Today we are electing a new president of our country, and while most seem to agree that change is needed, what that change should look like is hotly debated. I hope everyone gets out today and plays a part in this choosing our nation's leader. I believe it is civic duty and Christian responsibility.

Make no mistake, this election is different than previous elections for a number of reasons. One worth noting is that self-identified "born again" voters are split on which candidate will get their vote. Geogre Barna reports that,

...among born again voters there is a statistical dead-heat: 45% plan to vote for Sen. McCain, while 43% expect to cast a ballot for Sen. Obama. Even if Sen. McCain were to sweep the 10% who are undecided born again voters, he would fail to reach the 62% who rallied for President Bush in 2004.

Barna's research is careful to distinguish between "evangelical, born again Christians" and "non-evangelical, born again Christians," but things are changing even within the more conservative group (evangelical, born again). For example, in 2004 85% of these voters selected George Bush. But when Barna's research came out two weeks ago only 63% of the evangelical group said they are supporting the Republican candidate.

Most of the experts seem to believe Senator Obama will win this election, though it may turn out to be a closer race than many expect, and people of faith are playing a prominent role in all of this. Barna explains,

If the presidential election were held only among born again Americans, it would be a close contest. When the rest of the nation's voters are factored into the equation, Sen. Obama is staked to a commanding lead among likely voters, 50% to 37%. In large part this lead is due to the substantial support he receives among other self-identified Christians, that is, individuals who describe themselves as Christians but who are not categorized as born again. Among this group, 54% plan to vote for Sen. Obama, compared with 33% for Sen. McCain. This voting segment represents 36% of likely voters.

(source)

So how are Christians to respond?

Well, I recently read a letter from a Methodist pastor posted at Ben Witherington's site. I found these two paragraphs helpful and insightful:

There is always - always! - a "contrarian" bent to the Christian political angle. After all, in the Roman empire the complaint filed against Christians was "they are turning the world upside down" (Acts 17). In a world that does not love the Lord Jesus, we will expect to find ourselves at odds with business as usual; we shun a judgmental spirit, but we do not refrain from making judgments. "The Church is not simply a 'voluntary association' that may be of some use to the wider public, but rather is the community constituted by practices by which all other politics are to be judged" (Stanley Hauerwas).

Abraham Lincoln told the truth about "sides" who boast of God: "Both read the same Bible, and pray to the same God; each invokes His aid against the other. The prayers of both could not be answered... The Almighty has His own purposes." Knowing this, we treat each other charitably, and look to God for something better: "With malice toward none; with charity for all... to bind up the nation's wounds - to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations."

We're about to choose a new leader for ourselves, and, regardless of who wins, some American Christians will be frustrated and disheartened. This is a difficult election for many Christians, but it should not-- it cannot-- eclipse our mission. And while politics and presidents can connect to the outworking of our faith, God uses the preaching of the gospel in word and deed to bring redemption to the broken, forgiveness to the sinful, hope to the lost and the real "change we need." It is not an elected official who will transform the country, but the grace of God at work in his church-- that is what changes lives, transforms cultures and turns cities upside down.

November 4th will come and go, but our mission remains the same, and our hope remains secure. That's change we can believe in.