Yesterday was primary day in North Carolina. As an R I really had no choice in the vote for president, but I did have the chance to vote in elections for Governor, US Senator, judges, and a local sales tax increase. I believe that it is my Christian duty to vote, even though I hold no hope in the political process to ultimately improve the world or the country. That can only be done by the power of the gospel changing lives. I do, however, believe that the political process can do further damage or accelerate the problems that are already evident. (BTW - I almost wrote a post today about Christians being beholden to one party or confusing republican with Christian. If you are interested in that topic today read Ed Stetzer.)

After voting yesterday I met with three friends. I will not name them here but they know who they are ;-) Only one of them voted. And I am not sure why. In each case they are Christians who would say they are concerned with politics. And they would certainly say that it matters who is elected. But they didn’t vote.

It is my firm belief that God has granted mankind with the power of actual moral choice. Therefore, we have the ability to make real decisions that have real effect on the world around us. (Just ask Adam.) The reason that Baptists are historically the strongest supporters of religious freedom is that we hold this belief that God has granted us the freedom to make our own choices. In fancy theological terms, we call this soul competency. That freedom includes the ability to make wrong choices. I think that every human assumes that other humans often make wrong choices. Sometimes those wrong decisions have an effect on us.

To bring this back to the subject at hand, here is an opportunity to minimize the effect of the wrong decisions on us. How? By voting. Even though I voted for almost all losers yesterday, at least my vote was counted. More than I can say for some of my Christian friends.