Seven Pastoral Exhortations Before Any Election


As another election looms, I wanted to write down a few of the things that I as a pastor keep reminding myself and others about. This list is not all we might say about politics as Christians, but I think all of these things are foundational to living in our divided world in a God-honoring way.

While nations may do evil, God is sovereign and working. I recently heard someone say that a certain electoral outcome would be "the end of Christianity in America." What struck me was that the conditions they described are exactly the conditions Christians live in right now in places where the church is alive and spreading. We should desire justice and should be grateful for our freedom, but we should never confuse the benevolence of Caesar with the power of God. He will build His church and work to advance His kingdom of peace. No matter how any election turns out, all of the most important things will remain unchanged.

While elections are consequential, your impact on them is minimal. A good rule for wise living is to focus most of your time, emotions, and energy where you can have the most impact. Unless you have a large and influential public platform in a swing state (which is almost certainly not you, dear reader, as it is not me), that means you should not be spending much energy on who our next president will be. That doesn't mean you shouldn't care. But it does mean you will have far more impact for the kingdom doing things like loving your family, getting to know your neighbors, and investing in your local church and community. Even politically, you can have far more impact on the local level than the federal one.

While politicians have real power, most changes will be marginal. Fear is the enemy of faith and the main commodity sold by the media, both traditional and social. It gets the eyeballs and the likes and shares. However, that fear almost never corresponds to reality. Most of the time, a good politician only makes things a little better and a bad politician makes them a little worse. And many politicians just make them a little bit of both. Buying into the anxiety of our culture will corrode our faith and exhaust us of the energy we need to do real good in the world.

While political conclusions are significant, moral reasoning is personal. There are diverse factors that result in any given voting decision. Two people will check a box for completely different reasons. Therefore, ascribing the worst motivations to those who differ from us is uncharitable and usually a way of bearing false witness. Most Christians who vote differently share the same ultimate values, they simply reason from those values in different ways. We can and should debate our conclusions, but presuming to judge another's heart is arrogance and self-divinization.

While political convictions are debatable, the fruit of the Spirit is non-negotiable. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self-control are more clearly commanded than any economic system, immigration platform, or foreign policy decision. Being personally loveless but politically correct is not holiness. Never sacrifice virtue in the name of pragmatism.

While injustice should be opposed, anger is fruitless and the tongue is treacherous. Rage never produced holiness (James 1:19-20). Many words multiply sin (Proverbs 10:19, 13:3, 17:27-28). In our political discourse we are too often guilty on both these fronts. Pray, hope, listen, and be a person of peace.

While our nation is divided, Jesus demands that we live in unity. Discuss, debate, disagree, but never decapitate the body of Christ. He is greater than any nation, opinion, or cause.