Are you seeking wisdom for the election from the Word of God or from the world around you? Do you see your political views as separate from your religious views? As followers of Christ, there is no part of our life that doesn’t belong to God.
I voted early this week so it seemed fitting to write a post on the election. I know what you’re thinking, “Can we leave politics out of it?” The truth is, no we can’t. God and His Word must influence everything we do, including how we vote. While I will share with you how I vote, my desire is not to sway you on how to vote. Instead, my prayer is that you would seek the wisdom of God when deciding how to vote.
Jesus is King
Two weekends ago many gathered for ‘No Kings’ rallies across the country. The exact number of people depends on where you get your news. Participants attempted to reject our president as a king. Instead, their behavior showed that they reject the King of Kings.
For kingship belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations. Psalm 22:28
Many adults (and children) held signs that celebrated sexual sin, assassination, and hate. Many also demonstrated behavior fueled by anger. Again, whether or not you saw any of this depends on where you get your news.
We as Christians do have a King, and His name is Jesus Christ. Our actions should demonstrate that Jesus is the Lord of our life. These types of events on both sides are fueled by strong emotions. As followers of Christ, we need to be sure that we are ruled by godly wisdom and not by our emotions.
Policy is Key
I vote Republican not because I believe all Republicans are Christians. It’s also not because I believe that all Republicans are perfect, always say the right thing, or are sinless. I know from Scripture we all fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). Politicians’ failures remind me that we were never meant to worship men. Instead, we were made to worship God.
For this reason, policy is key for me when I vote. Republican policies value life, family, and freedom. In 1 Timothy 2:1-4, Paul, led by the Holy Spirit, paints a picture of what a government pleasing to God looks like. He says that we should pray for a government that allows us to lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This type of living by Christians encourages others to be saved and to come to the knowledge of truth.
Because I want others to come to the knowledge of truth, I vote for the party that celebrates and encourages Biblical marriage and God’s design for men and women. The policies of the Democratic party seek to appease and align with the unbelieving world. According to James 4:4 that makes all who support them an enemy of God. Republican policies allow me to value life, flee from sin, and love my neighbor.
Value Life
If you are a follower of Christ and you believe that He approves of the over one million murders of unborn children that occurs every year in this country then Christ is not your Lord, Baal is. The God who knits us in our mother’s womb and made women to bring forth and nurture life, does not wish for mothers to terminate the lives that He created.
For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. Psalm 139:13
I speak to so many Christians who support abortion, and they tell anecdotal stories to support their opinion. That does not explain the million aborted babies each year and doesn’t change the fact that abortion should never have become an elective procedure anyone could use as birth control. In an effort to celebrate abortion, the world has devalued children and motherhood.
Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Psalm 127:3
Don’t hear what I am not saying. God can, will, and I have seen Him redeem women who have had an abortion. However, we should desire that women not have to experience the consequences of abortion or worse have their hearts hardened to what is taking place during an abortion.
Flee From Sin
He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. 1 Peter 2:24
Unfortunately, we take sin lightly, but God does not. It is the very thing that separates us from God in this life and in eternity. Because of sin, Jesus Christ stepped into His creations, lived a perfect life, bore our sin, was beaten and crucified, and rose on the third day.
Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. 1 Corinthians 6:18
God calls us to live to righteousness and yet sexual sin is where I see so many professing Christians draw the line or walk away from the faith. God’s Word does not take sexual sin lightly and yet it is something the world and the Democratic party flaunt and celebrate. Those who do not struggle with sexual sin but choose to encourage it are leading our loved ones headlong into separation from God for eternity.
Love Your Neighbor
In order to love my neighbor I need to be able to point them to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Devaluing life and celebrating sin is not how we point our neighbors to Christ. So many unbelievers and Democrats use this command to rationalize condoning sin, excusing criminal behavior, opening borders, and misusing tax dollars.
This command begins with the command to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength (Mark 12:30-31). Love your neighbor as yourself is not a command we can use for any worldly and ungodly thing we want. It is a command to love others in a way that points them to God.
In 2 Timothy 2:24-26, Paul writes, And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. Paul goes on to explain why we are to act this way, so that God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.
Vote With Godly Wisdom
I can say so much more on each of these topics, as well as give more reasons for why I vote the way I do. However, that is not my desire. Instead I pray that you prayerfully consider what determines how you vote. Make sure God’s Word is guiding you and not your emotions and the world. Be able to point to Scripture that explains why you believe what you believe. Seek godly wisdom through prayer and the study of God’s Word before voting in any election.
Want to talk more about politics? I welcome your questions and comments. Send me an email through my Contact Page.