Why I Don’t Vote (and probably never will)

I didn’t vote during these last elections. In fact, I have never voted.

That may not be too surprising for many of you. If you come from Anabaptist background, you likely didn’t vote, either. It’s a strong Anabaptists belief that we as followers of Christ are not to be involved in politics—and for generations that has included voting.

But my choice to not vote isn’t based on my Anabaptist tradition.

It’s not that I was just playing along with the rest of my church. In fact, several in my church do vote, and I respect their decision.

My choice not to vote, however, is more than choosing which tradition to follow—it’s fundamental to my faith. Let me explain.

God Is Sovereign Over Everything

I believe God is sovereign over everything. He doesn’t need me, specifically, to accomplish his will.

He doesn’t need you to accomplish his will.

The prophet Daniel tells us that God rules the kingdoms of mankind and sets over them whoever he will (Dan. 5:21). God uses good leaders to accomplish his purposes (David, 1 Sam. 13:14). And we also see in scripture that God uses corrupt leaders to accomplish his purposes (Cyrus, Is. 45:1).

God is sovereign over everything and he doesn’t need my measly vote in order to push forward his purposes on this earth.

God Calls Us to Join Him in His Work

However, God does invite us to participate in his work of reconciliation.

While God does not need us, God wants us to be a part of pushing forward his purposes. And although we commonly use this as an excuse for voting, it’s actually foundational for why I don’t vote.

If I can be a part of God‘s agenda by voting or by praying for and appealing to leaders for certain legislation that I feel is more in line with God‘s will, then I can also be a part of the devil’s agenda. It cannot go one way without also going the other.

So my vote should not to be haphazard. I need to be thoughtful in considering who I’m voting for and what their core values are. If it is possible to help push forward God’s purposes through legislature, then it’s also possible to push for his enemy’s purposes through legislature. And I don’t want to be a part of that.

I Don’t Have Time for Politics

But here’s the deal, I don’t have time to be thoughtful and considerate in consuming the news and scouring the web for articles in order to get accurate information of the people I’m voting for and the issues I’m boating about.

And if I’m going to throw my hands up and say, “Well, God is sovereign over everything so I’m just going to cast a vote and trust that his will is accomplished”—it feels actually wiser that I would not vote at all and trust that his will is accomplished. Because if I can be a part of God’s agenda through voting, I can also (if though accidentally) be a part of his enemy’s agenda through voting.

Now maybe you’re saying, “But it’s our right as American citizens to vote. We have a responsibility to be thoughtful and to pay attention and to look into the issues so we know how to vote, so we can help push forward God’s purposes here in this country. Few countries have such privilege as Americans do in being a part of passing legislation through our vote. Few countries allow their citizens to help choose their leaders. That’s why it’s important that we vote.”

And that would be the mindset many Americans have, whether Republican or Democrat, because here in America we have married being a disciple of Christ with government.

But there is absolutely no biblical basis that God commands us to be involved in politics.

We cannot get from scripture that it is a commandment of God for his people to vote.

If there is, let me know. I’d love to see it! I have never even heard anybody try to argue that God commands us to be involved in politics.

Now I have heard people try to argue that God allows us to be involved in politics. But I would submit that even there we are stretching to find biblical basis for it. Many of the verses used are not actually talking about pushing forward political ideas and influencing political structures as a means of advancing the Kingdom of God.

Just because Jesus talks with a centurion and does not rebuke him for being involved in politics does not mean Jesus is saying Christians should be involved in politics (Matt. 8:5-13). Not only would that be bad interpretive method, but it is not even a logical conclusion. We’d be making a huge assumption to jump from (1) noticing Jesus never condemns those involved in politics when he interacts with them to (2) concluding that because Jesus does this means he allows Christians to be involved in politics. If we consider the context of Jesus’ interactions with these people, and if we consider what he’s talking with them about, we discover there is something far greater on his mind than whether or not his disciples are voting or participating in the political movements of their day.

Even if we read the apostles, we come up short. We have no writings from any of them that would indicate they were involved in the political atmosphere of their day. There’s no condemnation, but neither is there any affirmation. And there’s no evidence that any of them were.

Paul does not use his right as a Roman citizen as an argument for Christians to be involved in politics. Paul uses his right as a Roman citizen for seizing an opportunity to advance the Gospel.

And that gets us to the work Christians are to be involved with.

Unlike what many of us may hear from people who believe in passivism or political “un-involvement,” I am not “uninvolved” because I think it’s not something we should do. I am “uninvolved” in politics because there is something far greater I am involved in—something we are directly called to as disciples of Christ.

And because I am involved in this greater work, I don’t have time for the lesser work of voting.

A Call to Make Disciples

You see, God has invited us to be a part of accomplishing his purposes. The question I’ve wrestled with for years is “What is the most effective way in pushing forward his purposes?”

I think Jesus summed it up pretty well when he said, “Go into all the world and make disciples of all people’s, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you” (Matt 28:19-20).

Furthermore, we see the call to give to those who are in need, and to help those who persecute us (1Jn. 3:17, Heb. 13:16, Js. 1:27, Phil. 2:4, Matt. 25:35-40, Matt. 5:43-44, Ro. 12:20, 1Pt. 3:9).

I don’t vote because I don’t have the time it would take to be thoughtful enough to cast a good vote. But I don’t say this because I’m busy working and busy caring for my family. I say this because when I walk out the door in the morning, within forty feet of my front door I am confronted with people who fit the profile of those most at risk for getting an abortion. I have neighbors who are immigrants—perhaps even undocumented immigrants. I have people in my daily life who can barely make ends meet.

Many bills that a senator or president tries to get passed during their term in office takes the whole term to get passed. Sometimes they don’t get passed at all. That means there are at least four years to wait for a bill to be approved, if it gets approved at all.

I have faces running through my mind, right now, of people who need help today. I know too many people who can’t wait four years. I can’t be spending my time trying to advance legislation because they need help now.

And the best way for them to get help is if I walk out my door and get involved in their life.

It’s not enough to simply cast a vote and feel as if I’m helping a cause.

You may say we are the most privileged nation in the world that we get to be a part of our political system through voting and so it’s our responsibility to get out and do so. But if that is true, why do we struggle with the same issues many other nations who don’t have such privilege?

We have more homeless people then many majority-world countries. Sure, those countries are very poor; but we have homeless people. This speaks to a society caste that allows people to go homeless. We don’t watch out and care for each other as many other cultures do.

Furthermore, it speaks to a lack of work ethic in a country where people would rather be handed things then diligently working for what they need.

My wife and I lived in Thailand for three years and everybody in Thailand has a job. They may live in a mud hut and they may not have much else, Thais always find a way to get a job. If someone is a beggar, they’re probably either lame or a slave. Or both. And the money they get usually doesn’t end up going to them.

What I’m saying is that if voting helps us push forward God’s purposes, why don’t his purposes seem to be getting accomplished very well in America?

We are one of the most godless countries ever.

We kill our babies.

We’re willing to go to war for the purpose of accomplishing something we deem good—entirely unconcerned with the affects it has on the country we are about to go to war with.

We write into law godless ideas and values. And even many Christians affirm these laws. Does this sound reminiscent to Romans 1:32, anyone?

It’s More Than a Position against Something; It’s a Position for Something Greater

We are called to make disciples, to be the hands and feet of Jesus Christ.

I don’t vote because I don’t have time to give a thoughtful vote, knowing I’m pushing forward God’s purposes. I don’t have time to do this because I’m busy trying to be hands and feet to the few people in my life that need help right now.

It always has been and always will be most effective for followers of Christ to step out their doors and begin helping those they know have need in very real and practical ways.

Think of what all we could do for people if instead of spending all the time during election year trying to figure out who to vote for, and then waiting their whole term until their bill gets passed or doesn’t get passed, we would actually get “in the gutters” of people’s lives and help them right now?

For some of us this might mean we need to begin getting around people who need the help. It might require a move.

For most of us, however, I think it simply requires walking out the front door.

Did you vote during this past election? Why or why not? And what are some other ways we can be effective in helping accomplish God’s purposes on this earth, today? Share in the comments below.