Discussion Questions

Dan says he grew up where voting was treated as “civic duty” and sometimes even “Christian duty” as a way of being “salt and light”; what underlying gospel assumptions about how change happens are baked into that approach, and how does it differ from the “two-kingdom understanding” he says Anabaptists historically held? JumpstartAnother way to ask: If voting is seen as a “Christian duty” to be “salt and light,” what does that assume about how the gospel changes society? How is that different from the Anabaptist “two-kingdom” view Dan mentions?

Dan frames voting as “not a one way street… it draws us into something… it forms us”; what have you personally observed voting and political attention doing inside people (including Christians)—in their fears, hopes, speech patterns, and sense of identity? JumpstartAnother way to ask: Dan says voting shapes us. What have you seen politics and voting do to people’s fears, hopes, words, and identity (including Christians)?

In describing 1980 (Carter vs. Reagan) and the rise of the Moral Majority, Dan talks about evangelicals “tasting the power” and developing a “taste for influence”; what does this reveal about what we believe God can or cannot accomplish without our access to leverage, and where do you see that same “taste” in today’s church? JumpstartAnother way to ask: What does the Moral Majority story show about whether we think God needs our political power to get things done? Where do you see that same desire for influence in the church today?

Dan argues from a Christocentric hermeneutic (“go first to the teachings and example of Jesus”) and claims Jesus “decidedly did not use political power” and neither did the apostles; what specific moments in Jesus’ life (triumphal entry hopes, Pilate conversation, refusal to fight, etc.) most challenge your instinct to secure “good outcomes” through elections? JumpstartAnother way to ask: Looking at Jesus’ life, what moments most challenge your urge to use elections to get “good outcomes”? Why do those moments bother or stretch you?

Dan connects voting to Jesus’ third temptation (Matthew 4): Satan offering “all the kingdoms of the world” as a shortcut to peace without suffering; where do you hear that same “deal” being offered to Christians today (explicitly or subtly), and what “cross-shaped obedience” gets sidelined when we accept it? JumpstartAnother way to ask: Where do Christians today get offered the idea that political power is a shortcut to peace without suffering? If we take that deal, what kind of “cross-shaped obedience” gets pushed aside?

Dan insists the kingdom advances by “invitation, not coercion,” is “born in the souls” and “germinates from inside out”; if that is true, what does it suggest about God’s intentions for how society is actually transformed—and why does that feel either freeing or threatening? JumpstartAnother way to ask: If God’s kingdom grows by invitation, not force, and starts inside people, what does that say about how God wants society to change? Does that feel freeing or scary to you, and why?

Dan says voting risks distraction from Matthew 28 and can redirect “resources, time, energy, effort” into a “peripheral” agenda; in practical terms, what spiritual disciplines, community commitments, or evangelistic habits tend to erode first when political causes start to dominate a believer’s imagination? JumpstartAnother way to ask: When politics takes over a Christian’s focus, what church habits usually fade first (prayer, serving, evangelism, community, etc.)? What have you seen happen in real life?

Dan describes politics as designed to “vilify the opposition,” producing a “house divided” where even abstainers become “suspect”; where has political packaging (“the cake with all the ingredients”) already reshaped your relationships inside the church, and what would repentance look like if politics has trained you to think in contempt? JumpstartAnother way to ask: How has politics already affected your relationships inside the church? If politics has trained you to look down on others, what would repentance look like?

Dan calls local voting or town involvement a “gateway drug,” even when it feels harmless (like a gambling referendum or “dog catcher”); what criteria would you use to test whether a “small” political action is actually forming allegiance, and how would early Christians—who had no vote but had powerful public witness—have evaluated that temptation? JumpstartAnother way to ask: How would you tell if a “small” local vote is actually shaping your loyalty and identity? How do you think early Christians—who couldn’t vote but still had public influence—would judge that same choice?

Dan claims politics often functions to “protect the wealth and possessions and privilege” Christians have accumulated, and that “non-voting… acts as a firewall” for allegiance; what parts of your lifestyle or sense of security might be exposed if you truly lived as though Jesus—not laws, parties, or police power—was your protector and provider? JumpstartAnother way to ask: If you really lived like Jesus—not laws, parties, or police—was your protector and provider, what parts of your lifestyle or sense of safety would be challenged? What might you have to let go of?