Article

Dear Calvary Family,

We are in the midst of the greatest season of polarization and division of my lifetime. The political climate has caused families, friendships and churches to break apart and forget their first love - Jesus and the good news of His resurrection. The arrogance and selfishness of leaders on both ends of the ideological spectrum fuels an inability to love people with different beliefs and a refusal to have meaningful and nuanced conversations about these significant issues. Social media has lit that fuel like a wildfire burning down relationships in the name of right-ness.

I wholeheartedly believe that there are biblical values every Christian should deeply care about - the sanctity of life from fetus to the dying, God’s design for marriage and sexuality, a deep love and care for the poor and marginalized, religious freedom, a desire to see God’s creation flourish, and obviously many more. These values should matter to all of us, but...

We are called to righteousness, not right-ness.

We are called to love, not dominance.

We are called to correct theology, not political correctness.

We are called to the good news of Jesus Christ, not the gospel of donkeys or elephants.

I exhort you my brothers and sisters of Calvary Church, do not lose your first love. Do not sacrifice your faith on the altar of a politician. Do not bow down and worship at the feet of your government. Do not seek to touch the hem of the garment of a current or potential president for healing for our land.

Jesus Christ is our only true source of hope and healing. Please proclaim Him more than any political savior in whom we have mistakenly placed our trust.

Last week, we sent you a link to calvarylife.org/vote that includes voter guides and links to see the platforms of different candidates. I’m not going to tell you who or what to vote for. The guides don’t tell you who to vote for, they simply tell you what respondents believe about the issues. You decide what issues mean the most to you and to your faith. I believe you are smart enough to know that you should seek God in prayer, read your Bible faithfully, study the issues/candidates on your own and then vote your conscience as you believe God would lead you. Plus, my hunch is that you already know who you will vote for, except for the Water Commissioner because nobody really knows anything about that.

We celebrate our freedom and the privilege it is to vote for our leaders and propositions. We don’t know exactly how Jesus would vote, but we do know that He blessed the peacemakers.

May the Lord bless you and keep you,

Eric Wakeling