In a new study conducted by George Barna, in which he interviewed 2000 church-going self-identified Christians, his results were shocking. 49% said they were unlikely to vote. Here are their reasons:
- 68% said they are not interested in politics
- 57% said they disliked the major candidates
- 55% said they felt like none of the candidates reflect their most important views
- 52% believed their vote will not have an impact
- 50% said the election has become too controversial
This episode addresses these reasons for NOT voting.
Thinking biblically about our participation in an election, in which we 1) dislike both candidates, 2) are sickened by the politicization of everything, 3) are disgusted by the harsh rhetoric of both sides, and 4) are questioning whether our single vote really matters takes us back over 4000 years to God’s words to the first two humans he created, explaining his reason for creating them. God said he created us to be images of himself. God’s inherent royalty, i.e. his kingship, his creativity, his love within the three persons of the Godhead, his holiness, and many other of his attributes would be revealed in this creature called man whose purpose would be putting God, himself, on display before all the angels by bearing God’s image. So, God created man—the union of male and female--to exhibit: 1) God’s kingship by giving them the kingdom earth to rule, 2) his creativity by calling them to explore and maximize the potential of that kingdom, 3) God's love by creating other humans to be loved, 4) his holiness by writing his moral law upon their hearts. God’s familiar words were:
“Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And LET THEM HAVE DOMINION over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So, God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and SUBDUE IT (Gen 1:26-28).
As the first humans were fruitful and productive, the resources and population grew, requiring Adam and Eve to exercise dominion over the CULTURE that emerged as they fulfilled their calling to CULTIVATE their kingdom. Worshipful love for their creator and love for his image bearers—other humans—was to shape the culture that evolved as the population grew, labor diversified, and ownership of the resources in the garden became more complex. Exercising dominion over this emerging, complex set of relationships—a person’s relationship to God, to the earth’s resources and to one another—was the calling of King Adam and Queen Eve. They were to exercise dominion FOR God, in obedience to his moral law, which, as the Apostle Paul told us, is written on every image bearer’s heart.
But instead, Adam and Eve joined the rebellion against God, aligning their kingdom with Satan, sin, and because of sin, death. These three ruled, until God himself came as the Second Adam. Jesus overthrew these three usurpers of Adam’s kingdom, triumphing over them at the cross, proving in his resurrection that sin and death’s hold on Adam’s race and kingdom were broken. Then, Jesus ascended as the Second Adam to do what the first Adam was originally called to do—exercise righteous rule over Adam’s kingdom, earth. In Christ, Christians recover Adam’s calling to shape the culture over the earth. Jesus commanded, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations. Notice that Jesus did NOT say make disciples in every nation or from every nation but OF every nation, meaning that not just individuals but entire nations are to be discipled, i.e. we are to shape the culture of all nations. All Christians are now restored to Adam’s original calling, the NT expression of which is stated, “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.”
Returning to the topic of this election, having the opportunity to choose government leaders through the process of voting for representative government, as we experience in this nation, is a privilege and responsibility that most Christians in the world never dreamed of having. It is a direct way to fulfill Jesus’ great commission, of using our God-given political influence to “disciple” our nation, i.e. align its values with Christ’s kingdom of righteousness. With this fundamental calling to use our influence to shape the culture of our nation in mind, let’s respond to some arguments Christians make NOT to vote.
A REVULSION TO POLITICS
It could simply be that a Christian has never been that interested in politics or that the hostility of the two sides to each other is repulsive to him or her. Besides, the church should focus on seeking first the kingdom of God, not the kingdom of man gained by a political party or candidate, especially since almost every politician claims God is on his side. Furthermore, it is argued, as the spiritual wasteland of Europe proves, the fastest way to kill Christianity is aligning it with politics and creating a state church. Separation of church and state, though misstated by the political left to marginalize Christians and keep religious values out of the public square, is nevertheless a legitimate Biblical principle of keeping the power of the sword to coerce given to the state distinct from the power of the Word to persuade given to the church.
I understand this distinction, but I see no way that the refusal to take advantage of an opportunity to shape the culture by using my vote to support the policies that most align with Christ’s kingdom righteousness is NOT disobedience to God’s cultural mandate. Using our political rights may be unpleasant but since when is unpleasantness an excuse for disobedience. We were CREATED in God’s image to shape culture (Genesis 1). We were RECREATED in Christ’s image to shape culture (Matt 6:33). Failure to vote because politics is unpleasant is disobedience.
WITH OVER 100 MILLION VOTES CAST—MINE DOESN’T MATTER
160 million people voted in the 2020 election. One vote, out of 160 million, doesn’t seem likely to make a difference. So, why should I bother voting? Here are three reasons:
A. One vote matters a lot in local elections. When most people think about elections, they tend to focus on the presidential race. But state and local elections, which are decided by far fewer votes, can have a significant impact on our lives. In most elections, there are ballot measures that will determine local and state laws... everything from rules about utilities or transportation to restrictions on abortion and law enforcement.
- In 2017, a Virginia House of Delegates race ended in a tie after more than 23,000 ballots were cast. According to the rules, the winner was decided by pulling a name out of a bowl.
- In 2016, a New Mexico State House seat was decided by just two votes out of 14,000 that were cast.
- School board elections, which happen in every town in America, determine what students will be taught at school. Many of these races are decided by just hundreds of total votes.
B. If lots of people decide their vote doesn’t matter, it makes a big difference. In 2020, approximately 240 million Americans were eligible to vote. However, only 168 million were registered to vote, and only 158 million actually voted for president. That means 82 million people who could have voted for a presidential candidate chose not to. In the end, Joe Biden, who was elected president, received 81 million votes, which was only 34% of eligible voters.
C. Voting is an act of stewardship. Romans 13 tells us that government was created by God to punish evil and reward good. If any of us had been born into a royal family and were destined to be king or queen, we would be responsible to use the power God gave us to punish evil and reward good. In America, all citizens have been granted authority to determine who should be in government offices. The church has a vital role—defining what good and evil are for the state. Part of the way that voice is heard in a democracy is through our vote. Though the ultimate outcome may be beyond our control, our stewardship of the authority God has given us is part of our responsibility. (see What Would You Say, Colson Center).
I DON’T LIKE EITHER CANDIDATE
Many of us had hoped for a different candidate to represent the Republican Party. But we must put a biblical lens over the attitude, “I don’t like either candidate and I’m not sure that in good conscience I can vote for either.” Here is a response:
A. The vote for president isn’t about liking a candidate; it is not a vote for “Mr. or Ms. Congeniality.” Choosing the Commander-in-Chief of America is a responsibility that is very different than voting for high school class superlatives like, most popular, best personality, or most friendly. Most of the best leaders of the world would fail to win “most likeable” contests.
B. The vote for president is a hiring decision. It is filling the top job vacancy in the US government with the candidate who is most likely to do a good job. The benefit of a CEO to his shareholders and employees is the effectiveness of his leadership and policies he will implement—not whether he is a nice guy who would be your first choice with whom to have a beer.
C. It is a choice between candidates both of whose characters are flawed. There is no candidate without character flaws. Here are some thoughts to consider in evaluating character flaws in this election.
- We live in an age when both sides use the ad hominem argument, which attacks the character of your opponent. Trump childishly belittles his opponents relentlessly, which all Christians should find extremely repulsive. Jesus was severe in his words about character assassination, Anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca, is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell. The Democrats employ ad hominem arguments incessantly, labeling anyone who disagrees with their cultural Marxist ideology racist, homophobic, or transphobic and demonizing Donald Trump as Hitler incarnate. Here are the words from a news conference called earlier this week by Kamala Harris to attack Trump’s character: "Donald Trump is someone who certainly falls into the general definition of fascists, who in fact vowed to be a dictator on day one and vowed to use the military as his personal militia to carry out his political vendettas. Donald Trump is increasingly unhinged and unstable." Perhaps such demonization should not surprise us since Democrats called George Bush, Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon “Hitler” also.
- As the Colson Center for Christian Worldview points out, “A vote doesn’t always mean, ‘I think they’re great.’ It may just mean I think they’re better.’ On social media we ‘like’ posts as a way of affirming someone. In some ways, a ‘vote’ feels the same, so we hesitate to vote because it feels like we’re affirming the person or showing our complete approval of everything they say and do. But voting to fill government offices is not the same as ‘liking’ an Instagram post. It’s more like interviewing someone for a job. You may not be excited about any of the job applicants, but you still must hire someone to fill the position” (Ibid).
- A grace perspective that recognizes that character flaws are the flip side of character strengths can make living with flawed candidates more tolerable.
For example, Kamala Harris’ dishonesty is striking. She consistently lied that she saw nothing about Joe Biden’s cognitive decline and even after the debate, she denied this reality saying, “it was just a bad debate.” She is advertising in front of a border wall, which Donald Trump built saying she will fix the border problem, when her administration caused the problem. Harris criticized the border wall over fifty times, calling it stupid, useless and Trump’s medieval vanity project. She called for defunding ICE and shutting down of the ICE detention centers. Every time she had a chance in the Senate to vote for funding the border wall she voted against it. As a senator, she tried to take $220 million out of ICE’s Enforcement Division.
But I believe that Kamala Harris, though lying about her border view, sincerely believes open borders help to right the wrong of financial inequity around the world. Kamala Harris believes cultural Marxism if not economic Marxism. Her father was a Marxist economics professor. This ideology sincerely believes that poverty is the fault of the rich business and landowners. When asked about her economic approach to high grocery prices, Harris revealed her Marxist, blame-the-rich mindset referring to price gouging, indicating that she would use price controls. Then she pointed to her actions in California, also revealing her Marxist, blame-the-rich mindset when she took action against the "evil" banks that foreclosed on those who defaulted on their home loans. Marxism believes the state should force economic equity, taking wealth from the evil rich and distributing it to the victimized poor. Such ideologues sincerely believe that Americans unfairly have too much wealth and that every poor immigrant looking for a better life has a right to come to America and enjoy our prosperity, whether coming illegally or not. From a character perspective she is a liar concerning closing the border and Joe Biden's memtal health. But I believe she is rationalizing such dishonesty because the elites know best how to help the poor. There is good evidence that she cares about the poor, the disenfranchised, and destitute. So, I don’t think open borders just mean more votes in the future to her. From her youth she appears to have been raised to believe that Marxist policies help the poor.
Donald Trump’s self-confident arrogance is an off-putting character flaw. This flaw can’t be covered up. But. I have asked myself, “Could anyone without a very strong ego actually succeed at taking on cultural Marxism's vice grip on this culture?" Think of what Trump has endured: 1) three years of media lies and Department of Justice corruption accusing him of Russian collusion from a story proven to be from Hilary Clinton’s campaign, 2) the unprecedented dishonesty of the corrupt social media which suppressed facts about his successes and US enemies' bribes to Hunter Biden, 3) relentless frivolous lawsuits and criminal charges brough by corrupt Democrat attorneys and prosecutors, 4) the invasion of his and his family’s privacy in a legally baseless FBI raid of his and Milania'a bedroom and the rest of Mar-a-Lago, 5) hatred from the media that is so vicious and inexplicable that conservatives have labeled it Trump Derangement Syndrome, 6) two assassination attempts, 7) a Democrat Party that does not care whether calling Trump a dangerous fascist incites a mentally unstable gunman to make another assassination attempt. What Trump has endured is no justification for arrogance. I’m just saying that character flaws are often the flip side of strengths. Trump is arrogant. But the strength he brings to the table as a fighter for what he believes in is an asset that can’t be ignored, especially in facing down America’s enemies.
D. If you don’t like either candidate, remember that you cast your vote for the leaders WHOSE POLICIES most correspond to the righteousness of Christ’s kingdom. Character always matters, but if the options don’t include a person we can enthusiastically support, maybe they represent policies that we can enthusiastically support. Is one candidate working on behalf of the abortion industry, while the other works to defend life? Does one candidate defend conscience rights while the other supports suing nuns and churches that live out their faith? Does one candidate want parents involved in their child’s education and health care decisions while the other wants the state to interfere with parental rights? Every voter must work out which issues matter most, but in a situation where all the candidates are flawed, we can gain clarity about who to vote for based on the policies they endorse” (Ibid).
E. If you don’t like either individual candidate, vote for the best team. No politician works alone. Most candidates are part of a political party, and all candidates have donors and supporters. Executive offices, like mayors, governors, and presidents also appoint cabinet members, judges, ambassadors, and thousands of other positions that affect how government operates. In choosing one candidate over another, it’s important to think about the team that each brings along with them. If neither coach is ideal, which direction is the team going? Voting isn’t always easy. As in all of life, we’re often presented with imperfect choices, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t vote (Ibid).
When this final episode of this series, Election 2024 and Biblical Worldview is published, the election will be just 9 days away. May each of us do what God told us he created us to do over four thousand years ago: Use our influence with other voters and our own vote to, as best we can, elect leaders whose policies most align with Jesus’ kingdom of righteousness.
Just one final thought as we close. No matter who wins the Nov 5th election Christians will have to continue to battle the same anti-biblical views identified in this podcast series over the past seven weeks, especially cultural Marxism. These culture-shaping views aren’t going away, anytime soon, unless the Lord returns.
For Further Prayerful Thought
- How would you explain the connection between God’s reason for creating human beings (to bear his image) and the Christian responsibility as redeemed human beings to vote?
- What are the logical flaws in a Christian’s argument that with over 100 million votes cast his doesn’t matter?
- How would you respond to someone who said, “I don’t like either candidate and I’m not sure that, in good conscience, I can vote for either”?
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