Voting Your Faith: Issue 1: Your Vote Matters

This is the first in a series of weekly blogs titled, "Vote Your Faith."

In His model prayer, Jesus praying to God said, "Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." That is foundational in our responsibility to engage in our political system and our governmental process as God's people, people of faith, followers of Jesus Christ.

Our voice of faith matters. We have a stewardship. Christians carry a responsibility before God and our fellow citizens in our communities, states, and countries. One of HF's elders loves to quote Psalm 115:16. "The highest heavens belong to the Lord, but the earth He has given to mankind." Another translation states, "The heaven of heavens is for God, but He put us in charge of the earth."

We are amid an election cycle in the United States of America. While every election is important, the HF elders believe this election cycle is critical for several reasons, which we will consider in future writings.

For real followers of Jesus Christ, voting is not about choosing individual candidates. Voting and political engagement are about issues. It is about advancing the values, righteousness, and morals of God. The real matter is voting our faith.

True Christians stand for the sacredness of all life, the biblical marriage of one man and one woman and traditional family, inalienable rights to exercise religion, speak freely, freely assemble, law and order, and equality and justice for all.

The opportunity to influence a nation's governing officials and laws are not universal. However, those of us who live in America live in a blessed country with special rights due to living in a democratic republic. Yet not every American Christian takes the privilege and responsibility seriously to engage politically. Barna research states that in 2016 approximately 60% of professing Christians voted. Why not 100%? (see: https://www.barna.com/research/notional-christians-big-election-story-2016/).

Voting and political engagement are practical ways for each of us to be salt and light, agents of hope in our country and culture.

If you are not registered to vote, we encourage you to register now. We have no excuse - we must make our voice heard and make our vote count.

If you haven’t already done so, you can easily and immediately register to vote at the following link https://www.sos.wa.gov/elections/register.aspx.

Let all of us who are followers of Jesus Christ vote our faith!

In the upcoming emails, we will address specific faith issues currently at stake and how our vote can make a difference.

On behalf of the elders,
Mike