Thoughts on Election Day

There are two things I can remember about that morning in June 2008.  I remember waking up earlier than I had ever woken up for church, and I remember standing in a room full of men praying together at that early hour.  There was an election coming soon—but this wasn’t an American election—it was a Ghanaian election.  As I stood praying early that morning, I was most surprised to hear the way they prayed about the election.  They didn’t pray for a candidate, or a party or a certain set of values they felt were under assault in the election.  They prayed for peace.  That was strange to me because I had never thought of an election with any level of anxiety or fear of political unrest.  Elections in America have always been peaceful—it’s one of the hallmarks of our democracy, right?  Yet in Ghana, they had seen neighboring countries erupt into civil war and political coups.  In an election they just wanted peace.  

That’s what is so disorienting about this election season.  It’s the first time in our lives when an election has been so hotly contested.  And I don’t know about you, but this is the first election in which I have ever prayed simply for peace.  What further complicates matters is the divisiveness that has been fostered in our culture in recent years.  There’s racial tension, political tension, and somehow, there’s even tension over the response to the pandemic we’re living through.  Culturally speaking, we should expect this.  But in the church?  How did we let ourselves get here? That’s the question we all keep asking.  Hopefully, we’ll spend the next four years in reflection answering that question.  

The church finds itself in a precarious position on any election day.  We are without a party or affiliation, regardless of what you may have been told.  The mistake the church has often made is believing that the answer to this predicament lies in reforming a party or forming a new, third party that more accurately represents our Christian ethic.  But the New Testament forces us to confront Christ’s political stances.  Jesus never affiliated with a political or even religious party.  In fact, he always seemed to make people at both ends of the political and religious spectrum uncomfortable.  So as soon as we find ourselves comfortable with one party or another, we can be certain we have lost sight of Jesus.  But here’s the beauty in that—every election day is an exercise in discernment for every believer.  Today you get to pray, and read the paper, and listen to the Spirit.  And then go vote.  

I invite you to pray for peace today, and not from a place of fear or anxiety, but from one of hope.  The hope of the world is not found in a candidate, nor is it found in a greater America—the hope of the world is found in a Kingdom that will outlast America and every other empire.  Our hope is not tied up in a candidate or a policy or a party coming to power.  Our hope is a righteous King.  So pray, and do so with an unwavering hope in the midst of the uncertainty.  Refuse to be anxious, for our hope is certain.