The political process that we have in this country was greatly influenced by the Church in generations past, and it continues to be influenced by Christians today. But the influence we used to have and the influence we have today are very different.
The whole idea of representative government was established in the Church long before it was used in civil affairs. The old influence was one of the Church as exemplar and world as imitator. The Church taught the world how responsible self-government under Christ was lived out in community, and the world imitated this.
But now that the world has decided to pretend that they have always known this, and is seeking to go off and worship at the shrine of democracy, the position of the contemporary Church has changed. We have come to believe, for some reason, that the only influence we can have now is as a pressure group, or a voting block. If we can just get you all to register and vote, then we can muscle through what we want—or so the thinking goes.
But the Lord Jesus teaches us that this kind of power politics is just what the world loves. That is their way, not ours. So what do we want? We do want everyone here who is eligible to register, and we do want you to vote. But at the same time, we are called to abjure power politics—the Lord calls us to servant politics, not master politics.
How does this work? If you walk into the voting booth and look at the incumbents who have been using their positions of authority to hassle us, and then you take your stubby pencil and vote, all while muttering to yourself, “Take that, and that, and THAT,” then you are trying to wield power. The Lord calls us away from all such attitudes. Do not vote like the Gentiles do. That kind of thing stinks.
You have heard many times that authority flows to those who take responsibility, and it flees from those who seek to evade responsibility. Taking responsibility is simply another way of saying that we are to cultivate the demeanor of servant-hood. In what ways have we, the people of God, failed to serve our community? In what ways have we just let things go, letting others fend for themselves, and devil take the hindmost?
If we all vote, and I hope we do, let it be in all humility, confessing our sins and our lack of a servant’s heart.