This Christian walk is not about determining which candidate will be the most socially conservative. It’s not about voting for the “party of values.” It’s not about who is most “Christian” in their beliefs. It’s not about who will put prayer back in schools or advocate for the teaching of Creationism in our science classes.

It’s not about who attends church every Sunday. It’s not about who tithes the most or who gives the most to charity. It’s not about who worked the hardest and made their own fortune with the least government assistance. It’s not about who will create the most jobs or who will get lazy people off of welfare.

It’s not about keeping the name of God on our money or in our pledge. It’s not about keeping the 10 commandments in post offices or on national monuments. It’s not about ensuring that our leaders will continue to have prayer at their inaugurations or other special events. It’s not about whether the White House participates in the National Day of Prayer or celebrates non-Christian holidays.

It’s not about seeing how many times lawmakers can invoke the name of God in our foreign policy legislation. It’s not about which leaders visit Israel the most or give Israel the most foreign aid. It’s not even about giving aid to Israel.

It’s not about who will continue or end the wars in the Middle East. It’s not about spreading our Western values or our democracy to the rest of the world. It’s not about who wears a flag pin or salutes the flag in the most respectful manner during the national anthem. It’s not about who is most “American.” We all are.

It’s not about defining marriage in a certain way or banning gay unions. It’s not about keeping gays out of the Boy Scouts or our public schools.

It’s not about overturning Roe v. Wade or keeping emergency contraception out of the hands of women. It’s not about protecting the rights of the fetus or defining life at conception. It’s not about promoting abstinence-only education, defunding Planned Parenthood, or keeping condoms out of the school nurse’s office.

All those things don’t make us a Christian nation, anyway.

So what’s it about? It’s about Jesus Christ and him crucified. It’s about communing with God on a daily basis. It’s about building the Kingdom of God through soul-winning. It’s about changing hearts through the power of Christ, not changing laws through the power of the government. 

It’s about developing the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. It’s about having the mind of Christ. It’s about loving our neighbors as we love ourselves. It’s about feeding the hungry and caring for the poor and widows. It’s about clothing the naked and visiting those in prison. It’s about responding to people–all people–with grace and compassion.

So many Christians spend so much time focusing on the things faith is not about that they forget to do the things it is about. Presidents don’t make people moral. Only Jesus can do that.

This world is eventually going to pass away. Only the Kingdom of God will endure forever. Jesus isn’t going to judge us by the laws we changed with our votes. He’s going to judge us by the lives we changed with his love.