How should we vote in this election?

We are at the tail end of a long dark election season in the United States. It has made for good theatre but very poor governing. It has been entertaining but not edifying. Very soon a politician will win the election and then institute reforms that half the population will consider a slap in the face and the other half will embrace as the spoils of political war.

A candidate will get 51 per cent of the vote and declare they have a mandate when in reality, they have been given a stark warning that our nation is seriously divided. They will promise to unite the country because all men are created equal and then institute policies that benefit those who are more equal than others. I want to offer the thoughts of a discouraged American who seeks to understand his Christian faith in the context of these political realities.

Farming the wilderness

We humans have had issues with authority from the beginning. God created a good Universe, put image-bearing boots on the ground and instructed them to “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the Earth and subdue it and have dominion”. It wasn’t, however, a license to do whatever we pleased with the planet but a command to diligently maintain it’s very good status. Eden wasn’t a garden party, but a work party. We weren’t called to lounge around in our Sunday best but to put on our image bearing dungarees and get our hands dirty.

It seemed like a simple request, work the land and produce a 100-fold crop, until, that is, a particularly disgruntled barn yard animal convinced Adam and Eve that working the land was beneath their station, and suggested that rather than settle for being hired hands they might prefer becoming lords of the manor. He convinced them that if they wanted to climb the corporate ladder, they would need to be suzerains and not servants. This, however, presented a significant legal problem because it violated God’s non-compete clause prompting him to send the violators packing.

Exile in the wilderness, however, didn’t diminish their divine ambitions but instead inspired them to redouble their efforts to grow their own crops, a project which turned out to be harder than they thought because thorns, thistles and tares, perpetually contaminated all the good fruit they produced.

While Adam and Eve weren’t very good at dominating and subduing, they excelled at being fruitful and multiplying, which meant their family business experienced unprecedented growth. This expansion, however, proved problematic because the corporation soon became top-heavy with God wanna-bes all with their own vision of how the business should run. It became increasingly difficult to get their fellow man to do the painful, sweaty work of cultivating the wilderness because everyone felt like they were in charge.

Ironically, the Fall made it possible for humans to rise to their level of incompetence and we have been overachievers ever since.

Boss in the Badlands

God, however, longed to once again walk with his image bearers in the garden so he chose a specific people to help them work out their authority issues. He continued to remind them who was in charge by parting the sea, hanging around in pillars of cloud and fire, shaking the Earth and even going so far as to tabernacle in their midst by providing a regular meeting place where they could work out their differences. However, his people couldn’t shake their delusions of grandeur and as they looked jealously upon their neighbours, they concluded a human king on a throne would make for a better ruler than a God in a holy box.

But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said: “No! But there shall be a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.” (1 Samuel 8:19-20)

God then told Samuel to warn the people that if they placed their trust in an earthly king, they would be forced to manufacture weapons, be drafted into the army, taxed to fund his bureaucracy and have their land confiscated to give to his cronies. The warnings that God gave to his people thousands of years ago are just as relevant today as we choose leaders in the 21^st Century, because rejecting a holy God as king means that our choices will always be limited to the lesser of two human evils.

And the Lord said to Samuel: “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.” (1 Samuel 8:7)

Heart issue

The “chosen people” were then ruled by a series of kings, some of whom were better than others, but there was only one who God called a man after his own heart, King David. Why did David tug on God’s heart strings? It certainly wasn’t for his sublime ruling skills or his exemplary moral character but rather for his sincere repentance when he screwed up. David was man enough to acknowledge that “he was that man,” and admit that his foibles weren’t political missteps but sins against God himself.

Interestingly, God would later provide a Messiah from David’s line, making it clear that repentance comes before salvation. Leadership for God was a heart issue. He wasn’t impressed with rulers who paid him lip service and whose hearts were far from him. He wanted leaders whose worthiness wasn’t measured by rhetorical skills but by humility, not by their ability to construct an argument but by their willingness to wear a broken and contrite heart on their sleeves.

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And now for something completely different

The chosen people unsuccessfully tried their hand at wielding earthly power, but when this failed, they were forced to live under the thumbs of a series of other world empires including the Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks and Romans. God’s people had become all too familiar with the excesses of worldly power, and it was against this historical backdrop that Jesus came along and declared it was time for something completely different by introducing a kingdom unlike any they had ever encountered.

A kingdom whose king wasn’t coronated by a convention but a crucifixion. A king who didn’t take power by conquering his opponents but by sacrificing himself on their behalf. A king whose campaign wasn’t funded by large institutional donations but by the copper coins of poor widows. A king who came not to be served but to serve and be a man of the people by giving his life as a ransom for many.

And Jesus called them to him and said to them: “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:42-45)

Campaign speech

Jesus gave the most profound campaign speech of all time in his Sermon on the Mount address; a mic drop moment for the kingdom of God.

He began by announcing his cabinet:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the Earth.” (Matthew 5:2-5)

He then put forth an agenda of righteousness, mercy, purity and peace-making:

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” (Matthew 5:6-9)

He then left them with a warning that they would be targets of a smear campaign instituted by rival factions who were oddly intimidated by power found in weakness.

 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.” (Matthew 5:10-11)

However, in addition to a warning, Jesus also assured them that they would be rewarded for canvasing Judea, Samaria and the ends of the Earth with his good news agenda.

 “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:10-11)

Servant’s entrance

The early Church didn’t go door to door with pamphlets but lived in such a way that people couldn’t help but ask about the hope that was in them. They were good citizens of Rome yet were considered a threat because they honoured a different king.

Christian behaviour was so exemplary that those carrying out persecutions had to write letters to the emperor asking for advice on how to imprison and kill people who were, by all measures, better citizens than the pagan populace. A letter written sometime between 111 and 113 AD by Pliny to the Emperor Trajan reflected this conundrum:

“It is my practice, my lord, to refer to you all matters concerning which I am in doubt. For whom can better give guidance to my hesitation or inform my ignorance? I have never participated in trials of Christians. I therefore do not know what offenses it is the practice to punish or investigate, and to what extent…They asserted, however, that the sum and substance of their fault or error had been that they were accustomed to meet on a fixed day before dawn and sing responsively a hymn to Christ as to a god, and to bind themselves by oath, not to some crime, but not to commit fraud, theft, or adultery, not falsify their trust, nor to refuse to return a trust when called upon to do so. When this was over, it was their custom to depart and to assemble again to partake of food – but ordinary and innocent food.”

Interestingly, Christian kindness wasn’t confined to the care of their own but also extended to the rest of the pagan community. In fact, this presented a real dilemma for the emperors because the pagan priests of the Roman Empire didn’t care for their own let alone the worshippers of other gods. So, to address this situation the Emperor Julian the Apostate wrote an Epistle to Pagan High Priests ironically encouraging them to behave more like Christians:

“These impious Galileans (Christians) not only feed their own, but ours also; welcoming them with their agape, they attract them, as children are attracted with cakes…Whilst the pagan priests neglect the poor, the hated Galileans devote themselves to works of charity, and by a display of false compassion have established and given effect to their pernicious errors. Such practice is common among them, and causes contempt for our gods.”

Jesus said to render unto Caesar what is Caesars. Paul and Peter encouraged Christians to outdo the gentiles in law abiding even going so far as to insist they pray for the pagan leaders. Christians exercised dual citizenship by leading exemplary lives in the Roman empire while simultaneously embracing the ethos of the kingdom of God. It gave the disenfranchised populace, who had been told their whole lives that wealth and prestige were the only things that got you in the front door, hope by revealing a kingdom where the most important citizens entered through the servant’s entrance.

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Public service

Governing in the wilderness is a tricky business. It involves flawed people with a god complex regulating the behaviour of other flawed people with similar divine ambitions. God created everyone in his image so we could all have a seat at the table but with the Fall, politics became a game of musical thrones where candidates vied for the last seat once the music stopped.

Sin should be a constant reminder that we are human. It doesn’t bar us from public office but warns us that we must govern with caution. We will never get immaculate politicians, but we can hope that our leaders will at least try to be contrite public servants.

As Christians, we are citizens of two kingdoms, which is difficult because we feel like strangers in this one, but long to establish a permanent home in the other. We cannot neglect our legal obligations in the City of Man but must conduct ourselves in such a way that our behaviour points others to the City of God.

One of the reasons young people give for leaving the Church is that they feel that the corpus Christi has become the body politic. A sentiment we fuel by inviting politicians into the pulpit which, rather than elevate the conversation, places an abomination of desolation in a holy place. How dare we allow candidates to promote political power in a place where we worship the one who was crucified by it. The Church shouldn’t be a voting bloc or a crucial demographic but a still small voice reminding the world who truly sits on the throne.

Jesus spoke a great deal about the kingdom of God and then commissioned us to recruit citizens. He called us to staff the New Jerusalem’s chamber of commerce and help visitors fill out the proper Book of Life paperwork. However, if we want others to look to the heavens, we must first show them that we take the Earth seriously and one of the ways we do that is by voting. Our votes may not always change the world, but they will at least serve to remind people that we are aren’t cultural anarchists but rather greeters for a better kingdom.

So, what will I do this election? I will vote based on kingdom principles recognising that the one I vote for is a sinner in need of a saviour, one who will need to exercise humility if he or she wants to be a truly effective leader. I will heed the warnings God gave to Samuel about the ruling practices of “earthly” kings and then vote in a way that tempers those excesses.

I will vote to try and restore a “very good” creation but also recognise that it is only God who makes all things new. I will vote for the peace and prosperity of my city while knowing that my most important task is to welcome others to the New Jerusalem.

Most importantly, I will pray that God’s kingdom come, and his will be done on Earth as it is in heaven, eagerly awaiting the day when rhetorical barbs will be beaten into ploughshares, and we can once again get back to business of tending to God’s garden.

But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. (Philippians 3:20)

Erik Strandness is a physician and Christian apologist who practiced neonatal medicine for more than 20 years and has written three apologetic books. Information about his books can be found at godsscreenplay.com