It’s not just voting

The very title here may make some people flinch.  They’ve bought into the idea that ‘politics and religion don’t mix’, or ‘the church should stay out of politics.’ That was NOT the sentiment for hundreds of years in our country, from the pulpit to the street. Most devout believers today find themselves very distressed about the current state of many current government policies, as well as the harshness they see in many campaigns.  Better to stay ‘above it all’ and not get into divisive politics.  After all, God Himself is ‘above it all.’  Does He even care about things like earthly governments? 

Does God care who is in office?

Actually, a cursory reading of scripture, especially the Old Testament, reveals that God does intervene in the affairs of nations, for various purposes.  The fact that His Kingdom is eternal, and not found in any earthly capital does not mean that He does not care about the affairs of men and of earthly governments.  For instance, we find in the book of the prophet Daniel,

He controls the course of world events; he removes kings and sets up other kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the scholars. (Daniel 2:21 NLT)

This aligns with what we see throughout the Biblical narrative. 

This includes of course, who or what kind of person is in authority.  Solomon wrote in Proverbs,

When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. (Proverbs 29:2, NKJV)

That’s an interesting word, “groan”.  It speaks of emotional or physical suffering.  Since God does care about people, and so should we, it does matter who is in office. 

If that is the case then, what should the Christian’s role be in a democracy such as ours in the United States?  It may surprise you to know that voting is not the first nor the most important thing we can do. 

Prayer is our advantage

Most people, even those who vote, confess to a feeling of powerlessness in a country as large as ours.  One vote among millions or even hundreds of millions.  But… we can exercise an influence much more disproportionate to our numbers.  We can pray. 

Wait – didn’t you say God was sovereign?  If He is going to remove and install leaders based on His judgment of things, how does it matter whether or not I pray?  Well, that IS one of the great mysteries of scripture, but this is where we need to bow to divine revelation in faith.  One of the great promises we’re given in scripture is found in 2 Chronicles 7:14, quoted in many ‘national days of prayer’ and much quoted by government leaders in days past. 

 if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14 (NKJV)

The good news is that it doesn’t take many.  Prayer is one of those things that even if a relatively small number of people do focus in prayer on seeing God’s will come to pass, He moves.  We don’t need near the large number of people we need to see change that we do when voting. 

How do we pray?

A couple of things come to mind. 

(1)  For light to shine.  Most people are cynical about politics because ‘we don’t really know the real person.’  We are dependent on the media image.  But God knows.  He is the Judge of all.  Paul referenced this principle in Ephesians,

But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light.  Ephesians 5:13

God can expose works of darkness to such a degree that they become impossible to hide.  No matter what your political persuasion, this should be an easy prayer to pray.  I pray this often.

(2)  For His person to be raised up.  The One who knows the hearts of men and women can raise up the right person, despite efforts to manipulate perception.  We should pray for this.

(3)  For God to have mercy on us.  Ultimately, we get the leaders we deserve.  Wicked people do not deserve righteous leaders, nor do righteous people deserve wicked leaders.   Pray that by God’s mercy we will be a righteous people. 

And yes, vote

Democracy was not a reality at the time of the writing of scripture.  Yet, God fearing men formed the greatest democracy in history (the U.S.) based on Biblical values, especially the value of equality of all people before God.   Many Christian writers expose current wicked political practices in their writing and our need to vote based on Christian convictions, but then reduce our response to ‘voting for godly leaders.’  While that is perhaps the ideal, sometimes that choice is not available, or we may not have a way to really know if this is true.  A more accurate way to vote by Christian convictions would be to vote by policies (NOT personalities). 

A few major policies come to mind:

Economic freedom is a Biblical principle.  It was given to us primarily by the Puritans who settled our colonies as a result of their search for religious freedom and then eventually economic freedom. I go into some detail on this in my book Modern Paganism on how the universal issue of human rights was birthed by the Christian movement. 

• High taxation and high government regulation would be against that.  The welfare system could also be seen as against that, promoting laziness and a dependency culture instead of the Biblical work ethic (2 Thessalonians 3:10). 

Strong defense and strong law and order

• Romans 13:1-4 tells us the primary role of government is to protect the people from ‘evil doers’ – foreign invaders, and those who would harm others (lawbreakers). The Christian position would be to support the Biblical definition of the role of government.

Sanctity of life

• This is the first one that comes to mind when talking about voting along the lines of Christian convictions.  For most true believers, the issue of abortion is the deal breaker and represents to them a reprehensible value in the leader who would endorse this.  The scripture is not silent about the life in the womb being a true human being. 

³⁴ For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. ¹⁴ I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well. (Psalm 139:13,14)

• When Mary, the mother of Jesus greeted Elizabeth, she said, “the babe leapt in the womb” at the sound of Mary’s voice (Luke 1:44).  This is a human being in her womb.

• Abraham Lincoln said, “If slavery is not evil, nothing is.”  That’s what most true Christians believe about the hideous practice of abortion. 

There are only three policy positions here, but I have found most Christian support them and should.

We don’t just have to despair or ‘wait out’ the next election. We can and should be salt and light. Will you join me in praying and voting? Share this simple guide with others. God loves people and so should we.