How Should a Christian Think About Voting?
Last Thursday, I opened the family mailbox and found a bowhunting magazine, an envelope
announcing a special rate offer for universal life insurance (prepared just for me!), and the official 2022 Pierce County Voter’s Guide. It was thick this year. Just shy of phone book territory. So what am I supposed to do with this thing, as a Christian? Read it all, cover to cover? Browse ahead to just the “big race”? Spend a day in prayer and fasting before making my choice for Port Commissioner, Position 6? Or toss it in the recycle bin with life insurance?
Below are some reflections on Christians and voting. To be clear, this is not a guide for WHO you should vote for. But rather, a reflection on both the HOW of voting, from a Christian perspective, pointing us to the larger WHY behind all that we do – including filling out a ballot.
announcing a special rate offer for universal life insurance (prepared just for me!), and the official 2022 Pierce County Voter’s Guide. It was thick this year. Just shy of phone book territory. So what am I supposed to do with this thing, as a Christian? Read it all, cover to cover? Browse ahead to just the “big race”? Spend a day in prayer and fasting before making my choice for Port Commissioner, Position 6? Or toss it in the recycle bin with life insurance?
Below are some reflections on Christians and voting. To be clear, this is not a guide for WHO you should vote for. But rather, a reflection on both the HOW of voting, from a Christian perspective, pointing us to the larger WHY behind all that we do – including filling out a ballot.
Two responses to avoid:
1. IDOLATRY
For many in our culture, politics has taken the place of God in their hearts and minds. They worship politics. They put their hope in politics. They think about politics, all the time – fretting over the latest polls and engaging in heated Twitter spats with members of the opposite party while talking to anyone and everyone they can about the candidates they love (or even more often – the candidates they despise).
Not so the follower of Jesus. For the Christian, God is in charge. Full stop. Regardless what happens on the first Tuesday in November, this always has been and always will be a bedrock truth on which we can stand. So when a Christian takes their ballot in hand, they do so with full hope and full confidence in the One who sits on the throne of heaven…regardless of who sits in the chambers of congress.
2. APATHY
For others in our culture, politics have become a wearisome sideshow from which they are happy to withdraw altogether. Whether it’s because they are sick of the endless attack ads, the increasingly polarized parties, allegations of corruption, or just the hard math that tells them their one little vote out of hundreds of thousands isn’t going to make the difference in this election….these are the people who toss their ballot in the bin, atop the life insurance, and pick up the magazine. After all, if God is in charge, why bother?
For many in our culture, politics has taken the place of God in their hearts and minds. They worship politics. They put their hope in politics. They think about politics, all the time – fretting over the latest polls and engaging in heated Twitter spats with members of the opposite party while talking to anyone and everyone they can about the candidates they love (or even more often – the candidates they despise).
Not so the follower of Jesus. For the Christian, God is in charge. Full stop. Regardless what happens on the first Tuesday in November, this always has been and always will be a bedrock truth on which we can stand. So when a Christian takes their ballot in hand, they do so with full hope and full confidence in the One who sits on the throne of heaven…regardless of who sits in the chambers of congress.
2. APATHY
For others in our culture, politics have become a wearisome sideshow from which they are happy to withdraw altogether. Whether it’s because they are sick of the endless attack ads, the increasingly polarized parties, allegations of corruption, or just the hard math that tells them their one little vote out of hundreds of thousands isn’t going to make the difference in this election….these are the people who toss their ballot in the bin, atop the life insurance, and pick up the magazine. After all, if God is in charge, why bother?
So why should a Christian vote?
1. VOTING AS A MEANS OF HONORING GOD
What is the first and greatest commandment? “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37, echoing Deuteronomy 6:5). This command encompasses the totality of our humanity. There is no aspect of who you are or what you do that is not to be oriented around the love of God and the glory of God….including voting.
The concept of stewardship can be applied here. Whatever God has given to us – money, talent, time, health, etc. – is not given to us for OUR sake alone, but rather is to be stewarded BY us for the glory of God and the good of others. So if God has placed you in a democracy and given you a ballot (a gift not all people get to enjoy), how then should you steward that gift?
2. VOTING AS A MEANS OF LOVING YOUR NEIGHBOR
“And a second is like it: you shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39). It’s worth noting that your vote doesn’t just affect you; it affects all the others who will be represented by that lawmaker or governed by the laws they enact. So for the Christian, voting shouldn’t be simply a matter of expressing your personal will. It should be viewed as a conscious act of love toward others as you consider what is best for your neighbors. Particularly, consideration of the rights and needs of those who cannot vote in US elections (children, unborn, non-citizens, people in other countries, etc.) should be a uniquely Christian concern as we take our ballots in hand.
What is the first and greatest commandment? “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37, echoing Deuteronomy 6:5). This command encompasses the totality of our humanity. There is no aspect of who you are or what you do that is not to be oriented around the love of God and the glory of God….including voting.
The concept of stewardship can be applied here. Whatever God has given to us – money, talent, time, health, etc. – is not given to us for OUR sake alone, but rather is to be stewarded BY us for the glory of God and the good of others. So if God has placed you in a democracy and given you a ballot (a gift not all people get to enjoy), how then should you steward that gift?
2. VOTING AS A MEANS OF LOVING YOUR NEIGHBOR
“And a second is like it: you shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39). It’s worth noting that your vote doesn’t just affect you; it affects all the others who will be represented by that lawmaker or governed by the laws they enact. So for the Christian, voting shouldn’t be simply a matter of expressing your personal will. It should be viewed as a conscious act of love toward others as you consider what is best for your neighbors. Particularly, consideration of the rights and needs of those who cannot vote in US elections (children, unborn, non-citizens, people in other countries, etc.) should be a uniquely Christian concern as we take our ballots in hand.
Before you vote
Below are some steps you might find helpful (with thanks to Karl and Jill Newman!)
- Pray for God‘s wisdom and guidance to apply biblical perspectives and values.
- Read about the candidates and their positions in the official voters’ pamphlet.
- Evaluate the candidate’s statements.
- Look at their endorsements. Endorsements are an indication of the values of the people who are doing the endorsing and the person being endorsed.
- Look at their volunteer work/community service. Are they serving organizations that support God’s values as identified in the Bible?
- Look at education and work experience
- Look for leadership experience. Does the candidate have experience leading groups of people?
- We evaluated a number of resources this year and found two good resources that will help us evaluate candidates, including their voting record, public statements, speeches etc. www.votesmart.org and www.ivoterguide.org
- Once we have done our research, we vote for the candidate whose values, positions, promises and voting record are most closely aligned to God’s values as stated in the Bible.