How then shall we vote?

To the surprise of many, the delight of some, the dismay of others, last night's first indication of voter preferences revealed that, at least for the people of Iowa, the choice of the people doesn't always swing toward the most experienced, nor to the biggest spenders, nor in favor of the most established in the political game. Two relative newcomers to the national scene came away with clear victories, at least in terms of percentages against a wide field of would-be presidents.

Some are this morning ready to predict, just on the basis of one contest, that the Democratic leader in Iowa's caucuses is the "man to beat", and could well wrap it all up by early February. Things appear less decided among the Republicans, at least for now. But this isn't by any means a political blog, so I won't attempt to comment about trends and messages and momentum and all the stuff of which elections are made. I'll stick to trying to be an interested and hopefully objective observer of this fascinating and sometimes gory process we call Democracy.

Specifically, my interest is in being a Christian, living faithfully under God's benevolent theocracy of the Spirit, while at the same time living properly under the human government of whatever nation or state a Christian happens to call "home." The Bible is clear about this: "Be in subjection to the governing authorities." (Romans 13:1) And again, "Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right." (1 Peter 2:13-14)

And this applies equally to the American Christian as to the Russian, the Vietnamese, the Iraqi, the Kenyan and all the other believers in this multi-cultural, multi-political world. We happen to have the tradition and privilege in America to choose our leaders in a democratic fashion. And even that is a modification of the method by which our nation's first several presidents were chosen, when members of the Electoral College had the biggest say about who sat in the Oval Office. So, any way you get there, the path to national leadership is something decidedly human in method and philosophy, and yet God has given His people instructions to "submit yourselves."

I think we must understand that leaders are chosen for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is the current political and social climate of the nation, and specifically how people feel about the leadership of whoever happens to be the current president. So it is not surprising that people are often attracted to a candidate who promises little more than "change." What kind of specific change, and how that shall, if at all, come about is not as important to many as simply that it is heralded as the way to go from here. No doubt, each candidate has some specific notions of what needs to be changed, and perhaps some very good ideas, though history shows that there's a lot more to getting a president's ambitions into reality than just "good ideas."

All this being the case (at least in my thinking), for a Christian in America, the chances of getting a competent and effective person into the White House, not to mention one who will be sympathetic to Christian concerns, are much better than in many countries of the world. But it's no guarantee of such an outcome, partly because of the wide spectrum of political philosophies in our nation and also because of the very limited number of people likely to become candidates at any particular time. In any event, Christian voters can do only so much to put someone into leadership who will advocate for policies that promote biblical values and outcomes.

I believe the Bible gives the responsibility to the Christian citizen like any other person to choose carefully among the available candidates for public office. We aren't called to isolate ourselves into some religious compound in the woods, nor to refuse to participate in a clearly human endeavor to select our political leaders, as if that's all too worldly for us. But it is, after all, a human political matter. We're electing a president, not a Savior; a leader, not a Lord.

We should therefore recall, and be thankful that our true Leader, the Lord Jesus Christ, is going to work His sovereign purposes through whatever government we happen to live under, and we will benefit from His leadership regardless of the political climate at the time. At the end of the electoral day, it's still God on the throne, and He isn't subject to term limits.