Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Moe!
Along with jury duty, voting is a civil service and right of citizenship every American should exercise.
Sometimes we go to the polls, cast our ballot, and pray our vote makes a difference. Sometimes we go to the polls, cast our ballot, and pray our candidate is everything he or she claims to be. Sometimes the choice is clear – one candidate clearly aligns with our beliefs and wants, has a voting record that we agree with, or has clearly superior governance skills. Other times, we are forced to choose between the better of two evils. And, every once in a while, neither candidate has really earned our vote or distanced himself or herself in the melee, so rather than throw away our vote or choosing not to vote altogether, we just vote along party lines hoping the party affiliation will keep the candidate in line after all votes are counted.
In the end, most of us are either happy our candidate won or resigned to suffer through another term with someone we didn't choose. Either way, we exercised our right – our duty – to vote, and the "system" worked just like it has for the last 243 years.
Sometimes a group of voters is so incensed with the results they keep the election alive with claims of fraud or wrongful influence, even digging up dirt on an official long after the election ends. Sometimes this post-election activity is warranted because information that was not revealed prior to the election should have been because it would have mattered to voters. The rest is chalked up to "politics" and either disregarded as coming from sore losers or power-hungry bested politicians or naïve political activists, or if you are one of the losers, politicians, or activists it feeds your psychosis to galvanize your base for the next election. But rarely does it actually change anyone's mind.
But is that right? Is this how we Christians in these United States of America should approach elections? Is voting-then-praying an acceptable tactic? What about shouting down officials at the local Denny's and sticking one finger in their food while sticking your other finger in their face? Is this acceptable?
I vote no.
As Christians, praying for good results after an action is akin to yelling "stop" after the horse is out of the barn. It doesn't make much sense because the horse is not going to listen and yelling about it will not negate your dereliction of duty in failing to close the barn door.
The Bible says to "Pray without ceasing" (1 Thes 5:17, ESV) and promises God "deposes kings and raises up others" (Dan 2:21, NIV). Spoiler alert, Christians, God's authority detailed in Daniel does not excuse you from your duty of prayer called out in Thessalonians. Now, if you pray like you should and are in the perfectly correct and defensible Biblical position to hear God's voice loud and clear, (Google it – God spoke to Noah, Isaac, Samuel, David, Solomon, Elijah, Isaiah, and Paul) then listen to His leading and vote the way He directs. But if God does not treat you in that manner, and rather, you rely on His Holy Spirit inside you to show you His will and lead you to your own conclusion, then praying after you've cast your vote seems like a massive waste of Godly resources.
The Bible is replete with instruction for Christians to seek God's will before we act. Proverbs laments the folly of acting without wise counsel (Prov. 4:13, 11:14, 12:15, 15:22, 19:20-21, 20:18, 24:6, 27:6, and 28:26 to name a few), Matthew instructs us to always seek first God's will and to act according to His precepts (Matt 6:33), while Paul in his letter to the Philippians instructs us to act in line with Jesus (Phil 2:5). None of these scriptures aligns with "vote-then-pray" or social activism after the fact.
And in case you were wondering, that does not mean to vote for Mr. G. Umby just because he professes to be a Christian and holds a Bible in his campaign ads while lambasting his opponent's character. Mr. Umby might attend church regularly, but he still might have zero governance skills. God may have gifted Mr. Umby with spiritual encouragement or as a teacher, but that doesn't always translate to effective administration. You wouldn't vote for a Marine just because she wore her uniform in her ad, so why pick your senator by the book he carries?
Christians with a true relationship with God have both a responsibility to pray before voting and a means by which we know our vote will count.
"But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you." (John 14:26, NIV)
"In the same way the Spirit also comes to help us, weak as we are. For we do not know how we ought to pray; the Spirit himself pleads with God for us in groans that words cannot express." (Rom 8:26, NIV)
"God poured out the Holy Spirit abundantly on us through Jesus Christ our Savior." (Titus 3:6, NIV)
Christian, we have help! We also have a responsibility, empowered by the wisdom and authority of the Holy Spirit, to do God's will in all things. That includes voting. It does not matter if you register as a Democrat, Republican, Independent, Libertarian or any of the other 154 recognized political parties, if you are black or white or Hispanic or of Asian origin, whether you are male or female or confused; all that matters is how effectively you seek God's face in preparation for your vote. What matters is that you prayerfully research each candidate, whether going online and reading publicly available news articles, or checking attendance and voting records, or speaking with friends and co-workers and checking details with local officials or national publications, it matters that you pray for God's leading while you educate yourself before you vote.
So while everyone from the corner prostitute to the pulpit-pounding megastar preacher to the talking head on television is yelling at you to vote one way or another, while mainstream news anchors fake surprise and indignation while they give sordid details on current officials or unwanted candidates, and while your best friend on Facebook or Twitter is sending you links to Washington Post or Daily Caller articles to influence your choice, what do you do?
Seek ye first the Kingdom of God
And His righteousness
And all these things shall be added unto you
Allelu Alleluia
Man shall not live by bread alone
But by every word
That proceeds from the mouth of God
Allelu Alleluia
Ask and it shall be given unto you
Seek and ye shall find
Knock and the door shall be opened unto you
Allelu Alleluia
Alleluia Alleluia
Jesus be my first love
Alleluia Alleluia
Lord you will guide me
As I seek You
Al - le - lu - ia
Al - le - lu - ia
Al - le - lu - ia
Al - le - lu Al - le - lu - ia
Now go, do the research before you make up your mind. Don't throw your pearls to swine and your crumbs to dogs just because you were too lazy or too distracted to do the work ahead of time. Or, in keeping with our analogy: The horse isn't coming back just because you want him to. If you want to keep him from escaping – close the barn door!
–Mark Klages is an influential contributor, a former US Marine and a lifelong teacher who focuses on applying a Christian worldview to everyday events. Mark blogs at https://maklagesl3.wixsite.com/website under the title "God Provides where Hate Divides," with a heart to heal social, political, relational, and intellectual wounds through God's divine love and grace. Mark can also be found on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-klages-04b42511/.