to vote, or not to vote...is that the question?

so much of our news and society is wrapped around november 4th. with both major parties and candidates far from the politics of jesus we find ourselves in a tough spot. do we pick the lesser of the two "evils?" do we vote party lines? do we ignore the the whole thing together?

many people i have talk to in the "twenty something" age range have considered not voting at all because of the choices and their personal convictions. the typical response i hear to that is either, "well then you have no right to complain about it afterwards...," or "it is your right as a citizen and member of this society." both of these arguments are not valid in my opinion. let's dissect the these responses biblically...

having no right to complain afterwards:
as followers of jesus we have no right to complain about a governmental problem that should be the heart of the church. as my friend nick said recently, "typically if you vote democrat you care about things such as social justice and the environment; if you vote republican you care about what some might call 'moral issues' like abortion." all of these issues should be addressed from the church and not placed in the hands of politics and the government. the bible says that wherever the early church went there also poverty ceased. the body in christ was not building big buildings with their money, investing in "discipleship training programs" or anything like that. they were more concerned about the people that God created in his image that were living in a poor and helpless state. 

feeding the homeless isnt enough. as someone who is actively involved in homeless ministry in richmond i still find myself walking away ashamed i do not do more. yes ministry is not just handing out a sandwich and a water and then saying "God bless you." it is bringing lawn chairs and paper bags to sit on and hanging out with everyday people and not creating a chasm between us and them because of a economic difference. but im getting ahead of myself and a little off topic. 

we as the body of christ never have a right to complain about the government's decisions because as the body of christ and the church in america we are not doing anything about it. we vote these politicians in to do it for us. we vote in obama to feed the poor and take care of the less fortunate. we vote in mccain to help eliminate the innocent murder victims through abortion. but they both have major faults. obama wants the government to run everything from healthcare to social problems that arise. mccain supports the war on terror and through this is killing thousands of lives. both have major faults and issues that are far from the politics jesus defines in the gospels. but the bigger issue that i have with this response of not having a right to complain is that through saying this you are actually implying your complete reliance on the government (or at least to take some slack off of our duty as a follower of jesus) instead of your roles and obligation as a follower. this may not be all but i think this accurately fits the mold of most whom use this argument.

secondly...it is your right as a citizen to vote. first let me state the obvious. we are first and foremost above anything else citizens of heaven. meaning, we are first and foremost citizens to jesus and to the body of christ. this is enough to disarm that response but i will elaborate a little. paul talks about our citizenship as a follower of jesus and places all importance in that..not in the roman government. this should be our first and only citizenship we bring up. our duty is to see how we can better help the people around us and how to act in such a way that eliminates the injustices that are all around us now. today.

my final thoughts are this. whether you vote or not is a personal conviction and a decision that i can not make for you. if you choose to write in your true king, jesus, no one is stopping you either. maybe this year instead of being torn between a person or a party's beliefs you write in jesus not because it will make a difference in the political world, but rather a difference in how you see politics, your role, and your citizenship. may we live our lives through the politics of jesus and not of america. may we live for these issues daily and not on november 4th.