Last time, we started off the customary pre-election pep-talk with some Pew Research analysis on voting. Only about a third of Americans voted in every one of the last three national elections.
A huge block of Americans (about another third) voted intermittently, which means that elections can often be determined by the intermittent voters when they decide to show up. In my efforts to convince all the part-timer voters out there to level up, I dealt with the common argument that “my single vote doesn’t matter.”
My response was,
“Nope, it technically doesn’t, but then again, no one else should believe what you do.”
With that out of the way, here are some quick reminders about why voting is important this November.
1) Political influence is a gift the Lord has given you by virtue of living in this country. Don’t take it for granted: Most people in most countries at most times in world history would stand slack-jawed at your ability to influence your governors. The Lord expects us to be good stewards of the gifts we have been given (Matthew 25:21). Stewarding gifts means using them.
2) The right to vote is one of the precious rights we Americans enjoy at the price of the blood of generations that came before us. Men fought and died for our country, preserving our system wherein we have the privilege of voting. Don’t throw away their gift to you.
3) If you don’t vote, you forfeit the right to complain about politics until the next election. (If you had really cared, you would have really done something about it.) So, if you feel an irresistible urge to complain about politics and you know you just can’t bottle it in, go ahead and give yourself the justification to complain. Vote first. (And then read Philippians 2:14.)
4) God cares about righteous government (Leviticus 19:15). Need I say more?
5) Politics is getting increasingly religious. Maybe 30 years ago you could have drawn a slightly cleaner line between “issues the Bible clearly talks about” and “political issues.” But today, those spheres are rapidly converging. In 2024, you cannot be a faithful Christian and avoid “getting political.” As a Christian, I believe drag queens in schools is wrong. And that Christian statement happens to also be a political statement in today’s cultural climate. So I’m proudly political about it, too.
6) Even if you don’t care a whit about yourself or your generation, you at least ought to care about the kind of world your kids live in. What would you say if your kids asked you, “Daddy, why are there so many bad books at school? Did you try to stop them when they put them in the library?” One of the most shameful mistakes any generation could commit is to leave a mess of a world for their kids to deal with. Even for those who don’t care a lick about politics and are fine with just “putting up with it all” at the moment, recall that our love for others is supposed to manifest itself in material ways, not just in fine feelings and good intentions. Both you and Jesus know you wouldn’t give your kid a snake instead of a fish (Matthew 7:10). So how can it be an act of love to leave your kid to inherit that snake after your generation has passed away?
7) You might get a cool sticker for voting. Depending on your county, of course.
If you care about stewarding your resources well, honoring the sacrifices of those who came before you, or seeing God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10), please don’t only vote when you feel like it. If you care about the kind of world your kids live in, please vote every chance you get. Realize that the intermittent voters are a powerful political bloc, but only when they show up. And you can wield even more influence for Christ by showing up every time.
Plus, you may even get a lame sticker in the process.
Please be a full-time voter.
