Mike
I have cast my vote in the 2020 election. No, this blog is not about who you should vote for or what values should guide your decisions. It’s not even about the importance of voting. Instead, I’m wondering why I, and millions of other Americans, took the time to vote. And I’m wondering what this could mean for church leaders.
I can argue convincingly that my vote doesn’t really matter. Even in a “close” congressional race, the margin of victory is usually several thousand votes. And yet, I faithfully cast my ballot in every national election and most local ones. Why? Concepts about civic duty and the privilege of voting are so deeply ingrained that I can’t imagine not voting. It’s what we do.
Shouldn’t something similar be true for people who identify as followers of Jesus? Shouldn’t it’s what we do describe the disciplines of Scripture reading, prayer, and worship? Sadly, this isn’t the case. Somehow these core practices are treated as if they’re reserved for super serious believers.
So let me offer four lessons for church leaders based on my observations of the political arena:
- Make the message simple and then amplify it. The political message is one word: “Vote!” and we hear it everywhere. I know the faith journey isn’t simple, but for believers, can’t we boil down the core message to “Spend time with God”? If this were a continuous refrain, not just from pastors but from all church leaders, it would begin to shift behavior.
- Emphasize the impact. How often have you heard, “Your vote counts”? Even though I’m skeptical of this claim, I still vote. We have ample reasons to believe that spending time with God transforms people’s lives. Shouldn’t we say this more often? Shouldn’t we provide real examples of Christ’s life-changing power?
- Make it easy. One of the big storylines this year has been efforts to make it easy for everyone to vote. My county offered drive-through and 24-hour options. Can we make it easier for people to spend time with God? Once they hear and accept the message, they need to know what step(s) they can take.
- Don’t apologize. No one in the political arena worries about stepping on someone’s toes or apologizes for their get-out-the-vote efforts. So why do ministry leaders back away from advocating practices that are Christ-centered and life-changing? I’m not suggesting that we resort to manipulation or unleash a wave of robocalls, but we should be unapologetic about the call to spend time with God.
Can you imagine how furious we’d be if someone created a screening process that allowed only a select group of “seriously committed citizens” to vote? And yet, we act as if those who spend time with God are in an exclusive club. My vote is that we work to change this, because when people regularly encounter God, lives, churches, and even nations are transformed.
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