I’m stubbornly refusing to divide the church over how Christians choose to vote.

We live in a polarized and divided world and the church has experienced enough fracturing over the last 500 years. Jesus prayed for us, “that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me” (John 17:21, NRSV). Jesus’ prayer for our shared oneness motivates me to remain steadfast in a commitment not to divide the church during another contentious presidential election season.

Jesus who prays for us, weeps over our divisiveness.

• Don’t ask me to join your side in whichever culture war battle you think will be solved with this election. I beat my sword into a plowshare years ago.
• Don’t ask me to break fellowship with brothers and sisters in Christ who vote for the other candidate. I trust love will cover a multitude of sins. 
• Don’t ask me to align with your political movement, ideology, or party. I’m not about to exchange my Christian birthright for a bowl of partisan soup.
• Don’t ask me to echo the fear-mongering of your political candidate. I’m convinced that this election is most certainly not the “great election of our lifetime.”
• Don’t ask me to demonize or vilify people who vote differently than you. I can separate people created in the image of God from their choice of politicians. 

I understand why some Christians choose to disengage completely from all-things-political. Some feel overwhelmed and so for the sake of their mental or emotional health they step away. Others disengage because it’s causing family stress or tensions and work. I understand. Every follower of Jesus has the freedom of conscience to do what they need to do or not do, to vote for or not vote for, according to however the Holy Spirit is leading them.

Let’s face the facts, the Kingdom of God (which is the politics of Jesus) transcends the right/left divide in modern American politics. No political party can lay claim to the Kingdom of God. Moreover, casting votes is not how the Kingdom comes, because the Kingdom of God expands through loving sacrifice, not through casting a vote. The entire process of voting in a modern democracy is, in one sense, a cohesive act. In an interview, Stanley Hauerwas noted, “People oftentimes forget that elections are coercive. (It) is where 50.1% get to tell 49.9% how to live.”¹https://www.theworkofthepeople.com/the-roman-circus. 

But I cannot completely disengage. Politics matter because people matter. As Euguene Cho observed, “Politics matter. They matter because politics inform policies that ultimately impact people.”²Eugene Cho, Thou Shalt Not Be a Jerk: A Christians guide to Engaging Politics (Colorado Springs, CO: David C. Cook, 2020), 23. So I engage in political conversations and in the voting process itself, but I do so in a dispassionate way. I may cast a vote, but I put no trust in it.

The Kingdom of God (which is the politics of Jesus) transcends the right/left divide in modern American politics. No political party can lay claim to the Kingdom of God. (1/2) Share on X

Moreover, casting votes is not how the Kingdom comes, because the Kingdom of God expands through loving sacrifice, not through casting a vote. (2/2) Share on X

I heed the counsel of Psalms. I appreciate the translation of Psalm 118 in the 1979 Book of Common Prayer: “It is better to rely on the Lord than to put any trust in flesh. It is better to rely on the LORD than to put any trust in rulers” (Psalm 118:8-9, BCP). I don’t engage politically because I trust that the political leaders can lead us to a place of flourishing. My trust is in the Lord who made the heavens and the earth.

With my faith firmly fixed in the God who became flesh, I can truly sing, “It is well with my soul!”

I’ve come to discover that while politics matter, our souls matter more. Jesus said, “For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life?” (Mark 8:35-37, NRSV). I appreciate The Message translation of Jesus’ question, “What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you?” (Mark 8:36, MSG).

You can get everything you want politically. Your candidate could win. You could see the defeat of your political enemy. You could gloat and celebrate with your political tribe, but what if you did all that and lost yourself — your real self? Political campaigns imbibe the totalizing spirit of empire. They want to draw you into their world with the false assumption that their world is the world, their perspective is reality, their political values are truth. That all-encompassing nature of political campaigns does damage to our souls.

We need to resolve to resist the rhetoric, blame shifting, and fear-mongering that goes on during political elections. We need to learn the more excellent way of love. We need to rise above.

Political elections create an alternative reality where we lose touch with our humanity, causing us to falsely assume that life is a zero-sum game to be won. Share on X

Here are four ways to rise above the fray and save your soul during a contentious election season:

1. Read your news, don’t watch your news.
   One of the most helpful ways I have continued to remain aware of what was happening in the world of politics without feeling overwhelming is by returning to the lost art of reading the news. I stopped watching cable news altogether. I may watch a news report on YouTube now and again, but I read more political news than watch it. I also deleted all news apps off my phone except one — the Associated Press (AP). I regularly read my news from the AP, considered to be the oldest and most neutral, original news reporting service in America. Reading allows me to remain in the know without getting sucked into the spin of far-left or far-right media.
2. Slow down your politically oriented social media consumption. 
   Doom scrolling didn’t exist when I was in college or when I was a young husband and father. I thank God for that. Politically oriented social media posts and political conversations online tend to get negative rather quickly. Consuming large quantities of negativity and fear can create a certain kind of anxiety that causes our souls to become sick. There was a time when we lived without social media in our lives. Maybe it’s time for you to log off for a while? Maybe back out of those politically charged debates on Facebook. I have yet to read the post that says, “I read a comment on a Facebook thread that caused me to rethink all of my political positions.”

3. Avoid taking pleasure in the failures of your political rivals.
   The glee experienced when former President Trump was indicted and convicted, or the joy people felt when President Biden bombed in the June 2024 debate and subsequently dropped out of the race, may be an indication that your soul is at risk. Those who rejoiced at the attempted assassination attempt of former President Trump on July 13 or the thwarted assassination attempt on September 15, taking joy in the violence, may have already lost their soul. Political elections create an alternative reality where we lose touch with our humanity, causing us to falsely assume that life is a zero-sum game to be won.
4. Lean into prayer. 
   Nothing nurtures our souls in the presence of God more than a consistent habit of prayer. Are you frustrated with the political climate of our culture? Are you aggravated with the tone and tenor of political campaigns? Are you angry at injustices in our world? Are you afraid? If so, don’t post your feelings on social media. Rather, take those negative emotions to God in prayer. We tend to be too polite in prayer, but the Psalms teach us that God is big enough to handle our anger, despair, fear, and frustrations. Plus, prayer becomes the place where our soul finds peace. We exchange our anxiety for the peace of God that passes all understanding.

Finally we can rise above and save our souls by heeding the admonition of farmer, writer, and poet Wendell Berry: 

“As soon as the generals and the politicos can predict the motions of your mind, lose it. Leave it as a sign to mark the false trail, the way you didn’t go. Be like the fox who makes more tracks than necessary, some in the wrong direction. Practice resurrection.”³https://allpoetry.com/poem/12622463-Manifesto–The-Mad-Farmer-Liberation-Front-by-Wendell-Berry

Don’t let the politicos know what you are thinking. For the sake of your soul, walk with Jesus and practice resurrection.

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You can get everything you want politically. Your candidate could win. You could see the defeat of your political enemy. You could gloat with your political tribe, but what if you did all that and lost your real self? (1/3) Share on X

Political campaigns imbibe the totalizing spirit of empire. They want to draw you into their world with the false assumption that their world is the world, their perspective is reality, their political values are truth. (2/3) Share on X

The all-encompassing nature of political campaigns does damage to our souls. We need to resolve to resist the rhetoric, blame shifting, and fear-mongering that goes on during political elections. We need to rise above. (3/3) Share on X