Tuesday is the day we’ve been anticipating (or dreading) for a long time. Election day in America. Perhaps like me you’ve already voted or perhaps you are waiting till the official day. Regardless, as a Christian, you have an opportunity this week to be a witness for Christ in your community.
First, you can demonstrate gratitude. The very act of voting is a sacred thing, purchased at great cost by men and women who have fought on the battlefields at home and across the sea for the right to exercise this right. Millions of people around the world and the majority of human beings in human history have never had the chance to have some small say in who rules over them. You do. Be grateful God has allowed you to be born in this time and in this place for this moment in history.
Second, you can demonstrate love. This is a bitterly divided election, with passionate partisans on both sides. Regardless of where you land, take time, when you enter the polling place, to thank the hardworking, underpaid or volunteer staff who are making the election possible. Undoubtedly, they’ll face scrutiny and pressure to conduct a fair and honest election. There will be some folks who will say unkind things or harass them. This is an opportunity for you to be different, by wearing a smile and thanking them for their service.
Third, you can demonstrate conviction. We bring our Christianity into the public square and doing the best we can to vote for policies that will be good for the flourishing of our neighbors and “righteousness that exalts a nation (Proverbs 14:34).” Voting is an imperfect exercise in a fallen world. You will have fellow believers who will disagree with where you made your vote. Be prayerful. Be humble. Be wise.
Fourth, you can demonstrate hope. As you walk into the polling place and walk out, know that while you are right to be concerned about the future of the country, you also live with hope that “Christ has overcome the world (John 16:33).” While we are nervously watching election returns, God is not in heaven wringing his hands or shaking with fear. As one of my pastor friends once told me as I faced a personal crisis, “There is no panic in Heaven.” God knows. God sees. And he has made us for this moment.
Fifth, we can demonstrate faith. If enough of your fellow citizens circled the same oval as you did or if your preferred candidate lost, your work in exercising your citizenship isn’t over. And the most important work you do is before the Lord in prayer. 1 Timothy 2 reminds us to pray for our leaders, for those with whom we agree and those with whom we disagree.
Our hope and our faith remind us of the eternal perspective that God is working out His plan. If He did not use sinful, broken instruments to accomplish that purpose, none of us would have a place in His great story. Though we don’t see all of the details, we can trust Romans 8:28 knowing that God is faithfully working all things together for the good of those who love Him.
