The immortal philosopher George Costanza once quipped, "I don't want hope. Hope is killing me. My dream is to become hopeless. When you're hopeless, you don't care, and when you don't care, that indifference makes you attractive."
Ahh, so true, and so hopeless! If there were no chance of living past this life, these words would ring true in everyone but the pathological optimist who thinks everyone is a winner!
Where is our hope? If you just read online streams, it appears that many people are putting their hope on the upcoming election. Unless you've been in a cave in Afghanistan for the past year, you're well aware that in one month, we will elect our 47th President of the United States. You're also probably aware that nothing has been so divisive in our country in recent memory. For many, our 'only' hope is electing either Trump or Harris for that title. Unfortunately, this sentiment is true for many believers too. I've recently had believing friends try to convince me that our only hope is getting Donald Trump elected and "if I'm a true believer (In Jesus mind you), I would vote in that direction.; Meanwhile, an influential Christian 'influencer' on Instagram has posted, "I'm not voting for Harris despite being a Christian, I'm voting because I'm a Christian." She says this violating her own critique of the church which she rightly has said has become a secular, political mess.
I consistently hear the ubiquitous mantra that "not voting for _______ is a vote for _______." This is usually prefaced by the fact that candidate A 'might be bad,' but he/she is better than the alternative.' This logic has become a normal refrain, and it's usually stated with much desperation since there is no 'hope' if their person isn't elected. It's a logic that I find very wanting. Voting for a bad person because they are less evil that the other is strange to me.
So should I vote for someone my conscience tells me is unbiblical? Well, I suppose if your hope is in this election, the logic described above would make more sense. But I am choosing to trust God and His gospel for the transformation of our country, and pray that the Church in America would follow suit. After all Paul reminds us that it is God who is sovereignly in control of elections when he writes, "be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God." (Romans 13:1).
This certainly sounds idealist, and 'head in the sand' mentality, and maybe that's true, but what interests me, is that none of the New Testament personalities including Jesus, advocated taking the power back from the evil Roman empire to keep them safe and have the freedom to say what they want., The irony, however, it was this ostensible 'passive' Christianity that toppled it in the long run. How? The Transformative power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Atheist philosopher and historian Wil Durant rightly recognized the political nature of the Christian faith and its power to convert through trusting Jesus and imitating Him in the political arena and marketplace, when he wrote,
"There is no greater drama in human record than the sight of a few Christians, scorned or oppressed by a succession of emperors, bearing all trials with a fierce tenacity, multiplying quietly, building order while their enemies generated chaos, fighting the sword with the word, brutality with hope, and at last defeating the strongest state that history has known. Caesar and Christ had met in the arena, and Christ had won."
Maybe it's time, we Christians act like Christians and show the world that our hope and is in Christ, not who wins on November 5th. I am in no way, advocating that you don't vote, or even not caring what's going on in our country, nor am I trying in any way, to swing your vote toward one candidate or the other. I am however urging everyone I know, to trust God, put our hope in the transformative power of the gospel, and love and serve those around them whether they are Republican or Democrat! Have a blessed and anxiety-free election day!!