by David Melton
Christmas is coming soon! In a presidential election year with the full fury of the final autumn campaign beating down on us, we need to rekindle our joy. We can’t make it to the season of joy without first passing through the season of “selling.” Selling. That’s what American politicians do. As a guy who enjoys eating, I liken it to figuring out which restaurant to choose! One will tell you they have “the best burger in town,” another will claim “world-famous apple pie.” All over our city I see eating spots advertise “voted best in Boston!” I always wonder … who decided? And why the fame? Who voted?
Now let me be sure to say that in a representative democracy, the people of the Lord should certainly vote. Vote smart, vote with biblical values, and vote after you’ve done your homework. But don’t “buy.” Save the buying for your Christmas shopping.
What do I mean when I say don’t “buy?” Politicians are salespeople. The mistake often made by biblical Christians is to buy into the political process. Politics is a compromise game. It only works when there is either national unanimity (almost never happens) or strategic “settling” of both sides on some kind of middle ground. That’s what is sold. In a society as fragmented, diverse, and devoid of biblical conviction as this nation, we dare not trust any political solution.
We should vote, and we should vote for the best option (or least awful). I will vote to reduce the speed of virtuous decay. I will vote to get whatever fragment of principle that seems reasonably possible. But I will not buy what any of them are selling. I will not jump for joy at anything that happens on November 8. I’m hoping to just breathe a sigh of relief. Joy will come in December.