What Would Jesus Do During an Election Year?

WWJDIHWY? What would Jesus do on November 5, 2024, if He were you? For followers of Jesus in America (who are eligible to vote), we will have the privilege of participating in a democratic election. We would do well to remember that there are disciples of Jesus in every nation and in every continent on planet Earth. We get a picture of Heaven in Revelation 7:9, where standing before the throne of God is “a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes, and peoples, and languages.” It’s possible that some of that multitude experienced an election while many others never participated in such a thing. 

How Will You Conduct Yourself? 

What is the most important thing about this election? Is it winning? Is it that we participated? Or perhaps, is the most important part of this election how we carry ourselves before, during, and after Election Day? 

What would Jesus do if He were us? How would Jesus expect us to act during an election year? Joel Achenbach writes in a January 20, 2024, Washington Post article: 

“Our politics tend to be more emotional now. Policy preferences are increasingly likely to be entangled with a visceral dislike of the opposition. The newly embraced academic term for this is ‘affective polarization.’” 

It’s hard to understand how a “visceral dislike of the opposition” fits in with a call for us to love God and love people (Matthew 22:37-40). However, we do see Jesus get angry in the Scriptures. Jesus expresses clear frustration with the religious leaders of the day. He calls out their corruption and lack of integrity. He objected violently to how the temple taxes and moneychangers oppressed and cheated people.

How You Can Respond Like Jesus

Jesus had disciples that fit into the “affective polarization” category. Simon the Zealot was part of a movement that was so opposed to the Roman occupation that they would turn to violence and carry out assassinations. Imagine the tension sitting around the campfire with Matthew, who was viewed as a Jewish traitor, working with the Romans to exploit his own people through unfair taxes. Roman occupation of the Promised Land, the prevalence of graven images, the worship of Caesar as a deity, and the temple religious system that worshiped a multitude of other gods made the political and cultural environment of Jesus’ day tense, to say the least. 

We can find various responses to political predicaments in Scripture. The Pharisees, or religious leaders, figured out how to operate in lockstep with the Romans. For the most part, they were able to operate with some autonomy and could both tolerate and leverage the Romans when necessary. The Sadducees operated as political-adjacent leaders. Serving mostly as priests, this upper-class aristocracy often placated the Roman occupiers. Some groups opted out of the political reality altogether, retreating to remote places in the desert like the Essene community. 

Various interest groups often pushed Jesus to go on record and take sides. With every attempted logic trap, Jesus side-stepped the contentious issues and stayed focused on His mission.

Paul provides a similar recipe for what Jesus would do if He were us. In 1 Corinthians 9, Paul advocates for us to act like covert missionaries, adapting to various cultures and working to fit in, all to earn trust and win people over. Paul’s goal was “to win as many as possible” (1 Corinthians 9:19) and to “become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.” (1 Corinthians 9:22-23) He was resolutely focused for the sake of the Gospel. 

Could we say the following this political season?: 

• We tried to find common ground with the Republican/Democrat/Independents in order to win the Republicans/Democrats/Independents. Or do we choose to lead with our political affiliation? 
• Is our identity defined by our flags, bumper stickers, and attire first and foremost? Or is our identity defined by being a Christ-follower above all else? 
• Do we allow huge swaths of people to judge us and assume we support everything in a particular political party? 
• Could how we present ourselves possibly hinder our ability to share Jesus?

Your Covert Mission Field 

Dave and Jon Ferguson’s book BLESS: 5 Everyday Ways to Love Your Neighbor and Change the World emphasizes that we have work to do BEFORE we get to share with others what God has done in our lives. We build relationships with people, we pray for them, we create intentional moments of community, and we learn how we can serve people. Only then have we earned the right to share the Good News of Jesus. This is the covert missionary way of sharing your life so that you can share the Gospel. 

We will no doubt have varying opinions on who we think can lead and govern effectively. We would do well not to place our hope in a political figure or party. After all, the number one job of a politician is to get re-elected. Various local, state, and national offices will be filled this November. Someone will be elected to serve a four-year term as the president of the United States of America. 

But regardless of the outcome, how we speak about our leaders matters as a reflection of our witness. Regardless of the outcome, our mission should remain the same: To lead a radical transformation FOR JESUS CHRIST, in this region, and beyond—everyone, everyday, everywhere. 

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Achenbach, J. (2024, January 20). Science is revealing why American politics are so intensely polarized. The Washington Post.

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