We’re just a few days away from the mid-term election and early voting is already underway. Many of us have already grown weary with the bombardment of political ads and messaging. It is unrelenting. In many cases it is also a reminder of the nefarious political tactics, haranguing, and maligning employed to gain approval, the upper hand, and win votes. Add all this to a tense political climate culturally and it’s just about enough to make you want to wash your hands from it all!
So why should we care about politics as Christians? Why be informed, involved, and vote, especially in a mid-term election?
Looking into Scripture, I want to highlight four biblical considerations that capture our needed concern and involvement in politics:
First, consider that God cares about politics.
God, as creator who made all things good, has placed design and order into his creation. This design and order from the Creator is given so that man may live good and peaceful lives (Psalm 1:1-3, Genesis 1-2, 1 Timothy 2:1-4). In the executing of his design and by his ultimate authority God has instituted governments as His delegated authority, to whom we submit (Genesis 9:5-6 and Romans 13:1-4). He has charged them with carrying out this design of ordering and watching over the affairs of man to live life according to creation’s plan. This doesn’t mean God approves of everything government does, but it does mean government has been given a God-ordained responsibility to order our society. As David Closson has written, “Government was God’s idea,… Christians should think about it and engage with it in a way that is consistent with its God-ordained purpose.”
Second, consider biblical examples of political involvement and concern.
The Bible is filled with numerous examples of believers who were involved in politics. In the Old Testament, Moses confronted Pharaoh; Daniel lived, worked in, and challenged Nebuchadnezzar’s court; Elijah spoke against Ahab; Esther spoke on behalf of the Jews to Xerxes (Ahasuerus). In the New Testament, John the Baptist confronted Herod; Peter and John spoke to the Sanhedrin; and Paul appealed to his Roman citizenship to avoid a beating and as a Roman for a trial before Caesar. Even though their citizenship was in heaven (Philippians 3:20-21), these individuals as “strangers and exiles” lived in the “city of Man” and involved themselves in political matters. They serve as meaningful models for us today.
Third, consider Jesus’ command to love our neighbors.
We are to care about politics because we are commanded to love and care for our neighbors. On the heels of the greatest command to love the Lord God with all our heart, soul, and mind Jesus commands us to love our neighbors (Matthew 22:36-40). Loving our neighbors means seeking God’s best for them and their lives. It’s our loving effort to see God’s good design come to fruition on their behalf. Jeremiah 29:7 captures this neighbor love in relation to politics when the Jews exiled to Babylon were told to “seek the welfare of the city” where they lived. Seeking the well-being of our communities, cities, counties, and country is a way we can express this love through political engagement.
We engage in politics because we want to follow Jesus’ command. We need to understand this at a national level but also in our local political races and issues. What is happening with our school boards, commissioners, mayors, local and state representatives is an important part of ordering our lives and loving our neighbors so that they may know God’s best for their lives. As we exercise our vote, we should seek the good of our communities and nation, allowing the truths of Scripture and the convictions of our Christian faith to inform our decisions.
Finally, consider the cause of the gospel.
The church’s mission is beyond politics. We know that we have a gospel mission. We know we are not called to make citizens for Caesar but disciples for Christ. However, politics has a bearing on the church’s mission. How life is ordered in politics does have an effect on the proclamation and advancement of the gospel. We see the restrictive effects of government on the proclamation of the gospel in communist countries where religious liberty is suppressed. By contrast, we see the benefits of religious freedom in nations where those liberties are protected.
The freedom of religion and speech, along with a free church operating in a free state, has allowed our nation to play an extraordinary role in getting the gospel out around the world. This has happened in part because of politics. Ultimately, the gospel will not be stopped but maintaining our religious liberties and freedoms can help the gospel to continue to go forth.
As Christians we cannot be unconcerned about politics. To borrow a term from theologian Wayne Grudem, we should seek to exert “significant Christian influence” on government and the political sphere. We should strive to be politically active. While that may take place in a variety of ways, the most basic is by casting a vote in political elections. Grudem writes, “Because in a democracy a significant portion of the ruling power of government is entrusted to the citizens generally, through the ballot box. To be able to vote is to have a share of ruling power. Therefore, all citizens who are old enough to vote have a responsibility before God to know what God expects of civil government and what kind of moral and legal standards he wants government to follow.”
I think Grudem is right. Despite all the mess and mudslinging in the political arena, Christians have an obligation before God to be involved in the government He has ordained, and under which they live. Included in this obligation is the casting of your ballot.
So, head to the polls. Cast your ballot and vote to the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31).