Why I Vote, I Guess

I’m too cynical to believe that my vote actually matters. I realize that my .0001% of the state-wide vote isn’t going to swing the election one way or the other (even if I lived in Florida). Plus, it’s exceedingly hard to pick a candidate these days. The “lesser of two evils” option doesn’t really motivate me anymore. Either I pick the candidate of abortion-on-demand and higher taxes. . . or I pick the candidate of the right to buy assault rifles and who took millions in campaign contributions from CEO’s who got $100 million golden parachutes while defaulting on his employees’ pension plans.

And on top of that, I keep reading books and articles about how evangelical Christians shouldn’t be in lockstep with the GOP (and how mainline churches shouldn’t be with the Dems). And I agree. Jesus didn’t come to earth and inaugurate the Kingdom of God so that conservatives could have a 5-4 majority on the Supreme Court or to save us from socialized medicine. So, who would Jesus vote for? Or, would Jesus vote at all? Maybe the most important question is: what in the world is the church doing here anyway?

Paul tells us to respect the government and pay our taxes. Peter tells us to honor the king. I guess, at the very least, that means that wherever the Church is – the Church actually has to be there, doing all the things one does when he/she is in one place, including paying taxes, serving on juries, and voting. If Peter and Paul called the Church to be good residents in a tyrannical empire, do you think they would ask less of those who live in a representative democracy? So, while the Church should do more about the evil of abortion than go to the polls and vote (like actually care for teenage mothers-to-be), it shouldn’t do less than go to the polls and vote. Even if it’s difficult to choose who/what to vote for.

So I’ll be going to my polling place tomorrow. I’ll probably leave some votes blank because I don’t know the issue/candidates well enough, and may even cast a third-party “protest vote” or two. But I’ll go, because Christ compels His Church to make His Voice heard any way we can – even a mark on a slip of paper.

But God help us if that’s all we do.