The yard signs are back up, and once again we’re being told this is the most important election of our lifetime. The message is clear: if the right person wins, things will finally be set right. Some of us respond with cynicism, and some with optimism. And while electing good leaders really does matter, we need to ask what the best leaders can actually do.
In the Old Testament book of Nehemiah, Jerusalem’s walls had been lying in rubble for over a century. Nehemiah, a Jewish exile and cupbearer to a Persian king, heard the news and began to weep and mourn for days. He then prayed to God asking for His help, and risked his position to ask the king for aid to rebuild the walls of the city. The king listened and granted Nehemiah’s request, because the good hand of his God was upon him.
Without a doubt, Nehemiah was a great leader. Countless books have been written on his leadership skills. He refused the governor’s food allowance so he would not burden the people. He rallied a discouraged city to rebuild the wall in just 52 days. And he oversaw the people turning back to God in a great revival. If any leader ever got it right, it was Nehemiah.
But then Nehemiah left for a time to report back to the king. And when he returned, it had all fallen apart. One of Nehemiah’s old enemies had moved into the temple storeroom meant for God’s offerings. The Levites were not being paid, so they had returned home to work their fields instead of caring for the people’s spiritual needs. Merchants were selling in Jerusalem on the Sabbath. And the people had begun marrying people of other nations who worshiped false gods.
The book of Nehemiah is not a story of bad leadership; it is a story about the limits of leadership. Walls, laws, and leaders can restrain evil, but they can’t restore the human heart. That’s why the psalmist warns, “Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation” (Psalm 146:3). So if princes can’t restore the heart, what is the solution?
The Bible answers that question by pointing us not to a better Nehemiah, but to a perfect King who never leaves. Hebrews 7:24 says Jesus “holds His priesthood permanently, because He continues forever.” Jesus did not come to merely reform our behavior, but to restore the human heart. Not through legislation, but through lovingly dying for our sins on the cross and rising again to give a new heart to everyone who trusts Him.
So this election season, go vote without becoming a cynic or an optimist. Seek the good of our country, state, and city. But do not ask a ballot to solve what only Christ can. Because on November 4th, whoever wins, the deepest problem in every human heart will still be there. No human leader can heal it. Only Christ can.
