Here we are, friends. In retrospect, it seems appropriate that in 2020 would culminate in a pivotal presidential election. All the ads, all the phone calls, and some of the social media posts will soon be over. And yet, even today, there is an opportunity for us as Christians. Yes, of course, there is the opportunity to vote if you haven’t done so already. But as citizens of another kingdom, there is an opportunity today – right now even – to choose to act like Christians today, regardless of what numbers and results start coming back later today.

How might we do that? Innumerable ways, actually. But there are four specific ones that come to mind for me and possibly for you as well:

1. Rest.

There are man, many people who are going to be disappointed today and in the days to come. Disappointed, but also potentially angry, resentful, bitter, anxious, and afraid. And while you can’t necessarily control how you feel, you can speak to your soul in the midst of those feelings. As Christians, one of the words our souls desperately need to hear is this:

“Rest.”

The Lord is gracious and righteous;
our God is compassionate.
The Lord guards the inexperienced;
I was helpless, and he saved me.
Return to your rest, my soul,
for the Lord has been good to you (Ps. 116:5-7).

How can we rest when there is such turmoil in the world around us? When there are so many unanswered questions? When the future is so uncertain? It is because as Christians, our rest is not a physical rest but instead a rest of the soul that comes from the finished work of Christ. On this election day, when the rest of the world wrings its hands, you can act like a Christian by resting because your confidence is in something greater than a political victory or defeat.

2. Repent.

Martin Luther’s first of 95 thesis reads like this: “When our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ said repent, He meant that the entire lives of believers should be of repentance.”

In other words, the Christian should have a greater awareness than anyone else of his or her sin. We should know that there is always, always, always something to repent of. Something to turn from, and turn to place our eyes on Jesus alone. And surely all of us don’t have to look hard to find a reason for repentance.

We might need to repent of our anger. Of our hatred. Of our posts. Of our preoccupation. Of our doubt and fear. Of the way we have treated those who differ in political persuasion. I don’t have to look far, and neither do you. This election day provides many opportunities for repentance, and as Christians, we should embrace the humility it will take to see them and act on them.

3. Remind.

CS Lewis once said that Christians need to be reminded more than instructed. We certainly see this pattern playing out in the writing of Paul who never ceased to remind people of the basic truths of the Christian faith. That’s because Paul knew that our behavior flows rightly from our beliefs – that our theology drives our actions. So what specifically might we need to be reminded of on this election day?

At a base level, we must remind ourselves where the true source of our hope, security, citizenship, and identity comes from, and it is not from an election:

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Dear friends, I urge you as strangers and exiles to abstain from sinful desires that wage war against the soul. Conduct yourselves honorably among the Gentiles, so that when they slander you as evildoers, they will observe your good works and will glorify God on the day he visits (1 Peter 2:9-12).

4. Reconcile.

2020 has been a year of broken relationships – sadly, a good portion of these have come from within the church. And the temptation remains even today. There will be a temptation today to cast all kinds of blame for all kinds of things. The sons and daughters of God might well devolve into a bad version of a contentious holiday gathering in which the subtext of this election lingers over every conversation. “If only you had voted this way or that, we would not be in this mess now…”

Election day is here, at long last, and when we wake up tomorrow, we will have to live. And we have an opportunity as the church to now, at this point, put aside pettiness and preference for the greater purpose of the extension of the gospel. And now matter who sits in power at the end of the day, there will be ample opportunity for that:

“If then there is any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by thinking the same way, having the same love, sharing the same feelings, focusing on one goal. Do nothing out of rivalry or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves” (Philippians 2:1-3).

Now is the time, as Christians, for reconciliation.

Today is election day. But today is also a day to act like a Christians. As Christians, then, let us rest, repent, remind, and reconcile for the glory of God in Christ.