How Do I Vote? Part 1: Framing the Question

If I am to boldly live out my calling to shepherd (i.e. pastor) my church, then I have to work through every practical implication of my new life being lived in, to and for Jesus Christ.  This will necessarily take me into some controversial areas.  One such area is to consider the ways in which I will make the decision of which candidate to vote for in civilian elections.
Consequently, I do not invite your reactions (there are already too many of those in our world!) but I do invite your carefully considered and prayed-through responses. Help me think this through.  Let's reason together as brothers and sister who tenderly care for each other.  Let the dialog be filled with kindness, and free of the acrimony and knee-jerk hostility that sadly characterizes so much of the political discussion in our society.  Christians don't talks and write like that.  No.  Rather we speak the truth, in love.  That qualifier - 'in love' - means that we speak the truth only in love, never without love.  Love means good manners, politeness, mutual respect, with graciousness, that always bring glory to our Lord, because as children of God, we always represent God, and His graciousness. If we loose an argument but argue with love, then we have won the greater point. We have reflects God's graciousness.  People will remember our grace long after they have forgotten what the argument was about.

I guess the first thing to say is this:  I am neither a Republican, not a Democrat.   More on that later.  So I don't ever vote along 'party lines'.  God has given me a decent brain and expects me to use it.  That means not allowing someone else to tell me how I should vote.  I need to think through each voting issue for myself. Political parties may or may not be a political necessity but I am under no obligation to join one.

Second thing to say is this: I have the earthly privilege of being a citizen of the United States.  Part of that privilege is the right, and the duty, to vote.  To not vote is to squander the God-given influence I have been given in order to effect and drive the democracy I am a part of.  To not vote is to be delinquent in my duty as a citizen.  I have heard many people say that a single vote counts for nothing and politics is a joke anyway.  Maybe.  However, if a totalitarian regime was to take your vote away from you, then you would sure want it back again!
If we had any doubts about the power of a single vote, we need only think back a few short years to the 2000 General Election of George W Bush against Al Gore when the presidency was decided by 537 votes from Florida.  I would imagine that there are 538 democrats in Florida who now wish they had voted!

Let me end this first post in this series by framing the question.  It seems likely that in November I will have the choice to vote for either President Barack Obama or Governor Mitt Romney to be the next President of the United States.  What considerations should we, as Christians, use to decide how to vote?

That's the question.

In my next blog post, I will start by considering the two citizenships that each of us has, and which one drives the other.