Who to Vote For
Who should we vote for? It is very difficult to find a politician who aligns with all of our values and opinions and, unfortunately for just about all of us, a vote for yourself is a wasted vote. You can write your own name in, but that won’t help the right candidate get elected. However, even though most people don’t vote for themselves, they do vote selfishly. Most of us are tempted to vote based on who will help us personally or who will help people like us. We ask, “Who will fill my bank account and make me more comfortable?”
For a Christian, this can’t be one of our first questions in choosing a candidate. Christ would instruct us to vote selflessly for the candidate who will help the most possible people and for the agenda that will do the most possible good. Making that determination will include some education, investigation, and math. Most politicians claim their agenda will accomplish the most possible good, but an honest look often reveals otherwise.
After Jesus’ baptism, while he prayed in the wilderness, the devil offered to give him control of the whole world. I am sure Jesus was tempted to take that control, to end the division in congress, to stop the rioting, to end the hunger, and defeat injustice. Wouldn’t it be great if Syria and North Korea bowed to the authority of Jesus? Wouldn’t we love it if China and America were led by the instructions of Jesus? We would all love to vote for Jesus in the next election, but we also know offers like this offer from the devil often come with a catch. In this story, the devil demanded that Jesus worship him in order to gain that power. We also know that the devil offered Jesus something he couldn’t give, but temptations are often unrealistic. We fantasize about having things we cannot possibly have, and those fantasies lead us to make terrible decisions. It’s like the United States government borrowing money from China to pay its debt to China.
“Get out of here, Satan,” Jesus told him. “For the Scriptures say, ‘You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’”
The good news is, Jesus rejected the devil’s temptation, and so can we. When we are offered power, we are tempted to forget that power will always come with consequences, good or bad. It’s easier to play god than to be God.
Jesus knew love had the power to do what power could not. With power you can force someone to do something, but only love can build a healthy relationship. That is one reason Jesus never used his power to force us to love him. Jesus came as a defenseless child, to live amongst us in servanthood, and that kind of love started a movement that physical dominance never could have.
If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.
Selfish politics uses power for personal gain. How do you get a dog to obey you? You teach it that you are in charge. You stand over it in discipline.
Selfish politics uses power to impress. If I can get people clapping for me, they’ll follow me, and self-righteousness starts to puff up. This is what causes people to ignorantly follow the political opinions of celebrities and athletes.
Selfish politics uses victimhood to control. Our society has glorified victimhood. I’m not talking about real victims, I’m talking about fakers. They whine us into submission, but that’s a short-term strategy. It doesn’t work in the long-term. Victimhood is never a victory.
After Jesus was arrested, he stood before Pilate who would determine his fate.
Pilate…called for Jesus to be brought to him. “Are you the king of the Jews?” he asked him. Jesus replied, “Is this your own question, or did others tell you about me?” “Am I a Jew?” Pilate retorted. “Your own people and their leading priests brought you to me for trial. Why? What have you done?” Jesus answered, “My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not of this world.”
Pilate wanted to know if Jesus was using his power for leverage over people or if Jesus was innocent. He wanted to know if Jesus was a victim, but Jesus chose not to play the victim card. He wasn’t a victim. He wasn’t weak. He could have destroyed all of Rome’s soldiers with a snap. Pilate expected a power play, but Jesus didn’t do it.
[Pilate] asked [Jesus], “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave no answer. “Why don’t you talk to me?” Pilate demanded. Don’t you realize that I have the power to release you or crucify you? Then Jesus said, “You would have no power over me at all unless it were given to you from above.
Pilate boasted about his power, but it didn’t do for him what he wanted it to do. The irony is that Pilate had some power, but he was living in fear, fear of the mob, fear of Caesar, fear of a revolution. It seemed like Jesus had no power, but he was fearless.
Christians, we’ve been fighting with the wrong kind of power. I won’t tell you which bubble to fill in on your ballot in the next election, but I will tell you to vote for people who are truly victims, vote for the outcast, for the marginalized, and for the poor. Your vote gives you some power. So, vote for love.
If you help the poor, you are lending to the Lord—and he will repay you!
To participate in democratic elections, we have to pick our battles. Because there will never be a politician that will agree with us 100% of the time, we have to decide which issues will affect our voting decisions.
Here are four ways that voters pick a candidate:
- Personalities: Many voters ignore the issues and vote for the candidate they like most. That’s how Hitler had so much power.
- Group Think: Most voters simply follow the crowd. They vote for the candidate their friends vote for to avoid extra work or ruffling feathers. The problem is that the crowd is often wrong. The crowd shouted, “Crucify Him.”
- Amount of Agreement: Some people vote for the candidate with whom they agree most often. This method isn’t bad, but it’s not the best.
- Issue Prioritization: The best way to vote is to determine which issues are most important and, within reason, vote for the person who is on the right side of the most important issues.
Some political issues are very important. Others are distractions. Can you imagine being Jesus in our world trying to decide who to vote for? Jesus knew the truth on every issue, but he only chose to fight for a few issues. He prioritized. I bet Jesus had an opinion about taxes, but when the religious leaders asked him to give his opinion, he just told them to pay their taxes. When everyone wanted him to become a political activist, he wouldn’t do it. Jesus was surprisingly silent on the political issues of the day. He just told them to obey the government leaders. Then he put spiritual matters above it all. We have to put the most important things first. Jesus seized his moment by neglecting earthly politics. Don’t give yourself to the most popular political issues of the day just because that’s what the news likes to talk about.
We are tempted to spend more time slandering our moment and criticizing people than savoring our moment and thanking God for the time we live in and the mission we’ve been given. We’re so angry that our political leaders don’t govern the way we think they should that we get distracted from what really matters. As a result, we make the politicians our enemies, but they are not our enemy. They are sick people in need of a hospital. They are lost people in need of Jesus.
When the church constantly nags the government, protesting and canceling, our voice is muffled. Eventually, they will start to ignore us. Then, if the Christians have no voice at all, we will be left with a totally depraved world.
In Europe, some forms of opposition to abortion are considered hate speech. America isn’t there yet, but if we keep talking like we hate everyone and everything with whom we disagree, the world will start labeling more of our opinions as “hate speech.” We must pick our battles. What if Christians became so known for their desire to love and care for as many people as possible that we changed our reputation from purveyors of hate speech to purveyors of love speech. Love speech. That’s our language. Let’s prioritize issues that will show love and care for the most possible people.
Rise above political disagreements and talk about what will do the most good for our world, not for us, but for the people we’ve been called to love.
