I have already voted, and I had no trouble deciding whom to vote for. That said, I have devout, Jesus-following friends who will vote differently, and I read strong exhortations from both sides regularly on how “real Jesus followers” should vote. I wrote about this way back in January.

I also shared Wesley’s rules for voting, which certainly imply that we have a choice.

An excellent article by Libby Sternberg, a novelist in Lancaster, PA, beautifully articulates that choice and what we should do about it. I know nothing about Libby except what I read in this article. She opens this way:

Should the faithful opt for a candidate who wants to “welcome the stranger”? Or one who puts immigrants in cages before deporting them? Should they support the one who’s bringing fractious nations to “live in harmony” with one another in the Middle East? Or should they select the fellow who was vice president in an administration that perfected the art of the drone strike? What about thinking of it as a choice between the man who wants to “heal the sick” with expanded health-care access and the man who wants to yank coverage away from the most vulnerable? Should they vote for the boor—the man whose rhetoric sends etiquette experts to the fainting couch? Or the borker—the man who helped redefine how low political character assassination could go? These simplistic and hyperbolic descriptions aren’t entirely fair to Donald Trump or Joe Biden. Welcome to politics. – Libby Sternberg, Wall Street Journal Friday, October 16, 2020

After talking about how different pastors and religious groups attempt to lead their members to vote in certain ways, she closes with counsel similar to Wesley’s rules for voting:

Yet there’s another approach that’s better than trying to prod congregants toward a particular candidate: the “way of love” … Loving your neighbor means recognizing that neither party in the U.S. has a lock on virtue or vice. To suggest otherwise is not only partisan; it’s deeply deceptive and leads to more political strife. Loving your neighbor means accepting that we sometimes disagree—passionately—but still can embrace each other, smile at each other, and do good deeds for each other. We can solve problems in our families and neighborhoods, and we can heal broken hearts with loving words and actions. – Libby Sternberg

Amen.

Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. (Romans 12.9, 10, ESV)

Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. (Romans 13.8 – 10, NIV)

Let me give you a new command: Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another. This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other. (John 13.34, 35, MSG)