An
Inkling
Last
week and again this week our E-News is running an article explaining why the
Session does not want us to put out “non-partisan” voters’ guides. To that word allow me to add this: a non-partisan voters’ guide – ha! To bring your Christian values to bear on
next week’s election, I offer these suggestions:
Pray. That’s one
thing you can do regardless of your political views. Pray for the candidates and their
families. Pray for the voters to discern
wisely. Pray for those you find it easy
to disdain.
Study. One
reason political ads (and thus political spending) have such an outsized impact
is that for many voters these are the only source of information. That’s scary, since many of the ads are
designed to deceive! Study the
issues. And that means listening to some
different voices. If you usually read The Washington Post, check out The Washington Times, and vice versa.
Discuss. It
really is possible to have civil conversations about politics! We make better judgments ourselves when we
hear how others sort out the issues, and they’ll make better judgments when they
hear how we do.
Weigh. Matters
on which the scripture is both clear and urgent must be given greater weight. For example, the scripture is clear that God
judges a nation in large part by how it treats its most vulnerable – “as you’ve
done it to the least of these.…” That
would include the unborn and the poor. But
scripture is neither clear nor urgent about the size of government or how to
deal with public debt. We must weigh
accordingly. (And the complexity of such
weighing drives us back to pray, study, and discuss!)
Vote. It’s easy
to opt out, driven either by apathy or disgust.
It’s hard to do all that is necessary to vote well. Do the hard thing, both for your nation and
your Lord.
Rejoice. Next
Wednesday some will be celebrating and others mourning. Whatever our response, we can rejoice that
the One who is not at all subject to our elections is unfailingly gracious and
good. His is the Kingdom, the power, and
the glory forever! Which means we can
rejoice!
Blessings,
Keith
