Before You Cast Your Vote
The first time I was able to vote was in the 1992 presidential election of Bush vs. Clinton. I was in youth group a few days before voting day and was having a discussion with one of the leaders. “I don’t know what to do if he wins,” she said concerning the candidate she didn’t like. “If he does, it’ll be the end of the world as we know it.”
Honestly, the first thing I felt when she made that statement was a touch of fear. What if he did win? I didn't want the world to end quite that quickly. I didn’t have a girlfriend, or a good job, or had even graduated from High School yet!
Since that day, I've noticed how often our political thinking becomes shaped by fear, sometimes even wrapped in theological interpretations of what we believe is coming at the end of the world. When we become convinced that everything depends on a particular election, it's easy to see the candidate we oppose as more than someone with different ideas. We begin to see them as a threat to everything we hold dear. And when fear takes hold, it's not difficult to justify treating people in ways that are inconsistent with the very faith we profess.
So as we prepare to vote, I want to offer a few thoughts. Thoughts not necessarily about which candidates to support or which party to choose, but about what it means to follow Jesus in the middle of an extremely politically divided world.
As Christians, we have a responsibility to care about what happens in our country. The decisions made by our elected leaders affect real people, real families, real communities in real time. Voting is one way we can participate in shaping the world around us, and I believe we should take the responsibility of voting seriously. But I also believe we need to keep things in perspective.
First and foremost, our hope is not in a political party, a candidate, or the outcome of an election. Our hope is in Jesus Christ. No election will determine whether God is still at work in the world. No political victory will bring about the kingdom of God, and no political defeat will stop it. We can care deeply about the direction of our country without forgetting that Jesus is still King, regardless of who wins.
And that matters because politics has a sneaky way of getting hold of us. It can stir up our fears, feed our anger, and even convince us that the people who disagree with us are our true enemies. Before long, we can find ourselves defending our political positions in ways that are inconsistent with the very faith we claim to hold.
We need to tread carefully. Jesus didn't tell us to love our neighbors only when we agree with them. He didn't tell us to love our enemies only when it's convenient for us. And he certainly didn't give us permission to set aside his teachings when we believe the stakes are high enough. We don't get to abandon the way of Jesus in order to achieve what we believe are good political ends.
The Sermon on the Mount is still significant. Loving our neighbors still matters. Telling the truth still matters. Showing grace, practicing humility, and treating people with dignity still matter. These things matter when we're discussing politics with someone who agrees with us. They matter even more when we're talking with someone who doesn't.
I also want us to remember something important about the church. At LakePoint, we will not all vote the same way. We will have many different experiences, different priorities, and different convictions about what is best for our country. Some of us will certainly reach different conclusions about the same candidates and issues. This does not have to divide us.
We can disagree politically and still worship together. We can have different opinions and still pray for one another. We can believe someone is wrong about a political issue without actually deciding that they are our enemy. Because the moment our political allegiance becomes more important than our allegiance to Jesus, something has gotten out of order. In other words, our political differences should never be greater than our commitment to one another as brothers and sisters in Christ.
So, as you prepare to vote, do your homework. Think carefully. Pray. Examine the issues. Vote according to your conscience and convictions. Don't feel pressured to vote a particular way simply because someone tells you that a good Christian must support a particular candidate or party. But as you do all of that, first pay attention to what is happening in your heart.
Is your political involvement making you more loving or more angry? Is it helping you see people more clearly, or is it causing you to dismiss them? Can you disagree with someone without questioning their faith or their character? Are you more concerned about your political team winning than you are about reflecting the character of Jesus? These are questions worth asking ourselves.
I want us to be people who care about our country without placing our ultimate hope in it. People who take our convictions seriously without treating everyone who disagrees with us as an enemy. People who participate in the political process without allowing it to shape us more than Jesus does.
And when the election is over, I want us to remember that the people who voted differently from us are still our neighbors. Some of them are sitting beside us in church. Some of them are members of our own families. All of them are people we are called to love.
The goal isn't simply to vote like a Christian. It's to live like one, before, during, and after the election. May we take our responsibility seriously, vote our convictions, extend grace to those who disagree with us, and remember that our greatest allegiance is not to a political party or a candidate. It's to Jesus.
And may our love for him, and for one another, be greater than our desire to win an election.
_______________
This reflection was inspired by “The Christian Voter's Guide,” a list by Pastor Brian Zahnd that challenged me to think about how our faith should shape our political engagement. It was taken from his Facebook post:
1. The political process, while necessary, has little to do with how God is saving the world.
2. The fate of the kingdom of God does not depend upon political contests.
3. Don’t be naive; political parties are more interested in Christian votes than they are in
Christian values.
4. The bottom line for political parties is power. The bottom line for a Christian is love. And
therein lies the rub.
5. While in pursuit of the Ring of Power, you are not permitted to abandon the Sermon on the
Mount.
6. If your political passion makes it hard for you to love your neighbor as yourself, you need to
turn it down a notch.
7. Your task is to bring the salt of Christian civility to an ugly and acrimonious political process.
8. To dismember the body of Christ over politics is a grievous sin.
9. Exercise your liberty to vote your conscience and conviction, while accepting that other
Christians will do the same and vote differently than you.
10. It’s more important that your soul be filled with love than it is for your political team to win the game.
Honestly, the first thing I felt when she made that statement was a touch of fear. What if he did win? I didn't want the world to end quite that quickly. I didn’t have a girlfriend, or a good job, or had even graduated from High School yet!
Since that day, I've noticed how often our political thinking becomes shaped by fear, sometimes even wrapped in theological interpretations of what we believe is coming at the end of the world. When we become convinced that everything depends on a particular election, it's easy to see the candidate we oppose as more than someone with different ideas. We begin to see them as a threat to everything we hold dear. And when fear takes hold, it's not difficult to justify treating people in ways that are inconsistent with the very faith we profess.
So as we prepare to vote, I want to offer a few thoughts. Thoughts not necessarily about which candidates to support or which party to choose, but about what it means to follow Jesus in the middle of an extremely politically divided world.
As Christians, we have a responsibility to care about what happens in our country. The decisions made by our elected leaders affect real people, real families, real communities in real time. Voting is one way we can participate in shaping the world around us, and I believe we should take the responsibility of voting seriously. But I also believe we need to keep things in perspective.
First and foremost, our hope is not in a political party, a candidate, or the outcome of an election. Our hope is in Jesus Christ. No election will determine whether God is still at work in the world. No political victory will bring about the kingdom of God, and no political defeat will stop it. We can care deeply about the direction of our country without forgetting that Jesus is still King, regardless of who wins.
And that matters because politics has a sneaky way of getting hold of us. It can stir up our fears, feed our anger, and even convince us that the people who disagree with us are our true enemies. Before long, we can find ourselves defending our political positions in ways that are inconsistent with the very faith we claim to hold.
We need to tread carefully. Jesus didn't tell us to love our neighbors only when we agree with them. He didn't tell us to love our enemies only when it's convenient for us. And he certainly didn't give us permission to set aside his teachings when we believe the stakes are high enough. We don't get to abandon the way of Jesus in order to achieve what we believe are good political ends.
The Sermon on the Mount is still significant. Loving our neighbors still matters. Telling the truth still matters. Showing grace, practicing humility, and treating people with dignity still matter. These things matter when we're discussing politics with someone who agrees with us. They matter even more when we're talking with someone who doesn't.
I also want us to remember something important about the church. At LakePoint, we will not all vote the same way. We will have many different experiences, different priorities, and different convictions about what is best for our country. Some of us will certainly reach different conclusions about the same candidates and issues. This does not have to divide us.
We can disagree politically and still worship together. We can have different opinions and still pray for one another. We can believe someone is wrong about a political issue without actually deciding that they are our enemy. Because the moment our political allegiance becomes more important than our allegiance to Jesus, something has gotten out of order. In other words, our political differences should never be greater than our commitment to one another as brothers and sisters in Christ.
So, as you prepare to vote, do your homework. Think carefully. Pray. Examine the issues. Vote according to your conscience and convictions. Don't feel pressured to vote a particular way simply because someone tells you that a good Christian must support a particular candidate or party. But as you do all of that, first pay attention to what is happening in your heart.
Is your political involvement making you more loving or more angry? Is it helping you see people more clearly, or is it causing you to dismiss them? Can you disagree with someone without questioning their faith or their character? Are you more concerned about your political team winning than you are about reflecting the character of Jesus? These are questions worth asking ourselves.
I want us to be people who care about our country without placing our ultimate hope in it. People who take our convictions seriously without treating everyone who disagrees with us as an enemy. People who participate in the political process without allowing it to shape us more than Jesus does.
And when the election is over, I want us to remember that the people who voted differently from us are still our neighbors. Some of them are sitting beside us in church. Some of them are members of our own families. All of them are people we are called to love.
The goal isn't simply to vote like a Christian. It's to live like one, before, during, and after the election. May we take our responsibility seriously, vote our convictions, extend grace to those who disagree with us, and remember that our greatest allegiance is not to a political party or a candidate. It's to Jesus.
And may our love for him, and for one another, be greater than our desire to win an election.
_______________
This reflection was inspired by “The Christian Voter's Guide,” a list by Pastor Brian Zahnd that challenged me to think about how our faith should shape our political engagement. It was taken from his Facebook post:
1. The political process, while necessary, has little to do with how God is saving the world.
2. The fate of the kingdom of God does not depend upon political contests.
3. Don’t be naive; political parties are more interested in Christian votes than they are in
Christian values.
4. The bottom line for political parties is power. The bottom line for a Christian is love. And
therein lies the rub.
5. While in pursuit of the Ring of Power, you are not permitted to abandon the Sermon on the
Mount.
6. If your political passion makes it hard for you to love your neighbor as yourself, you need to
turn it down a notch.
7. Your task is to bring the salt of Christian civility to an ugly and acrimonious political process.
8. To dismember the body of Christ over politics is a grievous sin.
9. Exercise your liberty to vote your conscience and conviction, while accepting that other
Christians will do the same and vote differently than you.
10. It’s more important that your soul be filled with love than it is for your political team to win the game.
Recent
Archive
2026
September
Categories
no categories