Jesus, Elections & The Kingdom of God

I'm over this particular election season.  I'm fatigued by it, which is a better word.  

I get 9,000 emails a day asking me to donate money to various candidates, who all seem to be saying that if I don't, America may cease to exist tomorrow. 

I also get approximately 6,000 texts a day requesting the same thing, not to mention the robocalls on my phone that I have stopped answering lately. 

Any money I might send now won't be used to purchase ads or mobilize volunteers. Instead, it will undoubtedly be used to pay the legal fees of candidates who are either defending or initiating a lawsuit about the election.  

This also fatigues me. 

And let me say something about undecided voters at this point.  If you are still undecided, you need to figure your life out because, in my humble opinion, there's too much information out there for you to be undecided. 

If you disagree with that last statement, I will gladly provide Exhibits A and B, which are my email and text messages.  

It could be that you have decided long ago who you will vote for but are afraid to say it in public because your friends and family might disown you and not invite you to Thanksgiving, which in some cases might be the greatest blessing they could give you. 

Then there are the polls... those pesky polls. 

On any given day, the pollsters are simultaneously predicting one candidate will win over the other by a landslide or that the election is so close that you couldn't fit a razor blade between the two contestants. 

Comedian Steven Wright once said: "82.7% of all statistics are made up on the spot."

I love that so much.  Polls are inherently flawed when created because most questions are vague and misleading and designed to produce a particular outcome that can be touted later. 

So, what do those who claim to follow Jesus do during this season of unrest and uneasiness we call Election Day? How do we navigate all of the potential minefields? 

We can stay off social media.  Facebook is not our friend, friend.  And Twitter (I refuse to call it X) is a veritable petri dish of all of the worst viruses we can get in a society.  

But if you decide to wade into those murky social media waters and find yourself sitting in front of your computer about to re-post yet another meme or link to inform the public of your thoughts, just pause and ask this question: "Would Jesus post this?" 

It can also be shortened to WWJP?  I rather like that, and it's catchy. 

In fact, employing a Jesus-shaped lens to pretty much every aspect of this divisive and nasty election season is the best thing that any of us can do. 

At this point, someone out there might say, "Jesus wasn't political." 

There is a kernel of truth to that statement, but it's a dry, shriveled kernel that smells faintly of decay and would never produce a thing when planted.  

Jesus never said anything about endorsing a particular political party, nor did he cozy up to leaders to gain power and promote his agenda.  But he did have a lot to say about the kingdom of God in contrast to the kingdoms of this world. 

Spoiler alert: If you want to be a Jesus-follower, your ultimate allegiance is to the kingdom of God, which (as you might imagine) is a lot different from the kingdoms of this world, even ones that claim to be founded on biblical principles. 

To call yourself a Christian inherently means that you want to do your best to imitate Jesus,  which means that any time you are laying your allegiance at the feet of a political party or a candidate, you've lost the plot.  

Casting our vote is both a right and a privilege as a citizen of our great country.  

But rather than asking ourselves how Jesus would vote (which is a ridiculous premise), we should ask ourselves which candidates best display elements of the kingdom of God through their actions, speech, policies, platforms, etc.

Rather than grabbing random verses from the Bible to support our particular issue that drives our political leanings, we should look at the whole of the Gospel accounts and see more clearly how Jesus conducted himself, who he reached out to, how he spoke, healed, taught, and loved.  

This Sunday, I will preach the first of a two-part sermon series entitled "Faith & Politics. " I will explore these ideas with guidance from Paul's Epistle to the Romans.  Before and after the election, I'll preach what it means to have our politics informed by our faith and not vice versa.  

Even if you are far away, you should tune in to this sermon or, at the very least, watch it on our website later in the week.  

May you find peace amid this turbulent season.  And may the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you now and always. Amen.