Election Day Musings

I’m sitting at the church watching the RV’s come and go today - covered in election/political signs.  Each one is filled with young men and women trying to look serious and official while hiding their giddy excitement about being involved in something so much bigger than themselves.  

Whether you are Republican or Democrat or Libertarian or Constitutional or Independent or whatever, as an American, you have the distinct privilege of participating in the governing process.  There is no precedent in Scripture to look to if you want to know “how to vote.”  In the First Century, the Church had no say in the governmental process and eventually became objects of its wrath.  It wasn’t until after 300AD that Christianity had any influence in the Empire.

Here is what I find interesting...the Church flourished and grew when she was oppressed and suffering.  Once she had influence and power in the world, she really stopped flourishing.  There were (and are) pockets of faith communities growing and thriving in healthy relationships, but those became less and less the norm.  

Even today, the Church in America is very visible and stable, but I wonder how truly vibrant and transformational she is.  I am constantly thinking about who much it DOESN’T cost me to be a follower of Jesus.  I wonder how much stronger my faith and my relationship with Christ would be if I needed it more.  

Living in America is a great privilege that I do not take lightly.  Yet, if I am honest, I must confess that such a great blessing can also serve as a my greatest curse.  I have never had my faith tested in such a way that my life truly depended on it.  I might never experience that living in America.  And so I wonder how strong my faith really is.  

This election day don’t forget to vote, but also take a few minutes and remember that we live in a society that makes it easy to be a Christian.  While this is great on some levels, we can never forget that Christ’s call of discipleship was a call to come and die.  While you might never face that reality in our culture today, don’t ever get complacent with your faith and your relationship with Christ.  Take time each day to stop and connect with God lest you forget that your relationship with Him is built on a bloody cross, not in a voting booth.

The Day After

I am writing this on Election Day. I will keep it short and simple. Wednesday, we should have a newly elected President. So now what? The sun will rise. My van brakes will still be squeaky until I get them looked at. My kids are still beautiful and really smart. My wife is still my favorite person in the world. Terra Nova is still the community of people I serve and love and lead. So what is the next step?

Today (Tuesday, November 04, 2008) we are seeing unprecedented voter turnout. Some are saying 80% turnout is expected. As a nation we have jumped into this process with both feet, but my fear is that once today is over, we will all wash our hands and go back to “life as normal.” Similar things happened in October, 2001 – especially among the Church community. The nation was looking for some type of foundation to stand on, and the Church (not all of them, but way too many!) simply became another nice place to hear nice songs and hear nice sermons and feel better about everything.

NOT THIS TIME!

We are looking at an opportunity to harness the energy and excitement of a majority of Americans.

Here is what I hope we all do. If you voted for John McCain because you support the Pro-Life issue, then don’t just wait for the government to change something. Go out and volunteer at a pregnancy crisis center; take in a young, pregnant girl, look into adoption. If you voted for Barack Obama because you want the war to end or you think he can do more with the economy, then don’t just wait. Send care packages to our troops; find out how to help out at the Veterans Administration; see what local organizations could use your help in supporting the poor and needy.

The day after the election, don’t stop being passionate, start doing something with it! Let’s continue the momentum within our community. Let’s take this to the next level and CHANGE THE WORLD!

Under the Mercy,
Jason

Faith Priorities for this Election

My Faith Priorities for this Election

While many pastors, denominations and organizations are producing “voter guides” for this election, I will not. I have seen several “Christian” guides and all of them have been very partisan and actually had outright lies and propaganda on them that I found offensive (especially with a “Christian” label on the top!).

Instead of a voter guide, I am developing my “Faith Priorities” for this election. These are the priorities that I feel are Biblical issues that go beyond a “left” or “right” label. This year there is no clear “Christian” vote (I don’t think there ever really has been!). I have found it ironic that the usual voting blocs are not necessarily finding their usual party’s candidate lining up with their usual priorities and party lines. Let’s face it, voting for Jesus is not really an option in the election, so we are faced with an imperfect choice.

As I make my imperfect choice, here are the Faith Priorities I will be looking at.

1) The Bible is clear that humans are made in the image of God so I will choose candidates (and issues) that will protect human rights and human dignity. This includes issues such as torture and immigration. How we handle the “stranger” is indicative of how we value the Image of God in all of us. I also want to see a candidate that will work to end some of the horrific practices such as sex trafficking and slave trading (economic slavery is becoming a global issue).

2) A strong value of “life” is vital to any leader’s ability to strengthen our society and culture. I believe life is precious enough to God that He was willing to sacrifice His own Son on our behalf. So I will vote for candidates and issues that value life. This means more than spouting the polarized legal debate of “pro-life” and “pro-choice.” Rather, I want to see leaders

• who will value the unborn by reducing the number of abortions in America,
• who will value the newly born by working to stop the daily deaths of 30,000 children around the globe because of malnutrition related disease,
• who will value the young by working to provide affordable health care for every person in America, and…
• who will value the old by caring for those who have lived a long life and are in need of “end-of-life care and dignity.”
  

3) With our culture’s constant assault on the morality of our families, I will look for a leader who understands his or her role in exemplifying and articulating strong family values. Our leaders need to use their position to speak of sexual integrity and restraint, marital fidelity, strong parenting and putting our values and character over economic gain.

4) War rages around the world. I know that we will never have a true pacifist President, but I am looking for a leader who will always make violence a last resort. I want our country (and the world) to be a safe place to live, but I would hope that America, with our President leading the way, could exemplify peace and reconciliation rather than Imperialism and destruction. Our security is not only based on how many weapons we have; other people’s security and having their own needs met also plays a major role in how secure we are. I want a leader who can work toward helping every one meet their needs so that we don’t have to build bigger walls and bigger barns to hoard and protect our “stuff.”

5) Jesus says that the poor will always be with you. I feel they will always be with us to see if we are owned by our stuff and greed or if we are able to look out for those around us. While I do not think that we can truly wipe out poverty, I do want a leader who will help me learn to value people over my bank account and will therefore lead the way in wiping out extreme poverty wherever we can. The Bible is clear (2000+ verses deal with how we treat the poor and oppressed!) that we are to help. I will look at the candidates and see which one demonstrates a clear record of helping the oppressed, the poor, and those suffering from injustice. We are the richest nation in the world. We ought to be the most generous.

These are the faith priorities I will be thinking about as I enter the polling booth next week. You do not have to agree with me, but I do want you to know what is going through my head as I process my choices. I will apply these faith priorities to all elections – from the Presidential race to the County Commissioners to the issues on the ballot. I hope you will join me by developing your own set of Faith Priorities.

Under the Mercy,
Jason

PS. I want to acknowledge Jim Wallis of Sojo.net and Sojourners Magazine for the idea of doing a faith priorities letter.