Thinking About Your Vote
Rarely do I recommend that you buy a book to read. Occasionally, I will tell you that I have published a book, but this is a book that you must read before you vote in the election. It is by far the most important book outside of the Bible that I have read in years. It is a book that I wish I had written.
The book is titled, “Before You Vote: Seven Questions Every Christian Should Ask.” The book was written by David Platt. I first became aware of David Platt in 2010 when he authored the New York Times’ best-selling book “Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream.”
Platt is the teaching pastor at McLean Bible Church in Washington, D.C. Previously he served as the pastor at the Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, Alabama. At the age of 26, at the time he was the youngest megachurch pastor in the United States. Platt made headline news on June 2, 2019 when President Trump made an unscheduled stop during Sunday morning services. As a response to the circumstance, Platt stopped the service and led in a time of prayer for the President.
New Book “Before You Vote” Available
The book is available through Amazon (the picture above is a link to the Amazon site). The book should be purchased at your favorite book seller. I do not receive anything from Amazon or Platt for this endorsement. The book costs $9.97 in paperback. It is available on Kindle for $7.99. It will be the best $10 purchase of your year, the best time that you have invested in reading about a subject for the year, and the kind of words of hope that you need as you approach a Presidential election in a year that has been slapping us in the face since March.
Questions About Your Vote
A quick synopsis of his seven questions is in order. The questions answered come to these conclusions:
- God calls us to steward our vote for the sake of his commands. His commands are to justice, to subject ourselves to and support the government, to seek the welfare of our nation, and love our neighbors as ourselves.
- The most important decision we make is to yield our hearts to Jesus, placing all our trust, allegiance, and hope in him alone.
- The driving force in how we vote is supreme love for God and selfless love for others, both in our nation and throughout the world.
- We work to know the Christian position on issues that are clear according to God’s Word. Since all issues do not have a clear-cut stance, we take those positions to form a stance on the less clear issues that require our own wisdom.
- Before voting, we weigh issues in terms of biblical clarity and practical consequences.
- No matter how we vote, we are eager to maintain the unity of the church around Jesus and his Word, not around our personal political convictions.
- The last question is simple, yet profound. “So how do I vote?” We determine the leading issues of the campaigns against the two factors: biblical clarity and practical consequences. What issues matter to you the most? Vote with your heart and mind, regardless of the candidate.
Speaking the Truth with Love
Platt closes his book with a paragraph that is breath-taking in its power and implications. I will quote it verbatim:
Do not be faithless on that day when you cast your ballot. Do not trust in yourself on that day. Do not trust in a candidate or a party on that day. Do not trust in anyone or anything but Jesus on that day. Make the stewardship of your vote the overflow of radical trust in Jesus, his Word to you, his Spirit in you, his rule over you, and his reign not only in our nation, but over all the nations.
When you hold your ballot in your hand, pause and thank Jesus for his loving leadership in your life and his sovereign lordship over this election. Then, as you check the box, offer this simple and sincere prayer: “Lord, may your kingdom come.”
Gulp.
That really might work.
