My Feeling Exactly.
I love discussing politics (especially with people in the church) about as much as I love being pelted in the face with an Egg
To be fair, any guy with hair that long is asking for an egg to the face...I hear egg yoke is a great natural moisturizer!
In all seriousness though, as we enter in to elections once again this November sometimes I feel barraged by cheezy television adds, political candidates with awful haircuts, and angry people who are not shy about spewing hatred for one party while worshipping another.
Here is my "Reader's Digest Version" guide to thinking about voting and politics
1. I dont think you can Biblically mandate voting.
Nowhere is scripture will you read "though shall vote, and vote Republican." Is voting wrong? Absolutely not! I have met tons of great people who care passionately about politics and exercise their civil right to vote. Politics are not my thing, but they may be yours and I think its great if that is the case. However, as I study the life of Christ it seems he was way more concerned about building the kingdom of God than the nation of Israel. In the same way, Paul was way more concerned about the church and what God was doing on earth than he was about Cesar. All of this to say, I think its important to check our hearts and make sure we are more excited about the Gospel and what God amongst his people than anything else we are passionate about.
2. If You Don't Vote, Don't Complain!
This is pretty self explanatory, but people who remove themselves from the voting process don't have the grounds to complain about the condition of our town/state/country. That would be like choosing not to take a test and complain about your bad grades!
3. We Should Love What God Loves.
When thinking about politics it is important that we remember passages like:
James 1:27: "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction"
Luke 10:27: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself."
Micah 6:8: "He has told you, O man, what is good; ad what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God"
This is one of many passages of scripture that needs to run through our framework when deciding what political candidate to support. We need to ask tough questions to ourselves about whether or not supporting a person or party is consistent with the Biblical principles we believe in. Just like any other aspect of our lives, we cannot separate politics with what God has called us to. We need to love what God loves and use the political arena to be a light to our communities.
Practically this has worked out in my life in that I am neither Republican or Democratic, but I cant justify voting for someone who supports the murdering of babies...take that for what you want.
4.Remember, God is in Supreme Control of the Outcome.
I will leave you with Proverbs 21:1: "The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will."
Politics often causes us to lose the forest amongst the trees, Don't forget that God is in control of all things and is completely sovereign over all...including political races
You Are Loved!
