A final thought on politics

By Steve

This will certainly not be my final thought, just my last blog...I think.

I have spent more time thinking about the issues on the ballot, the candidates and their views and the way I will vote more than all my previous voting experiences combined. Like many of you, I feel the outcome of many things this year really matter...my vote matters. So I refuse to go to the polls uninformed and without giving serious consideration, conversation and prayer into the choices that I will make.

I am also feeling a tension this year that I have not felt in the past. Often, at least in my little sphere of the world, if you are a Christian, which I am (though after a group conversation tonight I realized what I mean by this needs more explaining) then your voting choices are quite clear. Not this year. Not for me or countless others that would describe themselves as Christian as I do. We won't vote McCain simply because he is Republican. We won't count out Obama because he is pro-choice. More things matter. Many things matter. People, Christian or not, are being careful, patient, thoughtful and want to make the best choice they can. And we want to have confidence in our choices even though we still have many questions.

Who is better suited to lead our country? Should I vote to protect the slaughtering of animals? Should pregnant teenagers be forced to get consent from their parents before having an abortion. Should homosexual couples be given the right of having the title of "married" to their relationship? And I must confess, that while I hold convictions, these issues are complicated...and when I really stop and think...I often conclude, "I'm not sure," to many of the things I will find on my ballot.

But allow me to say this (as if you could stop me from writing my blog from the privacy of my home office...though a gov't regulation may appear on the 2012 ballot): Regardless of who wins the presidency (does anyone else feel that the entire game is about winning?), whatever happens to the animals, whichever way the vote goes for homosexual marriage and parental consent for teenage abortions...my message will not change.

I will not claim victory for our country (or world for that matter) with either presidential candidate. I will continue to speak of another leader. Allowing homosexual marriage or not will not stop me from my passion for each of us to be whole (I apologize for not explaining this more fully here). And honestly, is a pregnant teenager talking with her parents about abortion really what matters?

If you are not a Christian, I want you to know that many of the things I am puzzled about this year as I take to the polls are due to a failure in the mission and message of the church. We have invested our energies in misguided pursuits that have comprised what I believe to be at the heart of God for his church. Before this sounds too much like religious jargon, let me just say that many of the things challenging me this year don't have to be this way, and it's sad to me that they are. Sad because we've allowed them to get to this point. Sad that now what Christians rally around in candidates and propositions...well I'd better not say.

If you are a Christian, I hope you read the above paragraph. We have work to do. Good work. Fun work. Genuine life as we know it work. So as you take to the polls next week, do so prayerfully, but realize we have work to do regardless and probably indifferent to the outcome of the elections.

I hope you will vote. I hope you will vote as an informed, concerned and thoughtful citizen. And I hope that as you read and consider these words, that you sense my passion for us to live into a hope that will continue to be...no matter how the vote is cast.