Why Vote?

I heard some disturbing statistics last week – from more than one source – and that is this – 90 million Christians in the United States are eligible to vote. Of those, 40 million will not vote, and 15 million are not even registered. (This statistic varies slightly depending on the source, but it is closely the same.)

Forty million Christians will not vote? Fifteen million are not even registered?

Why? Or rather, why not?

I find this disturbing on so many levels. God created the family, government, and the church. We will defend the family and the church but want nothing to do with the laws that govern us or the people who are elected to represent us? Maybe my past civics lessons have caused me to care more, but I can’t recall a time when I have purposely not voted. And as a believer, living in a republic (not a democracy, to be clear) we are given the privilege of choosing those who will represent us in that republic. We even have the privilege, should God so lead us, to run for public office.

It’s not a life that I’m called to, but I certainly want the people representing me to support the values I hold dear. If I don’t vote, then I’m essentially saying that I don’t care who governs me. Why would I do that?

I will vote because my vote matters and so does yours. And we have an obligation as believers to vote for the person in each office who most aligns with our biblical worldview. If we don’t? Then we are asking for this nation to embrace a different worldview than the one upon which it was founded. Do we really want a country governed by those who would deny our civil rights? Our freedom of speech–and call it “misinformation”? Since when did it become okay to call what we don’t agree with “misinformation” or essentially a lie? Sometimes it’s just a different point of view. And if it is a lie, it is up to each one of us to search for what is true.

How about our right to worship freely? Or our right to raise our children as we see fit? Since when did it become okay for schools and government to take children away from their parents simply for disagreeing with what they are being taught? It is not abuse to disagree with controversial topics now being taught in some schools. Notice that it is just fine to refuse to teach children the Ten Commandments that our country was founded on, but it is not okay to refuse to allow our children to be shown pornographic material in elementary school? Where is our common sense?

When I watch the changes happening in this country, I shake my head and have to wonder…why are we so willing to apathetically disengage with what is happening all around us? For instance, why are we so wiling to ignore the insistence to make this election about abortion rights? Or what they are calling women’s “healthcare”. I appreciate healthcare as much as the next person, but I do not consider the right to kill an unborn child a part of “care”.

I’m going to go out on a limb here and admit that I have always checked any candidates stand on abortion before voting. I’ve been accused of voting pro-life without knowing anything else about a candidate. Without taking time to read about every single person in every category to see what else they believe. But you know what? That’s exactly what is happening today in reverse. If it was wrong for me to vote across the board for pro-life candidates, then it is equally wrong for anyone to vote across the board for pro-abortion ones. Let’s be careful not to be hypocritical or have double standards. If life is the main issue, where should a Christian stand on that issue and why does it matter? Shouldn’t it matter?

I’m going to go out on another limb and say that as believers, we also have an obligation to support Israel. I’m not saying that I agree with every single thing the government of Israel does. But I also know that too many people and even whole countries are vilifying Israel because they choose to defend themselves after suffering an act of war. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in WWII, the United States considered that an act of war. We hadn’t really wanted to join the fight until it hit home. Then suddenly, the whole country got caught up in defending ourselves and our allies. Do we really think that we should not have fought back as a nation? Should we have just allowed enemy forces to continue to bomb us until we were obliterated? That is exactly what Iran has stated that it wants to do to Israel.

You’ve probably heard the phrase, “from the river to the sea.” It is entirely possible that many people who chant that phrase don’t even know what it means. It is a phrase that encourages the annihilation of Israel, from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. The nation of Israel is about the size of New Jersey. They are surrounded by Arab and other Middle Eastern nations that all have their own land. But no one wants to allow the Jews to have a land that they can call home. A land that from a biblical perspective was given to them by God.

Why should Christians vote? Because we care about life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and the safety of our nation and that of our allies. Israel has always been our strongest ally in the Middle East, and yet, there are those, who purposely forget that. Christians dare not do that or think for a moment that the church has replaced Israel in God’s eyes. We have not.

This election is kind of a war of opposing values, more so today than at any time in my life’s history. To think that we can shirk our responsibility, put our heads in the sand, and hope for the best–I believe the Bible teaches us to act differently. God tells us to pray and humbly ask Him to heal our land. And then do whatever is given to us to do. Examples in Scripture of God’s people speaking to those in power are many. But I leave you with one. Esther.

Esther did not remain silent at such a time as this. She risked her life to save her people. Just to step into the presence of her husband the king to ask a question could have cost her life. But she prayed and fasted and went anyway.

It costs us nothing but a lot of prayer, some research, and a little time to cast a vote. No matter the outcome, can we really think that God would have us be silent at such a time as this? Or should we do what we can to save our children and our nation?

~Selah

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