It’s 2016. It’s February. The countdown to the November general (and presidential) election has begun with the Iowa Caucus officially kicking off the election season. It has all the makings of a season described as “the most important election of our lifetime,” which is how most presidential elections are described these days.
Is it appropriate to introduce teens to the political process, even if they’re not eligible to vote? And even if it exposes them to humans behaving badly? Scripture seems to say…yes.
The interplay between God’s people and governing authorities is on display throughout Scripture. From Moses’ interaction with Pharaoh to Paul’s appeal to Caesar, we see many examples of the interaction between two kingdoms: God’s and the political system of the day.
Governing authority is one earth-bound system believers are told to submit to. In fact, to follow the thread of politics through Scripture is to identify a potential spiritual discipline, one we don’t hear much of: the discipline of political engagement. The examples of Moses, Daniel, and Esther along with instructions from Jesus (Matthew 22), Paul (Romans 13, Titus 3), and Peter (1 Peter 2) give us a full picture of how to engage with governing authority.
Below are some ideas you may want to toss to your teens to introduce them to the spiritual discipline of politics.
Political Engagement:
Most of us are politically illiterate. Challenge your teens to stop the flow of political illiteracy by tracking down the answers to these questions. Once they know this info, they will be in the top 90 percent of the U.S. population with regard to political literacy.
-What type of local governing structure do you live in? (A city? A township? A village?)
-Who is your most closely elected official? (Mayor? City councilperson? Township trustee?)
-When is the first election in which you’ll be eligible to vote? What’s the deadline for registering to vote for that election?
-Who is your U.S. Representative?
-Who are your state’s two U.S. Senators?
Political Involvement:
Take a moment to Google “teen mayors” and you’ll find a healthy list! Some are “one and done” (they’ve had enough) while others have gone on to leadership careers. You might have a teen or two who might want to try his or her hand at the political process. Obviously they can’t run for most offices until the age of 18, they can still prepare themselves and run for offices they are eligible to hold (such as, class president).
Political Activism:
Maybe your teens want to choose a side of the aisle or a cause to support and jump in. While they may be too young to run for office, they can still volunteer to help with campaigns or provide hands and feet to advocate a cause. Or maybe someone would like to start a prayer group or Bible study for the political leaders in your area. This effort would be in direct obedience to pray for our leaders (1 Timothy 2:1-2).
It’s obvious that believers are not to ignore government authorities and the political process. Use this election season to awaken the political interests of your teens. Who knows what future leaders are hanging out in your youth ministry?!
Check out a devotional version of this blog here.