When the Election Is Over, What Can We Do?

It's almost over! Well, this cycle at least. The fever pitch of political campaigning will grind to a halt when the polls close in a few weeks. Celebrations will commence, fears will be confirmed, sighs of relief will be heard, and the news spin-cycle will start churning in new directions.

Of course, I’m interested in what happens politically. (My own approach is to vote for whichever candidate either shares my values, or, at a minimum, will promise to respect them.) I'd love to imagine a best-case scenario, but I’m historically-literate enough to know that best-case happens just about as often as worst-case. Usually, we’re stuck in the unsatisfying middle.

Christians know from Scripture that we’re not on earth to build pleasant earthly nations. We count political success as important but not all-important. Human government is a sideshow compared to the advance of the eternal kingdom of Jesus.

So, a question to ponder: on the day after Election Day, what part should we Christians play? How will we be salt and light, no matter who wins?

Pick Your Prophet

I’d like to suggest a simple paradigm: we can either play the part of Jeremiah or of Daniel.Those familiar with Old Testament history remember that both of these prophets were used powerfully by God but in very different contexts.

Jeremiah spoke truth to religious power; Daniel suggested truth to secular power. Jeremiah confronted sin based on God’s law; Daniel demonstrated character to those who didn’t know the Law at all. Jeremiah stood against spiritual hypocrisy; Daniel stood amidst pagan philosophy. In simple terms, Jeremiah had to be salt; Daniel had to be light.

So, when the leadership of our nation fancies itself to be Christian, we must take up the salt-flavored call of Jeremiah. It’s unlikely that human politics and pure-hearted Jesus-following can coexist for long, so we mustn’t be lulled to sleep when elections seem to go our direction. Salt will definitely need to be applied if “we” win. Political goals will tempt us to compromise spiritual principles, and that’s when the voice of Jeremiah will be needed the most. We won’t all like hearing it, let alone being called to speak it. (I suspect we are in greater spiritual danger with friendly leaders than we are with obvious enemies of God’s Word that force us to cling to our faith.)

On the flip side, when a nation is led by those who don’t claim to love God at all, we must adapt as Daniel did in the heart of Babylon. Babylon didn’t value Daniel’s words but they did notice his lifestyle. When we play the part of Daniel, the light of our love becomes the most powerful weapon in our arsenal of influence. Speeches about righteousness will fall on deaf ears, but the bright light of Jesus within us cannot be denied! Babylon’s temptation will always be to make us forget our faith altogether, to cover our light with a basket to save our own skins. Daniel shows us the way forward in such a scenario, even if lions get involved.

Both pathways are fraught with danger. Both pathways require faith in God. Neither will be comfortable.

Developing Our Character

I’ve heard that great movie stars sometimes take on their character’s persona off-screen, to better imagine how that individual would live, speak, and move. This creates depth and nuance to their performance. I wonder: would this be a helpful practice for us as well?

The day after the next election, might we imagine ourselves in the shoes of either Jeremiah or Daniel? We could begin of course with the books of the Bible that bear their names, learning all we can about what they said and did. Then, we could imagine what they might do if they woke up in our situation, in our generation.

In God’s Word, we also find one more character that needs development in our lives, another persona to take on. This person stood boldly against hypocritical religious politicians while also navigating the complexities of spiritual life within a pagan empire. 

You remember this character, don’t you?

Jesus lived all this out so well: He was salt and He was light. He was Jeremiah to those who needed rebuke; He was Daniel to those who needed a shining example. And what did He say to us?

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt should lose its taste, how can it be made salty? It’s no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.

“You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand, and it gives light for all who are in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:13–16)

Viewing things through this lens helps us gain clarity, doesn’t it? No matter who wins the next election, we know our mission. We know our calling; we know our character. On that basis, we can face any future with faith-filled confidence. 

Jeremiah was bold in his time; Daniel was bright in his. 

And we get to be Jesus in ours.