A Christian’s response to the Presidential election

The 2016 presidential election season has been like driving past a car wreck on the interstate. You know it is going to be destructive and harmful, but you can’t help looking.

The inundation of news from all of the media outlets that modern technology affords us has put each of us in the crosshairs of observing how rich people fight. It is not pretty and sometimes you find yourself gagging, but the stakes are too high to ignore.

This season has been particularly difficult for Christians and evangelicals due to the lack of choices in candidates. This election cycle has put us in the untenable position of having to choose between a candidate that lacks conservative values historically and one who promises to have conservative values in the future.

I recently returned from the country of Haiti where they had to remove their president because he would not call for an election. The interim president was also removed because he did not meet the timetable of 6 months to get an election set up. Now Haiti has been without a President for more than two years, and there is no end in sight.

In light of the recent election season in America, one could consider the lack of a presidential election as a blessing, but this short-term knee-jerk reaction would fail to take into account how important the selection of our president, regardless of how messy the process.

I was sent to candidacy school in Washington D.C. with all expenses paid more than ten years ago and learned enough to know I never wanted to run for a political office. One day the entire session was spent teaching us about opposition research. Opposition research is the process of digging up dirt on your opponent. Opposition researchers have made a lot of money in the last two years.

This entire political backdrop begs the question of what our response should be as Christians. Do we just turn away our head? Do we embrace the process with unhinged enthusiasm or do we look for a Biblical solution to a secular system? I would suggest the latter.

In the midst of a lot of variables and uncertainties, there are some absolutes that we know. The next President will appoint at least two Supreme Court Justices that will have lifetime tenure to make laws that will govern our nation. The next president will embrace social and economic policies that will determine the future of our country. The stakes are too high to bury our head.

Staying at home and not voting or any vote for someone other than the two major candidates is a vote for the person you would be most likely not to vote for. The reality is that more than ever before whom we are voting for is more about whom we are voting against. Not voting at all is not the moral high ground in this election.

I, like most Christians, choose to vote against the certainty of state protected perversion. I choose to vote against the certainty of killing those who are most vulnerable in our society: the unborn. I choose to vote against the certainty of religious persecution. Even if I have to hold my nose when I pull the lever, it is a small sacrifice when I consider the alternative.

The Book of Romans says, “The powers that be are ordained of God.” Yes, in the end, God directs the outcome, but God’s will does not always prevail over man’s will. God will sometimes give you, “the desires of your heart.” It was not God’s will for Israel to forsake the leadership of a prophet for the selection of a king but God allowed the people to have what was in their heart.

Ultimately, the election is more about what is in the heart and soul of the American people. After all the ads quit running, and the full-color mailers are not filling up our mailboxes, we will have a leader that reflects our moral values as a nation. Will God allow us to get what is in our hearts or will God speed up the clock of prophecy?

Regardless of who our next president is in America, I will continue to serve the King of kings and hold fast to the moral compass of the Word of God. It is the safest route to take in the rocky waters of our immediate future.