How Christians Must Vote
If you call yourself a follower of Jesus, here are some non-negotiables for the way you show up politically this week.
Christians should vote with a vision of Jesus on the throne. Jesus is the King, and we are first and foremost citizens of His Kingdom. In that Kingdom, the last are first. The meek and the humble are exalted. The hungry are fed and the lonely are set in families. The sojourners are treated with dignity. True justice reigns. Weapons are beaten into plowshares. See Psalm 68, Isaiah 2 & 55, Exodus 23, Matt 5-7.
Christians should vote with an eye toward true righteousness. We participate politically not because it’s the end game, but because it’s one way we can (hopefully) participate in making our world more just, beautiful, and orderly for the good of all human life – more like that Kingdom that is coming. If our hearts are not broken by ALL idolatry, ALL evil, ALL death, and ALL suffering, we may not truly be aligned with true, godly righteousness. See Isaiah 33, Matt 5:6, Romans 3.
Christians should vote not just to benefit their own interests, but with an eye to the interests of others. We are called to be people who have died to ourselves. We are called to be sacrificial servants, in the same way that Jesus was. I don’t know why voting would be the one area where you got a free pass to be as self-seeking and power hungry and offendable as you feel justified in. Does that mean you must ignore your needs and priorities? No, of course not. But it means that consideration of others – particularly the vulnerable in our society - should feature prominently in your thinking, too. Psalm 82:3, Prov. 31:8-9, Isaiah 58, 1 Cor. 10.
Christians should vote with an uncompromised desire for the things of God. Yes, perhaps you have to pick the lesser of two evils (as I continue to hear). Yes, this might mean weighing the reality of policies and world affairs. But to celebrate one of two political agendas that both gravely miss large portions of God’s heart for the world? I don’t know how we do that. God’s vision for us is so much bigger, so much brighter, than all of this. Don’t shut off the part of your heart that longs for it – that’s the part of your heart that longs for heaven. See Revelation 21, Matt 6:19-21, Ephesians 6:12.
Christians MUST vote with the knowledge that, regardless of the outcome, you are on the hook to serve your community AND share the full Gospel. At some point, the political glasses must be removed. We are STILL called to look struggling people – women who are in desperate situations and scary pregnancies, immigrants fleeing from calamity, families who can’t feed their kids – in the eye and meet their needs as the hands and feet of Jesus. See James 2, Jer. 22:3, Mark 9:35.
In short, Christians should vote as citizens of another Kingdom, not citizens of this broken, fleeting empire. The way of Jesus is narrow. Countercultural. Unpopular. Costly. The way we show up to the ballots should reflect the reality that this is not our home, and yet we are here to bring Good News to it. Grace and peace. We can do this.
