A Vote for Others

As the 2012 election comes to a close, I want to leave you with some quotes from Pastor Todd Wilken...

...I think that many Christians have unintentionally adopted a politics of self-interest. Their reasons for voting are more influenced by Voltaire, Adam Smith and Ayn Rand than by a Christian worldview or ethic. Perhaps you are one of these Christians. If you have adopted an every-man-for-himself, enlightened self-interest voting strategy, you most certainly are. I intend to show that these ideas have no place in the mind of a Christian voter...

Here's another quote from Wilken...

...It should go without saying that a Christian doesn’t vote for the same reason the unbeliever votes. A Christian doesn’t vote because it is his right. That’s why the unbeliever votes. For the Christian, his rights have nothing to do with it. A Christian doesn’t vote to get his way. That’s also why the unbeliever votes. For the Christian, getting his way has nothing to do with it. A Christian doesn’t vote to protect his own interests. That, again, is why the unbeliever votes. A Christian votes to serve his neighbor —period. This means that a Christian will sometimes vote for, and sometimes against his own interests, but a Christian will always for his neighbor’s interests. When the Christian enters the voting booth, the neighbor always comes first. In other words, the Christian doesn’t vote for himself; he votes for the other guy, his neighbor. The Christian doesn’t use his vote to serve himself; he uses votes to serve his neighbor...

These quotes come from an article by Pastor Wilken in the Winter 2012 Issues, Etc. Journal. Click here to download that edition. Wilken is a pastor in the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod and the host of Issues, Etc.