To Vote or Not to Vote; Looking to Derek Webb for Advice

Being a Christian in the United States in 2010 can be a difficult and confusing endeavor, especially when it comes to understanding the nature of the Church and how her members ought to interact (or not interact) with the government. A few voices that touch on the subject which I fancy are Charles “Chuck” Colson, Gregory Boyd, Jim Wallis, and Derek Webb. Obviously I don’t agree with all of what these men think because they disagree with one another at times. One of these issues is voting. I’ve shared before how I struggle with the issue of voting (an issue I’m revisiting this year) and how closely I relate to Derek Webb’s public announcements on the subject. In keeping with that tradition let me share with you something Webb wrote before the last Presidential election which he titled How Then Shall We Vote?.

As Christians we put our faith in Jesus Christ who is …. In proclaiming this we also proclaim that “our problems will not be solved by the right man (or woman) in the White House.” Rather, our problems (or more accurately the problems of the world) are overcome by Christian love. “We live in a democracy, a representative form of government, where it’s as much if not more our responsibility to love and take care of our neighbors than our politician’s responsibility. Real and lasting change comes from knowing and loving the folks who live in the houses that sit next to ours rather than saving all of our longing and hope for the voting booth.” Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying you shouldn’t vote because you can make more change by being active – I believe you can both be active in love and vote – but I am saying that voting may not make a lot of difference whereas real personal action will and so if one is convicted to not vote they do not abandon the duty of Christian love or even national patriotism. Some say voting is an act of loving our neighbors and on that some of us will have to agree to disagree.

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