“For many people, God is simply a gauze applied to the wound of not knowing, when in fact that wound has bled into every part of the world, is bleeding now in a way that is life if we acknowledge it, death if we don’t. Christ is contingency. Christ’s life is right now.”
I see a lot of people saying, “No matter who wins the election, Jesus is on the throne.” While this is true, and I hope that we understand the weight of this statement, it must not preclude the necessary work for loving our neighbor, mourning with those who are hurting, or bringing His Kingdom to earth. This electoral cycle is particularly charged and the idea that God is in control is a comfort, even a balm, to our anxious souls. However, the concept of God being in control of a leader that is actively oppressing certain groups or peoples around them may not be the message that Christians should spread in the face of our hurting neighbors. Our culture has a propensity to sweep things under the rug in favor of apathetic, lazy statements by taking away the importance of our actions and decisions. It is dangerous for this to become the case for the Church, as it has in the past, especially in our current cultural surroundings.
I want to be very clear that our ability to vote is a gift, but it should not be viewed as a sacrament or ritual tied so deeply to our faith that we draw lines between fellow believers and the pursuits of loving God and neighbor. However, voting is also a decision that we are responsible for and the outcomes associated with voting can and should impact our conscience. I understand that this viewpoint is somewhat of a tightrope walk and, to an extent, reflects my own ethical framework, but our faith does not have many easy answers, though we may try to push those forward anyway.
The purpose of my writing this piece is not to bring unnecessary guilt and shame to you based on your choice in the election; but instead, it is to show that our work as citizens of the world and sojourners to another is impacted by our leaders. John Piper writes about the impact of a leader’s character on a people by stating:
There is a character connection between rulers and subjects. When the Bible describes a king by saying, “He sinned and made Israel to sin” (1 Kings 14:16), it does not mean he twisted their arm. It means his influence shaped the people. That’s the calling of a leader. Take the lead in giving shape to the character of your people. So it happens. For good or for ill.
Leaders shape us more than we would like to admit in our Western, individualistic culture. We have experienced a level of division and hate-charged disagreement, unlike anything I could have predicted. This divisiveness seeps into our being and, without care, will begin to guide our actions. This creates cynicism and breeds an apathetic disposition towards people with whom we disagree, on even the smallest of issues.
With this in mind, it is important to remember that as followers of Christ we are not supposed to fit perfectly into a two-party system that stretches the ideals and values of the Christian faith. As an aspiring cinephile, I was recently drawn to this quote from 1995’s The American President written by Aaron Sorkin where Michael J. Fox’s character says,
People want leadership, Mr. President, and in the absence of genuine leadership, they'll listen to anyone who steps up to the microphone. They want leadership. They're so thirsty for it they'll crawl through the desert toward a mirage, and when they discover there's no water, they'll drink the sand.
Now, this biting criticism can be hard to swallow but the Reagan 80s and Clinton-era optimism of the 90s probably no longer holds the rhetorical weight in our increasingly cynical nation. However, there is something to take note of at this moment, are we going to pass off everything as the way the cards are dealt, or are we going to come alongside God, guided by the values of our faith to love our neighbor?
I believe that we are starved for leadership in the world of public service and I think we need new people to “step up to the microphone” in our local worlds in ways that will promote the common good in our communities. I am hopeful that the Church in particular will find a sense of unity within the values and fruits that Scripture outlines for us. They are the platform for our day-to-day lives, not those of our political proclivities. This involves listening. It requires us to be truthful and have incredibly tough conversations that allow us to heal.
So, yes, Jesus is in control, but if we are unwilling to let his control permeate every aspect of our lives then why does it matter? Maybe this is my attempt at stepping up to a microphone. It feels like a long time since I have really attempted to do anything of that sort, but I am hopeful that real transformation can take place and that the Church will have a chance to let the values of Christ guide our actions moving forward.