Vote on Tuesday, even though you feel disillusioned. Neither Bush nor Kerry is all he claims to be. I understand disillusionment. I don’t like either candidate very much. Their oversimplified positions and their cock-sure demeanor is not what I look for in a great statesman.
There is, however, a kind of greatness that is possible among fallen people who know the weight of the world and understand how utterly fragile humanity really is. Pastor John Pipers says it this way: “There is a seriousness that mingles humility and strength. There is a greatness that combines complexity and decisiveness. There is a moral bearing that embraces the limitations of fallibility without abdicating the responsibility of life-and-death decisions. There is a public submission to the Creator and Governor of the universe that produces a pervasive and public spirit that no mere man has the last word.”
That’s the kind of statesman I’d like at the helm of our country. If you are among those who say, “My vote won’t matter,” I must take serious issue you. To you John Piper says, “The Lord Jesus does not give us this luxury of disengagement. He says, ‘Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s’ (Matthew 22:21). Caesar—even pagan Caesar—has his claim on our lives. Why? Because God Almighty, whom we serve above all men, made human governments his way of running the world. “Let every person 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). In a democratic republic like ours that means at least: VOTE.”
Don’t forget that God has commanded us (as aliens and exiles on the earth): “Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare” (Jeremiah 29:7)
Brothers, we are citizens of two kingdoms. The Kingdom of God, which gets our ultimate allegiance, and the kingdom of this world. Ambiguities abound. Complexities are great. The real possibility of political miscalculation is real.
But Christ came into the world to save sinners. Therefore we do not panic at the possibility of error. It is worse to run than to risk. Only a fool replaces the complexity of voting with the simplicity of gloating – “I don’t vote anymore. It makes no difference.”
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