We Have No King: Why Not Voting in This Election Is a Confession of Failure
We love to complain about the state of our nation, but the truth is sobering: the government we get is exactly the one we voted for—or failed to vote for. Here is why your ballot is a sacred act of service.
Hey family, let’s sit down and have a real conversation today.
We all know the old saying: elections have consequences. It’s a truth we repeat every November, yet we are still locked in a constant, frustrating struggle just to get American citizens to exercise their franchise. Think about the weight of that word for a moment—the franchise. Voting wasn't just handed to us as a casual hobby; it was enshrined in the U.S. Constitution to ensure that newly freed slaves would have a permanent, unbreakable say in the future direction of this nation. The Fifteenth Amendment is crystal clear: “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”[1]
But having a right doesn't automatically mean people will use it.
How often do we hear the usual shrugs? “My vote doesn’t count.” “My vote doesn’t matter.” Let’s be honest with ourselves: that couldn’t be further from the truth. If our votes truly didn’t matter, Black Americans wouldn't have been brutally denied the ballot box in the Jim Crow South. If our voices didn't carry power, we wouldn't be witnessing the massive, calculated efforts underway today to disenfranchise voters across this country. When someone tries that hard to take something away from you, it's because that thing has immense value.
Right now, there is a deep fault line running straight through the heart of our nation—splitting us by race, gender, class, and age. The political segmentation of our electorate has become so acute, so sharp, that our allegiances shift depending entirely on whatever issue is dominating the news cycle.
And here is where it gets incredibly messy: everyone is claiming they are the ones "on God's side." Christian conservatives stand up and claim to be the sole standard-bearers for the gospel and God’s kingdom. Meanwhile, Christian liberals stand up and argue the exact same thing from the opposite side. Trying to figure out who’s right and who’s wrong has become as predictable as a coin toss.
And that right there? That is the real tragedy.
When our broader culture can no longer look to the church for moral direction, what are we even here for? When our nation would rather scroll through Facebook, X, Instagram, and TikTok for guidance rather than look to the body of Christ, where did we fall short?
Now, I already know what the critics will say. Some will opine that we should “just preach the gospel.” Yes, preaching the word is our prophetic mandate (Matt. 28:18-20). Others will opine that we should “just live the gospel.” Yes, living out our faith is our priestly mandate (Matt. 25:31-46). But as I have said to you many times over from this platform, the gospel is not an either-or proposition. It is both-and.
It is word AND deed.
It is heralding AND helping.
It is saying AND serving.
So, how does this tie back to the ballot box? I’m so glad you asked.
Voting is quite literally one of the tangible ways we serve our fellow countrymen and women. When we step into that voting booth, we are making our voices heard. We are actively endorsing the values we want to see promoted in our communities. We are electing human beings who share our vision for a better America and a more just world.
Conversely, look at what happens when we stay home:
Our issues are tabled indefinitely.
We are forced to live with the frustration of watching the very mores and institutions we hold dear slowly erode.
We leave our children and grandchildren to fight the bitter battles that we should have fought for them.
Proverbs 29:2 reminds us, “When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.” Back in the days of the Old Testament monarchies, regular citizens were completely at the mercy of whatever heir happened to inherit the throne. They had zero say in who ruled over them. But praise God, in America, we have no king. We have been granted the profound privilege to elect our representatives, from the presidency all the way down the ballot. That means a very sobering thing: the government we get is exactly the government we voted for—or failed to vote for.
Look, I’ll be the first to admit that I have long resented hearing every four years that “this is the most important election of our lifetime.” Most of the time, it’s just political gaslighting to drive up turnout. But this time? This time, it might actually be true.
My intention here is not to tell you who to vote for. I would never be so presumptuous, and that is not my role in your life. My goal is simple: to encourage you to vote.
You already know what issues are close to your heart, and you have the Holy Scriptures to tell you exactly what is important to God. How you prayerfully reconcile those two things is a sacred matter between you and Him. But once you have done that work, once you have reconciled your positions, get up and go vote.
We hold the power in our hands to determine whether our communities will rejoice or mourn. Let's make the right choice.
Dr. Isaac Hayes is an Assistant Pastor at the Apostolic Church of God in Chicago, Illinois, and author of Men After God’s Heart: 10 Principles of Brotherly Love. He also has a Doctor of Ministry degree from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Follow Dr. Hayes on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube at @RevIsaacHayes.
Comments