Much has been made since the election about the emergence of the “Evangelical Vote” as an influential voice in the election process. While I was pleased to see Bush win rather than Kerry, I am increasingly wrestling with some misgivings about this whole phenomenon:
1. There is the risk that the Church will increasingly be seen as just another special interest group, concerned first and foremost with the political process and enacting change in society through the legislative process.
The Church is most decidedly NOT to be chiefly concerned with politics. Don’t get me wrong – I believe that a comprehensive biblical worldview will certainly have implications for our voting and will call us to engage government and the political process. But I believe that we are seriously misguided if we see this as our primary concern, or if we are perceived to have this as our primary concern.
The kingdom we seek is not of this world.
2. There is a significant danger that the Evangelical vote, such as it is, will be taken for granted, much as the Democrats take the African-American vote or the union vote for granted.
The politicians will talk a good game about moral values, especially during primary season, but there is the chance that little will be changed legistlatively. Then the influence that evangelicals may have is largely symbolic only, and not really real. We may wake up in a couple of years and realize that we’ve been sold a bill of goods; that we’ve been taken for a ride.