Loving Locally in an Election Year
By Dr. Chris Seiple on 05 October 2008
Originally written for the 2004 Presidential election, these thoughts by IGE President Chris Seiple are just as applicable four years later.
In a few weeks, America will vote, deciding the next president as well as the direction of our country for the next four years. American Christians have three responsibilities.
First, they absolutely must vote. One of the core virtues of America is the principle of responsible freedom. America promises its people individual rights of choice across a great many spheres of life — for instance, the right to freely choose, or not choose, a faith. Where this freedom exists, so too does the right to gather, speak, associate. Genuine political freedom depends on a culture of ordered liberty throughout civil society.
But this kind of robust freedom is not free. It demands vigilant and responsible participation. Not voting is a slap in the face of all those who have sacrificed to make and keep us free — from Bunker Hill, to the Suffragettes, to the Montgomery Bus Boycott, to the war against terrorists in Afghanistan and around the world. Voting respects the past and takes responsibility for the future.
Furthermore, voting is a crucial part of stewarding America's role in the world. Let's face it, the United States is the 800 pound gorilla on the international stage. Ignorance is not an excuse. What our leaders do or don't do has an impact upon almost everything in the world. Voting is our opportunity and obligation to influence our leaders and hold them accountable.
For Christians who happen to have been born or become American, what are we doing with this gift of citizenship that God has given? Are we burying our heads in the sand? Or are we actively taking responsibility, as best we can, for the awesome power that this country possesses and wields? Taking responsibility is incumbent to citizenship — and it begins with voting.
The second Christian responsibility during this election process is to treat everyone with respect. Good people do not always agree. That disagreement should not result in demeaning diatribe. We are all made in the image of God, and we must treat people as such. It is indeed possible to be gentle and firm, loving and direct, even with those who do not reciprocate. The political season should not be the occasion for demonizing our opponents, fostering simplistic stereotypes, and behaving as though God has a partisan affiliation!
Which brings us to the third responsibility. Certainly we are called to vote, stewarding our citizenship and treating each other with respect as we do. But we must also ask ourselves, how can American Christians make a profound daily difference — assuming they really want to — in this world, their nation, and their neighborhood? I believe they make this kind of difference by living not only as responsible citizens of a free country, but also as servants in an eternal Kingdom that has broken into history.
Put differently, Christians have their most lasting impact simply by loving locally. It is interesting to note that with all the issues Jesus could have addressed in his time, from slavery to war, his focus was loving those around him — especially the least, the lost, and the last. As he invested in those relationships, his message was twofold: love God, love your neighbor. His radical simplicity confounds us to this day.
Christians would do well to remember that their ultimate responsibility is to bear testimony to the hope within. How we handle ourselves sends eternal signals amidst today's earthly issues.
Please vote in this election, but please choose empathy first. If Christians actively focus on loving God by loving those around them, these times and this election might just be less contentious.
Last updated 26 November 2008