What Happens After the Election?

by Dan Holloway

As I write this, we in the United States are a little more than two weeks away from the election of leaders for our country. We are moving into that time-period when candidates will make the final case for support of their candidacy and, for those who have yet to cast their ballot, voters will decide who to support. These are all critical decisions and people of faith will need to think carefully about which values matter most as they cast such decisions. As a disciple of Jesus Christ, I readily acknowledge that my own vote (which was already cast) was directly informed by the life and purpose I see in Jesus of Nazareth. His love for all, genuine hospitality to a wide variety of people, and proclamation of good news for the whole world guided my own thinking and decision-making.

But my concern today is not just with such values in the making of political decisions, as important as those are. My concern is whether those same values will hold sway after the election. No matter which candidates are elected this year, there will be many people who will be bitterly disappointed by the results. This disappointment will undoubtedly be expressed and felt within communities of faith as much as it will in other parts of our culture. How will our churches deal with such disappointment? How will our towns and cities handle what is sure to be a difficult time for many of our citizens? How will we act if our candidates win? How will we act if our candidates lose? These are primary questions for people of faith after the election as surely as they are for people of faith who are preparing to vote. In fact, at the end of the day they may be even more important questions for they will guide our response to significant differences among us.

Surely this is a time for the values of Jesus to hold sway. Surely this is a time for listening carefully to the pain of our neighbors whose candidates were not chosen. Surely this is a time for graciousness on the parts of those whose candidates did win the election. And surely this is a time for communities of faith to lead the way in modeling such behavior.

It will not be easy. Strong feelings have risen to the surface and these will not quickly subside. People bring their beliefs and values into the life of the church and we should not expect otherwise. Leaders will undoubtedly be challenged both to recognize people’s different journeys and to call the church to its best and highest beliefs. This will be hard work and yet it is essential work. For those of us who think the teachings of Jesus matter, we must be as anxious to demonstrate these teachings after the election as we hopefully have been before it. This may be the truest of all signs of the depth of our faith in the Christ who said, “I have come that they may be one.”