WHY I AM STAYING NEUTRAL IN THE 2008 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

JakeWilson · Snowy Owl Joined: Jul 12, 2007 Posts: 137 Location: Texas

1. Because my far-reaching obsession with politics has become an addiction.
2. Because over the last four years, placing my eye on Washington has pervasively taken my eye off of things I have more direct responsibility for, such as sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with others, providing help for people in need, and preparing to be the best Math teacher I can be.
3. Because neither John McCain nor Barack Obama fit the qualifications for a suitable candidate. If I were to publicly admit to voting for Barack Obama, it would be a terrible embarrassment. If I were to publicly admit to voting for John McCain, that would also be a terrible embarrassment.
4. Because spending my years looking at depressing polls on the internet has robbed me of much peace and has taken my eye off of God and His plan for my life.
5. Because my political zeal displayed at sometimes the most inappropriate times has hurt my ability to minister to others about God's grace.

This year, I plan to not endorse any of the candidates running for President. I am doing this because my obsession with politics which I am coming out of has been unhealthy. I have not kept my priorities straight. I have at many times become so absorbed in politics that it has hampered my focus on God and my ability to minister to others. I have also had much trouble keeping my car clean, my house clean, my diet healthy, and my exercise consistent.

It was fun for a while. I knew every U.S. Senator by name, state, and party. I was starting to know probably about 70% of the House of Representatives as well. For a while it was fun to be informed about every piece of political news hot off the press, and to spend hours a day surfing political websites.

But it became an addiction. I was always wanting to talk with people about politics...and not much else. It got to where trying to keep from talking about politics was like trying to keep from throwing up. I talked about politics at parties, in class, at church, at social get-togethers, and I talked about it at many times when no one else wanted to talk about it. It hurt my witness for Christ. Whenever I opened my mouth to share the gospel with someone, I was always afraid that a long lecture about politics was going to spill its way out in the middle of the conversation...and sometimes...it did.

My political obsession cost me my B in Calculus II. It cost me a good amount of my focus on helping kids as a counselor at Camp of the Hills last summer. It cost me much of my focus in helping out in the two inner-city ministries that I am involved in. My political obsession robbed me of peace as I spent much of my time all through 2006 and 2007 looking at depressing opinion polls on the internet and worrying about things I had no real control of.

Finally, my political obsession hurt my relationship with God. I put politics above my Creator and did not give Him my thoughts, time, effort, and energy as I should have.

I am not saying that concern about politics is a bad thing, as long as it is done in moderation. Some of my friends will be involved in this year's presidential election and I'm not saying that that is necessarily a bad thing. It just needs to be done in moderation, keeping in mind that there are larger things out there than politics.

There are in fact more important and more eternal things at stake now than who wins this year's presidential election. As more than half of the world goes to hell because they do not know of Jesus' saving power, who has time to worry about what Congress does?

Also, I cannot support either John McCain or Barack Obama because I am not thrilled with either of them becoming the next president of the United States.

Don't get me wrong, I plan to vote in the presidential election - whether it be a vote for one of the two major candidates, a vote for a third party candidate, or a vote of writing in someone's name who is not running in order to make a statement. But I plan to keep my preference between the two main candidates a secret because I feel either one would be an embarrassing person to support. Although I plan to vote, I also plan to only tell a VERY SMALL group of people about my preference, and I plan to not campaign for either of the two candidates or contribute money to either of the two campaigns.

Please understand, I am not at all encouraging apathy about the world's problems such as abortion, poverty, disease, moral decline, economic woes, and other issues. I just think that these issues should be put in an eternal perspective and I think all of us could benefit from not so much thinking about how the government can fix these problems as how we can fix these problems in our own day to day decisions. As John F. Kennedy said, "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." And in all things, we must put Christ first in our hearts and not let the problems of this world ultimately rob us of the peace he offers.

This is why I plan to stay neutral in this election. It is because I want to guard Christ's peace in my hearts, not worrying about tomorrow, and because I have much good work to be done this year for Christ and for others as I work through school and minister to others.

Some may boast in Barack Obama while others boast in John McCain. But may I never boast except in the cross of my Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world! (Galatians 6:14)

-Jake Wilson

"Since then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things."
-Colossians 3:1-2