YOU CAN’T WASH YOUR HANDS
Pontius Pilate didn’t want Jesus’ blood on his hands.
He’d examined Him and found no guilt. His own wife had warned him. He knew exactly what the crowd was demanding and exactly what it meant. And when the pressure got too hot, he did what a lot of men do when doing the right thing gets uncomfortable. He tried to step out of it.
“So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, ‘I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.’” ~ MATTHEW 27:24
It didn’t work. A few weeks later, the apostles prayed and named him outright as one of those who “gathered together against your holy servant Jesus” (Acts 4:27). For centuries, the church has confessed in the Apostles’ Creed that Jesus “suffered under Pontius Pilate.” Two thousand years later, Christians still say his name every week. The water didn’t wash anything off.
Refusing to decide is a decision. Pilate learned that the hard way.
The Most Expensive Thing You Can Do Is Nothing
Election Day is Tuesday, November 3. Every seat in the U.S. House is on the ballot, along with 35 Senate seats and thousands of state and local races: governors, judges, school boards, sheriffs, ballot measures. Those are the people who will decide what your kids learn, how the unborn are treated, who gets protected, and how much freedom your church has to preach what it preaches.
And tens of millions of American Christians plan to sit it out. Before the last election, a study led by researcher George Barna estimated that 32 million churchgoing Christians were likely to stay home. That was a presidential year. Midterm turnout is usually lower.
Some say their vote won’t matter. Some don’t trust the system. Some say they’ll just “pray about it.” Some are so disgusted with the options that they’ve decided staying home keeps their hands clean.
Brother, it doesn’t.
More than a century and a half ago, the philosopher John Stuart Mill put it bluntly:
“Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing.”
You’ve probably heard the shorter version, usually credited to Edmund Burke, though nobody has ever found it in his writings: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
Whoever said it first, Scripture said it plainer:
“So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.” ~ JAMES 4:17
Salt Doesn’t Stay in the Shaker
Jesus never called His people to watch the world from the bleachers.
“You are the salt of the earth… You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden” (Matthew 5:13–14). Salt does nothing sitting in the shaker. Light does nothing under a basket. They only matter when they touch what’s around them.
Prayer matters. Prayer is where this starts. But “I’ll pray about it” can’t be the place we hide when God has already put a tool in our hands. Nehemiah prayed, and then he picked up a trowel and a sword. In this country, God has given you a ballot. A man who prays for his city and then won’t lift a finger to shape it isn’t being spiritual. He’s just being comfortable.
“When the righteous increase, the people rejoice, but when the wicked rule, the people groan” (Proverbs 29:2). Who rules is not a side issue to God.
Vote Scripture. Not Your Guy. Not Against Their Guy.
Here’s where most of us get it wrong.
The goal isn’t to vote for “your guy.” It isn’t to vote against “their guy.” It’s not about a team, a jersey, or which commercial made you angriest. The goal is to vote for the candidate whose convictions and character line up most closely with God’s Word.
That means you have to actually know what God’s Word says. You can’t outsource your conscience to a campaign ad, a cable news host, or a mailer that showed up last Tuesday. Be like the Bereans, who “received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so” (Acts 17:11). Check the candidate against the Book, not the Book against the candidate.
So what does Scripture tell us to look for in people who hold authority?
They fear God and can be trusted. Moses was told to look for “able men… who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe” (Exodus 18:21). Character isn’t optional.
They protect innocent life. Among the things God hates are “hands that shed innocent blood” (Proverbs 6:16–17). That includes the child in the womb, whom God knits together (Psalm 139:13).
They honor God’s design for marriage and family. One man and one woman, the way Jesus Himself defined it (Matthew 19:4–6).
They do justice without partiality. They defend the poor, the fatherless, the widow and the voiceless, and they don’t tilt the scales for the rich or the powerful either (Leviticus 19:15; Proverbs 31:8–9).
They restrain evil and protect what is good. That is the job God gives government (Romans 13:3–4).
They tell the truth. “Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD” (Proverbs 12:22).
Don’t take a candidate’s word for any of it. Look at the record. Read the platform. Look at what they’ve actually voted for, signed and funded. Then hold it up to the light.
What If No One Measures Up
Sometimes you’ll look at a race and find no candidate who lines up with Scripture. Every one of them is a sinner, because so are we (Romans 3:23). But “nobody’s perfect” isn’t a reason to walk away from the whole ballot. Here’s what to do instead:
Vote the whole ballot. The top of the ticket gets the headlines, but your county judge, your school board, your sheriff and the measures on your ballot often touch your family more directly than anyone in Washington. Do your homework on every line.
Weigh the record against Scripture, not the personalities. When no candidate is righteous, ask which one’s positions and record depart least from God’s Word on the clearest moral issues, and which one will do the most to restrain evil and protect the vulnerable. Choosing the better of imperfect options with wisdom isn’t compromise. It’s stewardship.
Write in a qualified candidate if your conscience truly can’t support anyone listed and your state allows it. Write-in rules differ by state, so check yours first. Even then, finish the rest of your ballot.
What isn’t on the list is staying home. That’s the basin and the towel. That’s Pilate.
Your Charge This Week
This is the week. Don’t let it slip.
Get in the Word first. Read the passages above before you look at another ad.
Look up your ballot. Find your polling place and early-voting options at vote.gov, then research every race on your ballot, not just the big ones.
Make a plan. Pick the day, the time and the place. Write it down.
Bring a brother. Call the man in your small group who said he’s “probably skipping this one.” Offer him a ride. Then go together.
Then pray. Not instead of voting. On the way there.
Stand firm. Not alone.
~ Brian