I Majored in Poli Sci. But I Don't Talk Politics Online.

My ideal candidate is Jesus, and He is already Lord.

Here’s something you probably don’t know about me, and it’s by design: I am intrigued by politics. Always have been. I didn’t grow up in a home that discussed the political landscape often, so I’m not sure where it came from. I suspect it was the Presidential election of 1980. I was just 6 years old when Reagan defeated Carter, and I remember being fascinated by the details. All of it. Election Day. The Electoral College. The third party candidate (whom the Carter campaign blamed for handing the day to Reagan). The concession speech. The peaceful transition of power.

Sixteen years later, I graduated with a BA in Political Science, and assumed a role with a congressman’s pet project. The highlight of my short-lived, pre-motherhood career was attending a luncheon where Henry Kissinger was the featured speaker. I can’t remember what was served, but I will never forget the words he delivered on the lingering international threat posed by Russian nationalism.

I am the person who reads voter guides. I participate in the process. I believe it matters.

And I will never, ever post my opinions on social media.

It’s not because I’m embarrassed, or afraid of the backlash. I am both confident in my choices, and have a tough enough skin to accept that politics unleash an unbridled passion in some people that bypasses their civility filter. It’s simply this:

Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.—Philippians 3:17-20

I could put my energy into sharing all of the things I have studied about past history cycles, political dealings, and modern-day candidates. But friends, that is not my calling. (The Lord has raised up others, I believe, who do this for His glory; He is not neutral when it comes to the governance of His people, as we read in the Bible!) My calling is to encourage you to be in the Word. My calling is to encourage you to set your minds on higher things. My calling is to remind you to whom you belong and what your calling is in Christ.

If I were to add politics to the mix, I would be sharing a “Jesus AND” Gospel that would dilute the message I feel convicted to deliver to my fellow sisters in Christ:

We are called to serve the Kingdom in our homes and our communities.

We are called to be excellent wives.

We are called to raise our children to know, love, and follow the Lord.

We are to pour ourselves out into the lives of the believers around us.

We are to walk without fear, as we are sheltered by a sovereign Lord who controls all things.

We can do all this not because of our own strengths, but because of the lovingkindness of a good and patient God.

There is no room for politics in the very real work of iron sharpening iron in the pursuit of sanctification. Elections are a distraction— a fun distraction, but a distraction nonetheless. They have consequences. They are an extension of our convictions, and evidence of our worldview. Elections matter.

But Jesus matters infinitely more so.

In Christ,

Heather