An open letter to voters (and the candidates who want their votes) in 2016

“Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.” -  Eleanor Roosevelt

Dear 2016 voters,

To begin, I’m not writing to endorse or disavow any candidate.  I make no attempt to rally support for a political party or movement.  Nor am I given to delusions that I carry much power to influence the outcomes of elections.  Heck, as a pastor I have a hard enough time just influencing church folk to follow the Golden Rule sometimes.  So let’s just take that notion off the table right now. 

What I am interested in doing is voicing the concern I have with the current state of affairs in our culture that has led our nation to this point in our shared story.  And make no mistake, it is a shared account of this time in history.  Each voice adds a layer and a nuance to the tone and narrative that future generations will read and gather an idea of where and who we are as a people.  Each of us contributes to the story in ways we can’t begin to comprehend.  And for my part, I would just rather not contribute to any portion of the story that will be shameful.  Hence this open letter to you, the voting citizenry of 2016.  (Candidates, this is meant for you too.)

In an unprecedented and historical race for this nation’s highest office, our conversations revolve around leaked emails, open mics, past transgressions, and current alleged illegal activity.  Back and forth accusations that amount to an argument about who is the least corrupt are becoming the norm.  And somehow this is happening with all sides claiming they “WANT to take the high road, but the OTHER side started it.”  And say what you will, it is coming from both directions.  So what has gotten us here?  How is it that we who are wearied by the constant barrage of mud and muck being flung, as if it were in the primate exhibit at the zoo, still have to put up with even more?

The sad truth is that, as a culture, we aren’t all that wearied by it.  Not if we’re honest.  We find ourselves drawn to it on some level.  And not just like a car wreck that we rubber neck as we drive by and move on to our destination.  Somehow we have become so indifferent to the nastiness, that we find ourselves unwittingly contributing to the problem.  Or worse, we are actively seeking it out, and calling others to watch.  Each post, meme, hashtag, blog, commentary, and news story that we see and share, we are in turn feeding the beast.  Each time we tune into a newscast, or analyst spewing more of this and give them ratings, we are contributing to the delinquency of our society. 

If we don’t actively seek to let our media and leaders know that this is not okay, we need to own our part of the mess that we have helped to create.  And with each passing moment, we seem to forget that the candidates that are on the ballot are there because, even knowing about their pasts, we put them on it.  Over several decades, we’ve stopped demanding better.  In the span of a few generations, we’ve quit expecting decency.  The outrage over any candidate’s grievous malfeasances seems to be a wasted exercise in that uncomfortably bright and exposing light.

There it is.  The realization that this “phenomenon” is less of a phenomenon, and more a culmination of the slow progression toward a searing of consciences so complete, that we don’t even realize that it has happened.  Hearts and souls indifferent to anything other than instant gratification and salacious gossip are a sign of a larger problem we have as human beings.  We are so accustomed to the constant flow off garbage that anything healthy we might accidentally ingest “tastes” weird. 

Maybe it’s because we don’t want to have to deal with our own deficiencies.  Perhaps it’s because we have intellectually convinced ourselves that it is everybody else in Washington that’s the problem, not our guy or gal. (Meant to convey familiarity, not misogynism.)   Maybe in a world so saturated by self-identification, self-awareness, and self-esteem consciousness, we have finally reached a tipping point in which “self” is the ideal, and social contracts are subordinate to individual ideas of worth and value.  I believe that these are all contributing factors in some form or fashion.  Rugged individualism has been supplanted by ruthless "self-ism".  And we have fallen to the all too human trait of thinking small. 

We were meant for something better.  We deserve something better.  We should demand something, ANYTHING, better than what we have been served for far too long.  And yet we are content to sit and say, “Well there’s nothing we can do about it.  So why even bother?”

In the immortal words of Public Enemy, “Don’t believe the hype!”  

(And yes, I realize the irony involved in quoting a phrase repeated over and over by one of the greatest “Hype” men evah, Flava Flaaaaaav.)  

We can, and have the responsibility to, change the narrative.  We can, and should, be agents of positive influence.  We must be people who demand an accounting of those elected to represent us.  But MOST importantly, we should show them what we expect of them by LIVING to the standard that we hold them to. 

This is something I have personal experience with.  As a pastor, I live my life in a very public arena.  I am watched and scrutinized.  True, I’m called to ministry by the Christ who redeemed me, not elected.  However I’m held to an expectation of conduct that should reflect my faith and the morality that comes from it.  I’ll be honest, that gets tough sometimes.  But I’ll take it.  And I’ll live to the best of my ability in a manner that won’t reflect poorly on God, the congregations I serve, or the communities in which I live.  All I ask is that the folks who hold me to that standard, hold themselves to the same standard.  Christ’s standard.  “But I’m not a preacher” isn’t a valid excuse for someone who claims to be a Christian disciple.  It’s God’s standard, not ours that we use as the measuring stick.

The same is true of a citizen of this nation who has been graced with the privilege of having their voice heard in regard to the governing of our country.  “But I’m not a politician” isn’t a valid answer for not living to the standard you hold up as your reason for voting for, or not voting for,  the candidates in any election.  And if you are guilty of passing along salacious or gory stories, inferences, or other mud covered tidbits… don’t be angry at the candidates who do it.  They’re just aiming for the bar that you have set by your lived example. 

I’ve said it time and time again.  And I will keep saying it until either Jesus comes back, or there isn’t a need to say it any more.  Change in this or any nation, true change, doesn’t begin at the ballot box.  It begins in our own hearts, in our own prayers, and in our own living.  Be the catalyst for the change we desperately need and say we want.  Begin by changing the ways we treat one another and talk about one another.  Be the good example that Mark Twain says is so annoyingly hard to put up with.  Be salt and light if that’s what you are called to be.  Just try today to be better than you were yesterday; while striving to be even better tomorrow.  Be a solution to the problem, rather than a contributor. 

So to the electorate of 2016…  please vote your conscience.  But make sure that you live by it as well.  Elevate conversations to talk about ideas, solutions, or achievable goals.  And then WORK to make those things a reality.  Don’t just accept the lie that this is as good as it gets.  Because it isn’t.  And for Pete’s sake, stop feeding yourself a steady diet of negative, soul sucking, emotionally draining words and images.  It’s like trying to exist solely on donuts.  They may taste good for a while; but they have no positive nutritional value.  Eventually donuts will lead to disease and probably death if they’re all you eat.  If you want to improve your health, you’ve got to change your diet.

Your fellow American and servant in Christ,

Chris