to discern what is our rightful place in the world where we are called to be salt and light.

Thus, my hope and prayer for myself is that my litmus test for deciding how to vote is not based on self serving motivations or selfish whims, but on New Testament kingdom values that bring us closer to providing “cups of cold water in His name.”

The church shaped my views of politics in numerous ways. I was taught to look for indications that “kingdom values” would be held in high regard. Clearly, there have been many times when kingdom values and the political arena have been in great opposition to each other… thus, some years have yielded a “not voting” response for me. Not sure if that was always the best choice, but that was what happened.

My challenge is to find ways to see the political system as an avenue to convey kingdom values. How can it bring peace and reconciliation to a broken world? How can it bring hope and justice to a our society.

It is tricky to give your primary allegience to God and His Kingdom and simultaneously try

3. My mother never really voted along party lines, I always remember her saying that she voted for the “person.” Personal integrity, experience, and sound judgment were more important to her than politics. In this campaign, that really held true for me. The candidate I aligned most with ideologically wouldn’t get my vote because he lacked the rest of the characteristics that I think the President needs.

5. Our overall attitude towards foreign policy is one of the biggest “justice” issues for me. Spreading the ideas of democracy to different parts of the world is something we should be doing, so that everyone can be free to express and educate themselves. However I think it should be done without force and fostered through diplomacy in order to fully integrate it into cultures that are very different than ours.