The election season is well underway along with everything that seems to attend it these days: pomposity, dishonesty, vitriol, invective and even some things that are downright unsavory.
But one thing that also seems to attend any election season these days is that Christians do not attend.
Voting among believers, based both on reported statistics and anecdotal evidence (and if you cannot believe Facebook, what can you believe?) is paltry at best.
I have heard the arguments, not just from the average person in the pew, but even from many pulpits. For the last four election cycles at the very least, I have shaken my head in frustration as one reason after another was spewed forth as reasons for Christians to stay home. Lest you think “spewed” is too harsh a term, please understand that, though not every reason qualifies for that moniker, many (such as my personal favorite, “I ain’t a’ votin’ fer no blessed woe-mun as vice president!”) certainly do.
No, this is not a common occurrence. But traveling as I do, sitting in on vast numbers of meetings each year and hearing literally hundreds of different preachers, it is inevitable that there will be a few outright loons dotting the landscape of otherwise godly, rational, reasonable men.
The most common reason given for Christians not to vote is that, since no candidate ever seems quite perfect, we are guilty of “voting for the lesser of two evils,” and should withhold our votes in protest. Both on a scriptural and logical level, I strongly disagree.
Logically, it should be self-evident that no one who does not step onto the field ever wins the contest. I can think of nothing that bad people would like more than to have good people simply not participate. That strikes me as analogous to sheep not participating in a vote on whether or not they will be eaten by the wolves.
Before you even think it, I will say it for you, then dispatch it: “But what if every candidate is a wolf, what then?” Fact: If you vote, especially in the primaries, not every candidate actually is a wolf. But Christians have a reprehensible habit of not voting in the primaries, allowing the cream to sink to the bottom and the refuse to rise to the top, then whining that they have no one to vote for in the general election.
Furthermore, perfect agreement is not necessary for someone to qualify as something other that a wolf. I sense that the only candidate that could get a hearing with some Christians would be Jesus himself; all of the apostles would likely be too far afield for them.
God is capable of using even lost men to do his bidding. Daniel served under Nebuchadnezzar; Mordecai served under Ahasuerus; Nehemiah served under Artaxerxes; and God himself called Cyrus “My anointed” and said to him, “I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.”
It would be lovely if every Christian always had a Bible-believing pastor of his very own denomination to vote for, a man who agrees with him 100 percent on every issue. But is that really what it has come down to? Is that really what is necessary to motivate God’s people to vote?
Yes, a person can be so bad as to not deserve the vote of a Christian. But again, during the primaries, that is surely not the case.
An old hymn of the faith says, “Like a mighty army, moves the church of God, brothers we are treading where the saints have trod.” If we were honest, during an election cycle it should probably say, “Like dysfunctional toddlers, whines the church today, staying home and pouting, each election day.”
Jesus said, “Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s.” Christians are citizens of heaven, but also have dual citizenship here on earth. While we are here, we ought to be active, worthwhile citizens, and that includes voting. Go register. Finish reading the column first, yes, but go register. And then vote. If you do not like the candidates, write one in, or run yourself. But if you do not make your voice heard before the election, please be so kind as to not let it be heard afterward either.
Bo Wagner is pastor of the Cornerstone Baptist Church of Mooresboro, N.C., and the author of several books available at www.wordofhismouth.com. Contact him at 2knowhim@cbc-web.org.