The Christian Vote: Navigating Division (Pt. 2)
And we’re back. As we find ourselves less than a month away from Election Day, we continue to ask the question: What is the Christian response? As we discussed in Part 1 of this series, our first call in how we cast our ballot is in the posture of our hearts and intentions of our actions. In doing so, we will find that followers of Christ can do this, and yet, still end up on different sides of the divide. What do we do from here, though? How can Christ followers find unity in two seemingly contradictory camps of thinking? Is it even possible? Believe it or not, the answer is a resounding yes! Think I’m wrong; hear me out!
Long before our two-party system or even the founding of our country, Christ- followers were serving the LORD, worshipping Him, and following the lead of the Holy Spirit. As we know, God came, first, for the Israelites held captive in Egypt. It was this nation of people that God came and entered into covenantal relationship with, who He lead through the wilderness, gave the Promised Land to, and used to bring about the lineage that the Savior of the world would inevitably be born through. However, if you really stop and take notice, it was never just about them; it was about all of creation, including all peoples and all nations.
Take for instance, the story of Jonah. Jonah, a successful prophet for Israel was given a message for the people of Nineveh. The message was simple: God has seen your evil (Jonah 1:2); in forty days Nineveh will be demolished (Jonah
3:4b). In an act of compassionate love, God sees and accepts their pleas of repentance; He relented from the disaster He had threatened them with (Jonah 3:10). Why is this story relevant for our conversation? It doesn’t take much digging to see that Nineveh was a place of not simply non-Israelites, but enemies and oppressors of the Jewish people. Even though Israel was God’s chosen people, He used these people not to harbor and store His grace, but to obediently share it with the world, including their persecutors! Jonah is not an isolated incident either. Truly study the Bible in its entirety, and you will see this was the purpose all along: to restore the created back to the Creator.
We see this shared opportunity for grace and forgiveness most evidently in the works and teachings of Jesus the Christ, though. As Jesus carried out His public ministry, He intentionally crossed the divide (quite literally, the sea that divided them), and offered words of life and wisdom to not just Jews, but to Gentiles. Along with Gentiles, He gave these authoritative messages of truth, unity, and love to those rejected by society at the time: the orphaned, the widowed, the barren, the forgotten, the sick, the meek and the lowly.
As Paul so beautifully writes to the church of Colossae, “Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all (Colossians 3:11).” In Christ, as newly created beings, there is no room for division, based off of the color of our skin, our nationality,
our status, our sex, or our physical appearance. In Christ, is perfect unity, as is between the Triune God (John 17:21).
God has been calling together the Jews and the Gentiles, the enslaved and the enslaving, the rich and the poor, and the prestigious and the lowly for thousands of years. Do we truly think that God is not calling together the Democrat and the Republican? Or, are we sitting in our ignorance, hardening our hearts to the unifying power of the Spirit? Before you enter your next Facebook quarrel or family group chat squabble, consider this: “Live in harmony with each other. Don't be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don't think you know it all (Romans 12:16 NLT)!” Are you one who is seeking to be supernaturally unified through the love of God our Father, or are you seeking to be a “know it all?” Do you see fellow humans as those made in the image of Our Creator, or as adversaries to your comfort? We have one adversary in this life, that is, The Adversary (Satan). “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens (Ephesians 6:12).” Do not fall prey to the lie that we are each other’s enemies. Rather, see Christ in all and through all, and serve Him as you serve others, in love, kindness, and unity.
About the Author:
Riley Young
Riley is a 30 year old youth pastor and husband, and new to his resume is "dad" to adorable new twin babies, Kiah and Olive! He, his lovely wife Mykaela, the twins, and their beloved dog, Lily, reside in Smithville, Tennessee, and are also cherished long-time friends of Sarah and Liz! Riley has been serving as the youth paster at Smithville Cumberland Presbyterian Church for the last 10 years, and has been a catalyst for leading youth to live our their faith boldly. He is also an active member in his community, leading with grace, truth, and a servant-hearted, fun attitude in all he does.