Happy This-has-been-percolating-for-a-few-days-Saturday, friends!
Ok, “percolating” definitely ages me.
Maybe “simmering” is better.
I did something a couple of days ago that I don’t think I’ve done in the history of my Saturday pondering—I publicly teased a preview.
I should clarify up front that today’s pondering will be in the spirit of what I do every week.
By that I mean that I’m just sharing my thoughts with the hope that it encourages those who read.
It’s not a well-organized and researched “position paper” or even an “essay.”
It’s not designed to change anyone’s mind or prove a point. It’s intended to simply give you something to consider and contemplate for yourself.
So, here goes …
On Thursday I wrote:
“This might be a good time to remind us that voting is neither a civic nor a Christian duty. It is a right and privilege that shouldn’t be taken lightly. That is my opinion (and yes, I have already voted). I’ll unpack that this Saturday.”
Two days earlier, on Tuesday, I went to the Randall County Courthouse Annex and cast my early vote in the midterm election.
(To my chagrin, the unsolicited text messages did not immediately stop).
I fed my ballot into the machine, collected my “I Voted” sticker, and headed to my car.
Once inside my car, I took the obligatory selfie so I could post it on Facebook to validate the experience. (Does your vote even count if you don’t post a selfie on Facebook?)
But I didn’t post it.
I decided just as soon as I saw the photo that I was going to save it for a few days and use it today.
It was the Thursday teaser that was unplanned.
So what gave me pause?
My shirt.
I happened to be wearing one of my shirts with the “Dangerous Pastors” logo.
Briefly, “Dangerous Pastors” was an initiative I led for several years when I was Executive Director/Lead Strategist of Harvest Baptist Association.
Each year I enlisted a small group of pastors to spend a year in a cohort focused on clarifying their vision of discipleship and developing a clear discipleship process to implement in their churches.
The “dangerous” idea was twofold:
1. An intentional focus on seriously developing disciples of Jesus will not be universally admired, so get ready for some pushback.
2. You are being invited to stop wading around in the shallows of “churchianity” and launch out into the deep waters of the Christ-life.
That’s an incredibly simplified overview, but I think it’s enough for context.
When I looked at the juxtaposition of the “I Voted” sticker and the embroidered “Dangerous Pastors” logo, it hit me.
This is an accurate representation of living in two worlds—or perhaps more accurately, two kingdoms.
One calls me to do something that seems significant at the moment, but really requires nothing more than my photo ID, my legal citizenship, my opinion, and a few minutes of my time.
From the time I pulled into the parking lot until I took my selfie and drove away was about 10 minutes.
And all it takes to cancel out what I did is another legal citizen with a photo ID and an opposite opinion who will take the same 10 minutes.
In a couple of weeks, we’ll know which opinions got the most votes and then we can all come together and work on solutions to the challenges that face us! Yay!
Except that’s not the way it works.
The next election cycle will immediately start and our votes will be courted until the new supply of stickers is ready.
And the unfortunate reality is that our votes won’t be courted with positive solutions, but with a constant bombardment of finger pointing and mud slinging.
All because we think voting is what matters most.
That’s the primary reason I don’t think voting should be considered a civic duty.
As American citizens, we have the privilege—through voting—of participating in the process of electing leaders and expressing our opinions about the direction of our nation.
There are plenty of nations in the world that do not grant their citizens that privilege.
But in the USA that privilege is a constitutionally granted right for those who meet the legal standards.
That means that some people with whom I strenuously disagree are going to have—and exercise—that privilege.
To be completely honest, I wish some of them would stay home!
But I’m glad they have the right and privilege to vote AND they also have the right to decline to participate in the voting process.
If it were truly a duty, there would be consequences for those who decline.
Let me be clear—the privilege of voting should not be taken lightly, but “duty” is simply the wrong word.
And let’s not have any repetition of the nonsensical statement I’ve heard for most of my life that if you don’t vote, you don’t have the right to complain.
The First Amendment would like a word!
Before I wrap up this considerably longer than average Saturday pondering, I have to address the second—and potentially most controversial—part of my assertion.
Voting is not a Christian duty.
I understand the sentiment that it is important for Christians to participate as citizens in the political process.
We live here, work here, and desire to bring the influence of Jesus into our communities.
But we must understand four crucial points:
1. Our ultimate allegiance is not to a kingdom of this world. The kingdoms of this world—including our beloved nation—are temporary. They may last for hundreds or thousands of years, but they are not eternal. Our primary citizenship as followers of Jesus is in an eternal kingdom that is already present, but not yet ultimately realized. The USA is a sticker. The Kingdom of God is an identity logo embroidered on our hearts and we must never, ever conflate the two.
2. Voting is not commanded anywhere in Scripture. In fact, voting is hardly mentioned in Scripture. Maybe because righteousness and truth are not electable! Can we legitimately call something a Christian duty that has no Scriptural precedent? Of course, we’ve traditionally not had any problem at all making rules for Christian living without Scriptural support, but does that mean we should continue to double down?
3. The kingdoms of the world operate on the principle of gaining power and control. Jesus never—not once—encouraged His followers to seek power and control. In fact, He specifically commanded His followers to love their enemies, their neighbors, the poor, the stranger, the outcast, the prisoner … and to prove their greatness by excelling in serving and laying down their lives. The Christian’s duty is to love like Jesus. I can’t think of a single way that voting equates to loving and serving anyone or anything (except for my agendas and preferences).
4. Finally (!!!)—at least for the purpose of today’s pondering—our obligation to love requires us to consider how we live in our communities. How do we treat our neighbors? How do we serve those in need? How do we build bridges to identify and address the issues that concern everyone in our community regardless of how they vote? How do we keep ourselves from allowing our opinions and preferences to cause us to treat neighbors as enemies simply because their opinions and preferences are different from our own? And how do we keep ourselves from the illusion that we’ve actually done something significant that only required 10 minutes out of our day?
If you’ve made it this far, I really appreciate your time and patient endurance.
I hope I’ve given you some thoughts to chew on.
I hope you’ll take advantage of the privilege of voting and participating in a very imperfect process.
Most importantly, I hope you’ll consider what it looks like to invest your life and energies in people more than programs and platforms.
I’ve come to the conclusion that if people know how I vote, but don’t know how much they matter to God and to me, I’m doing it wrong.
Be amazing today, my friend.
