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CHARLES COLSON with Anne Morse

Voting Like It MattersIt's not only our civic dutyit's a sacred one.

H A V E B E E N S U R P R I S E D by the number of Christians

who have given up on politics this year. "I don't like

either candidate, so I'm staying home," some say.

I get fed up wi th the vain posturing and empty promises,

too. But not voting is not an optionit's both our civic and

sacred duty. Voting is required of us as good citizens and as

God's agents for appointing leaders.

How do we go about choosing the best candidates? Not by

pulling a partisan leverthat's knee-jerk ideology. Christians

live instead by revealed truth, never captive to any party. Thus,the best place to go for wisdom is not the candidates' websites,

but the Bible.

Moses' father-in-law, Jethro, advised

him to appoint as rulers "able men" who

"fear God, men who are trustworthy and

who hat e a bribe." The standard is com

petence and integrity. Later, God ordered

Samuel to pick Saul, who "shall save my

people from the hand of the Philistines."

This passage reminds us of Paul's teach

ing in Romans: Government's role is to

wield the sword to preserve order andrestr ain evil. So we sh ould seek leaders bes t able to do that

and to pursue justice.

Today, God no longer chooses our leaders directly

(although some of us wish he did, ifonly to spare us the

years-long political campaigns). We live in a democracy, so

God entrus ts to us the job of choosing leaders he will anoint.

(Deuteronomy 1:12-13 shows us that democratic principles

go directly back to the Old Testament.) Like Samuel, we are

commissioned to choose leaders of competence, virtue, and

character. That's why not voting or rejecting candidates

because th ey are not perfect on some biblical or politicalscore sheet is a dereliction of our tru st.

So is voting for a candidate simply because he is a Chris

tianstartling as this may sound. Rather than checking on

the cand idates' denomination, we should look for the ablest

candidate. Martin Luther famously said he would rather be

ruled by a competent Turkthat is, a Muslimthan an

incompetent Christian.

In casting a vote, judg men t should ult imately be guided

by what we perceive to be the common good, a term not

often heard in today's special interest-charged political

debates. Our founders und erstood this, which is why they

used the term commonweal or commonwealth. But today's

Augustine taughtthat if we are to

enjoy the blessingsof the City of Man,we must assumethe obligations of

citizenship.

politicians pander to special interests, as we saw last year

when congressmen dumped over $13.2 billion into ear

marks, paying off special pleaders.

But if we look at politics from God's perspective, we see

that he has a deep and abiding interest in all people being

trea ted fairly. If God favors any "special intere st group ," it is

the poor, the hungry, the unborn, the handicapped, th e pris

onerthose with the least access to political power.

This is why we Christians should never allow ourselves

to be, as the press has often characterized us, just anotherspecial interest gr oup ple ading for our agendas only. But if

we were a special interest group, we

would be lobbying for the dignity of all,

especially those who can't always speak

for themselves.

So maybe a particular candidate isn't

going to cut your taxes or vote for your

favorite program, but the real question

is, will he serve all the people, or only

the loudest?

After considering these criteria, if you

are still tempted to stay home on Election Day, dust off your copy ofThe City of God, in which

Augustine introdu ces us to the idea that we live in both the

City of God and the City of Man. In desc ribing them, he reit

erated J esus ' teaching that while Christians live in the City

of Man, they do not belong to it. We are like sojourners in a

foreign count ry; our true hom e is the City of God.

But August ine also taug ht that ifwe are to enjoy the

blessings of the City of Man, we must assume the obligations

of citizenship. Instead of doing our civic duty out of compul

sion, the C hristian does it gladly, out of obedience to God

and love of neighbor.Augustine's teach ing also helps us to put the coming elec

tion into perspective. Some will be jubilant over the outcome,

others bitterly disappointed. But regardless of the returns,

the City of God endures. Whe n Augustine was informed that

his beloved city of Rome was in flames, his response was that

the City of Man is built by man and can be destroyed by man,

but the City of God is built by God and cannot be destroyed.

On Election Day we should be th e best of citizens, voting

for the candidate bes t for all the people.

And then the next day, after indulging in your celebra

tionor pity partyget busy working to advance God's

kingdom in this earthly society.

& B ^ ^ 2 B H

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