Voting (Part 5 - the final post)

“But Talkative thinks that hearing and saying will make a good Christian. He deceives his own soul. Hearing is just the sowing of the seed, and talking is not sufficient to prove that the fruit of the seed is in the heart and life.” - John Bunyan (1)

I anticipate this post will conclude the current series on voting. Over the course of the previous few posts I have shown what I believe to be a good argument for Christians withholding the vote from someone who claims to be a Christian, yet does not look anything like a Christian in the Bible. Then I sought to answer more broad questions around voting for someone when all of us are sinful, as well as what it means to vote for a “lesser of two evils.” In this post I will answer the remaining four questions in light of what I am calling a generally neutral candidate, or politician. I have listed them below, but let’s dive right in.

• What kind of standard can/should we hold these secular leaders to?

• Should Christians be single-issue voters?

• Should we only vote for Christians?

• Should Christians vote at all?

Question 1: What kind of standard can/should we hold these secular leaders to? I said in the last post that we should want people of merit in positions of power. This should be one of the first criteria we look at when selecting a candidate and should be the standard they are held to while in office. Are they honest? Do they continually seek the common good? Are they committed to serving the good of all and not just their supporters? Are they willing to find solutions to real problems and not be beholden to special interests? These questions provide a helpful starting place when examining their merit. If they abuse their position, or commit some type of moral failing, Christians should seek to hold them accountable, the severity of it would determine the response. But it will likely involve supporting, advocating, and voting for other candidates. Here again though we do need to be very careful about who we support and how. As the world sees us support a candidate, can they see Jesus? Does our witness have a foot to stand on or do we destroy it through the candidates we support? Though this line of questioning was originally used in the discussion on voting for a candidate that claims to be Christian we cannot separate it from these others.

Additionally, our support for a candidate and holding them to a standard of morality does not forego the dual directives to honor the emperor… (1 Peter 2:17), and to let our reasonableness be known to all. (Philippians 4:5) Whether we like it or not, though we have the vote in this democracy, God has the final say to all elections. In his omnipotence and sovereignty, he selects the rulers we have over us. John Calvin, quoting 1 Peter 2:17 and Proverbs 24:21, states that we should, “entertain the most honourable views of their office, recognising it as a delegated jurisdiction from God… For under the term honour, the former includes a sincere and candid esteem, and the latter, by joining the king with God, shows that he is invested with a kind of sacred veneration and dignity.” (2) When Peter wrote his books, the Roman emperors and society at large for very much anti-Christian. But these directives still applied! Taken together the two verses show that we should not give into doomsayers. When candidates don’t live up to our expectations or callings, we simply move on. We find better. We do not give in to fear and cling tightly to something, or someone, we should not. That is not reasonable. And that does nothing to help the cause of Christ. We honor those whom we should, always trusting in our God who controls the levers of power.

Question 2: Should Christians be single-issue voters? As is probably evident by this point, in my estimation it is very difficult for Christians to be single-issue voters. Just as we are compelled to turn our entire lives to Christ, we submit to his Lordship over every action we take. I do not see how one can compartmentalize a single-issue as honoring to God, while ignoring all other aspects. Additionally, once this line is held where does it end? How far will we go to achieve the ends of our chosen single-issue? Does that mean that any means justify the end? If someone was an unrepentant murderer but they promised to end abortion should Christians still enthusiastically support them? Is holding that stance so tightly showing our reasonableness and gentleness to all? I do not see in scripture much support for this stance.

However, if someone does feel their conscience burdened and feels justified in being a single-issue voter, I believe that is ok. As Paul writes in Romans 14, what is on someone’s conscience and as long as they are guided by their faith, they should do it fully and honor the Lord through it. As he says:

“For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and the living. Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; for it is written, ‘As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.’ So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.” (Romans 14:8-12)

If you are guided by your faith to be a single-issue voter, then do so in the power and love of Christ. If you feel otherwise, do the same in the power and love of Christ. Those in both camps should always remember though, that we are Christ’s, we are not our own. So as we live and seek to find solutions in these gray areas we should not pass judgment or despise our brothers and sisters because they have different convictions. The overarching theme of Romans 14 is that the way of love should take precedence over all other areas of our lives. So as we vote, do so in love. As we discuss politics, do so in love. As we disagree, do so in love. We cannot control how others act, but we can make sure that as Christians we are people of love.

Question 3: Should we only vote for Christians? Simply, I don’t think so. Though we can be assured that a Christian will have the only true source of knowledge and goodness, as stated above we must be especially careful with this question. Are they a Christian in name only? If so, we should never vote for them. As a general rule, and this may just be my personality, I am very skeptical of anyone who claims to be a Christian and seeks power, or uses the Bible to back policy, or is held up as the best candidate for the church. On the flip-side, they may be a solid Christian, but just because they are doesn’t mean I will agree with them on every policy. And just because we disagree on policy, does not make either one of us any less of a Christian. It just means we disagree on policy. When we disagree we should always do so from a place of love for not only our brothers and sisters, but also those who hate us and revile us (Luke 6:27-36). If through my experience and convictions I prefer to vote for a candidate because they prioritize policies more closely aligned with my convictions, I see no restriction on this in scripture. Additionally, I will want to ask if that candidate supports holistic governmental policies that will allow our society to thrive? Are they more focused on fulfilling the Republican or Democratic party platform, or are they willing to do good for all of society?

In the instances where we would vote for a non-Christian, again, we should be very careful about it, knowing that who, and how we support our candidates will be directly reflected on Christ and our witness to him in this world. Can we support this candidate and still be effective in our callings to love God and love our neighbor? Or by our voting will our neighbor be turned away from Christ?

Question 4: Should Christians vote at all? Finally, the last question! This one is the easiest to answer, but also maybe the hardest. Over the course of Christian history there has been much debate over how involved Christians should be in the temporal kingdoms in which we reside. The Anabaptists completely rejected all entanglement of the worldly kingdoms and Christians, we can see their spiritual descendants in the Amish and Mennonites of today. Conversely, in Rome, and many Lutheran kingdoms after the Reformation, the church and temporal powers were intricately linked. As we try to find the middle path, voting provides us a great opportunity to do that. And like the suggestions offered earlier, there is much freedom in this. If your conscience makes you feel uneasy about voting, then by no means do so! If none of the candidates fulfill what you think a candidate should be, and their morality does not align with what you have been given in Christ, then either write someone in or don’t vote. If Christians took the stand that we will no longer vote for a “lesser of two evils” I am convinced that we would see more women and men of merit step up to the plate. As it stands now though, we are often forced to compromise. In the past few years I myself have often written a candidate in, or abstained from voting where my conscience did not allow me to.

And you know what? God is still on his throne. Though we have had a tumultuous few years nothing has stopped me from loving God and loving my neighbor. Even if there were laws enacted that would attempt to restrict that, Christians would do as we have always done and continue to love God and love our neighbor. It’s what Christians in Iran, China, and North Korea are doing today. The same way the first Christians in Rome, and every brave missionary throughout history has always placed their calling above a temporal power. It’s how Christians through the ages have been able to say with joy: “let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also, the body they may kill, God’s truth abideth still, his kingdom is forever.” (3) The political outcome of any election will never be able to stop Christians from living out our calling. Therefore, we as a church must stop voting from a place of fear. The world, politicians, journalists, pundits, everyone wants you to be in fear. Next time you watch any news network or read anything on social media or a news outlet, examine how much of it is fear based. Examine how much they want you to be afraid of anything and everything. The news cycle is just a cycle of fear. Then once they have you in a place of fear, they will tell you they have all the answers. Or this particular politician can solve all the problems. They want us to be afraid, and to put our trust in fallible humans and institutions. But Jesus commands us, “do not be anxious… have no fear.” (Matthew 10: 18; 26) He tells us that persecution is coming, but even through that we should not be afraid because he is with us! Even to the end of the age, throughout all eternity we have this sure foundation to stand on. We have a hope that abides in someone exponentially, infinitely, more powerful than any politician, than any sword that can be wielded against us. So do not fear. Our God is a mighty fortress. When this world turns against us, we know that it turned against him first, and that no matter what he is with us. We must hold onto this faith. We must hold onto Jesus. Who is infinitely more valuable than any power or comfort this world can provide.

So whether we vote or don’t vote really isn’t the question. The main question is, where is our faith?

1) Bunyan, J. (2010). The Pilgrim’s Progress. Barbour Books.

2) O’Donovan, O., & O’Donovan, J. L. (1999). From Irenaeus to Grotius: A Sourcebook in Christian Political Thought, 100-1625. Pg. 679

3) A mighty fortress. (n.d.). Hymnary.org. https://hymnary.org/text/a_mighty_fortress_is_our_god_a_bulwark