VBC Voting Checklist to Maintain our Faith & Focus
The 2020 elections are almost here! In preparation, here are some considerations to make as we deliberate the candidates and the issues, while maintaining our faith & focus:
1. Do Your Homework. It’s tempting to forward political emails or to say things about candidates because the statements sound catchy or maybe we wish they were true. But just because we wish they were true doesn’t mean that they actually are. We need to do our homework. When something seems unbelievable, it often is. We can’t believe everything we hear or read just because we hope it's true. Slander isn’t a virtue. And voting isn’t simply a right; it’s a responsibility. So we must act as if we’re responsible for the things we say and do — because we are!
2. Don’t Click the Social Media Bate. Rarely will anyone change their mind about a political issue (or a religious one for that matter) because someone convinced them on social media that their view was wrong. Social media offers an opportunity for constructive dialogue but that doesn’t happen often. Don’t get sucked into the drama. If we’re lured into arguments with divisive trolls, onlookers may not be able to tell which one of us is the troll.
3. The political process isn’t how to advance the Kingdom. Believers should be involved in the political process, even though it’s messy business. Even though politics can seem cutthroat and downright disturbing, that doesn’t mean we opt out and refuse to participate. We must vote our conscience just like everyone else. We should also work for legislation that’s fair and honorable, especially toward those in need. But it’s neither wise nor possible to force our beliefs or practices upon people through the political process. The best way to further the Kingdom is for us to engage in the daily practices of generosity, compassion, honesty, faithfulness, forgiveness, self-control, mercy, love – modeling the character of Jesus. These ways of living are especially effective when we extend them to people who don’t think like us, look like us, talk like us, or act like us.
4. Our allegiance is to Christ. Unfortunately, many believers are shaped more by partisan politics than by the gospel. There are committed and faithful believers who vote as Republicans, Democrats, and everything in between, but woe unto those who would equate the Kingdom with any political party. Our allegiance – hearts, souls, minds, and strength – is to the Lamb, not donkeys or elephants.
5. Jesus isn’t on the Ballot. How likely is it that someone who talks and lives like Jesus could be elected president? Love their neighbor as themselves? Turn their other cheek? Love their enemies? Pray for those who persecuted them? Sell everything they have and give it to the poor? Not serve both God and money? Not worry about their life? Chances are, Jesus couldn’t win a straw poll in a lot of churches, much less be president.
The only election Jesus ever won landed him on a cross.
“In the inverted world of the Kingdom of God, we find our life by losing it. ”
In the inverted world of the Kingdom of God, we find our life by losing it. Power is made perfect in weakness. The last are first and the first are last. The exalted are humbled and the humbled are exalted. The powerful are brought down from their thrones and the lowly are lifted up. The hungry are filled with good things, and the rich are sent away empty.
This is the Kingdom to which we belong, and it’s the ultimate hope for the world.
Now this doesn’t mean that as believers we shouldn’t be involved in politics. But it does mean that we must be careful not to compromise our faith or lose our focus in the process.
Be sure to log on to the VBC Instagram account (@vbc.online) every day beginning September 24th for our 40 Days of Prayer for the upcoming elections. Join us as we pray for candidates, issues, and our nation in the upcoming 2020 election.
Author: Tim Barley, VBC Elder & Executive Pastor