. Learn about the candidates and issues from a reliable source and then go vote. As Lutherans we believe our calling is found in the world as much as, if not more than inside a church building. Don't be ignorant in how you act or how you vote, but go as educated as you can be and be an active citizen of this country. Or if you don't vote, do so out of conviction, not apathy. Let your actions be actions of integrity.
2.) Forget Piety: Candidate A claims to be a faithful Protestant Christian, Candidate B claims to be a devout Roman Catholic, Candidate C claims no real faith at all. Whom should you vote for? The one you think will do the best job, regardless of the faith they claim. Our national leaders do not have to be the most religious and pious people, they just need to do their job well. It's my job as a pastor to spread the Gospel, not my elected leader's job. After all, publicly professed piety is not always the most genuine faith. Jesus pointed that out in Matthew 6.
3.) Remember God is greater than a candidate: To listen to most political ads, you'd think a certain candidate can either save or doom the entire nation, even if that person is only a county official. As Christians, we should remember that God is greater than even a President. This doesn't mean our choices don't matter, they do. Elected officials, especially national ones, wield considerable power and authority, but they will not ultimately redeem or rule the world. Don't give into the hysteria that Candidate X will ruin everything or the hype that Candidate Y is the best thing since Jesus. Also remember that political parties want your allegiance more than anything and will do anything to get it. That can be problematic because....
4.) Your voting record is not as important as your relationship with God: The main reason I wrote this article is because more and more I hear Christians defining themselves by their political stances first and by their faith second. I.E.: I am a Conservative Christian or I am a Liberal Christian or I am a Moderate Christian. What's more troubling is that these diverse political descriptions become more important than the common faith they all share. It's as if, depending on your perspective, ONLY liberal, green, independent, progressive, tea party, libertarian or conservative Christians can be true believers or followers of God. Let me blunt: This is Idolatry. If you believe that faith can only work through a certain political ideology, then you are putting your trust in something other than God, which is the very definition of an idol according to our Lutheran teachings in the catechism. God can and has worked through many different backgrounds and individuals to do the will of God, and will continue to do so in the future.
4.) Your voting record is not as important as your relationship with God: The main reason I wrote this article is because more and more I hear Christians defining themselves by their political stances first and by their faith second. I.E.: I am a Conservative Christian or I am a Liberal Christian or I am a Moderate Christian. What's more troubling is that these diverse political descriptions become more important than the common faith they all share. It's as if, depending on your perspective, ONLY liberal, green, independent, progressive, tea party, libertarian or conservative Christians can be true believers or followers of God. Let me blunt: This is Idolatry. If you believe that faith can only work through a certain political ideology, then you are putting your trust in something other than God, which is the very definition of an idol according to our Lutheran teachings in the catechism. God can and has worked through many different backgrounds and individuals to do the will of God, and will continue to do so in the future.
People can be faithful disciples of Jesus and vote for just about any candidate. They can follow a party for a myriad of reasons. Two parties or political choices cannot possibly perfectly please everyone, so like all imperfect human inventions, compromises have to made by individuals for the whole to function. If someone in your church votes differently from you, love them, because God surely does. If a neighbor who doesn't believe in anything votes different from you, love them, because God surely does. If we claim to follow Jesus we should be willing to show kindness and simple courtesy to even our enemies, let alone our political rivals. So let's model that grace that we have been shown.
5.) In the end, voting is a great freedom and right given to all adult citizens. We have a power to shape policy and leadership and set the future course of our country. We should take that freedom seriously and use it the best way that we can. We are free to do this wisely and without fear because we know a greater power lies over the governmental powers. And in the end, that Power will bridge the gaps, heal the wounds and fix the problems that politics cannot. In the meantime, let's do our best to help build some bridges of our own and start healing wounds created by the extreme politics of the world. If we do, I think we'll improve our communities, create better leaders for future elections and start to make this nation a better place for all to live freely together in peace.
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Thank you for a great article. I admit to struggling to vote because I go with my party's candidates, but don't usually know their positions, experience, etc. It is so hard, I think, to find out politician's actual positions, as they have to talk around things, avoid negative soundbytes, etc. I'd love to hear more on how to actually sort out both local and state/national candidate's positions (without hours of wading through internet crud). Your writing above, though, is excellent and I commend you for it!
ReplyDeleteYeah, it is tough because everything seems to have it's slant and most websites only cover national races and maybe big state races like governor. Usually the local paper is reliable for local candidates but even that is changing. I like politifact as it's mostly neutral. But they don't always have a ton of info beyond national politics. Parties will always rail against site when they disagree with them but for now that's the best I have come up with. It's today's world, it's becoming ever more difficult to discern who's truth in politics is really true or close to true. Again, it's become all about party loyalty no matter what so the truth is sacrificed on that "altar" time and again. On issues and referendums, I try to get as close to the original source as possible and go from there. That's usually a little more straightforward. Thanks for reading and for the conversation.
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