Christians & Politics

6 Points To Consider When You Are Unsure About Being Involved in Politics

1. Should believers be involved in the political process?

There are many who believe that we should and many who believe that we should not. Truth is, we are all involved in the political process whether we want to be or not. Even if we choose not to vote, our abstention is a political statement. As believers in Christ, we need to be involved with things that affect God’s creation and how it is run. Voting is a matter of stewardship. There are numerous examples in Scripture where God’s people involved themselves in the politics of the land in order to better expand the spiritual needs and the material needs of others. Government was God’s idea and it is ordained by God (Rom. 13) in order to restrain evil and promote good for the people it serves l(1 Peter 2:13-17).

2. What do Christians bring to the political table?

As individuals with a biblical worldview, we bring with us a deep sense of justice and godly principles. We should always support a party that most closely aligns with Scripture. Believers should educate themselves about moral issues and political candidates and platforms whose ideas most closely align with Scripture. Christians should be leading the pack regarding educating others on moral, social, and geopolitical issues.

3. Is God political?

God is extremely political! It is God who sets up kings and deposes them (Dan. 2:21) In the book of Leviticus, God outlined laws of how the people were supposed to worship Him, how the people were to behave towards each other, and even what they were to eat. You see, God’s idea of politics is a monarchy and those of us who are believers know that ultimately, we ought to obey God rather than man (Acts 5:29) But, God is the only monarch who should ever be considered. The Tower of Babel taught us that much. God does not like global governments and no human should ever have that much power. Both Joseph and Daniel lived in foreign lands and held high administrative office in order to benefit the people of God. Queen Esther used her influence as the queen in order to save her people from genocide.

4. Was Jesus ever political in the New Testament?

Again, Jesus was extremely political. Although the first century Jews were under Roman rule, the Roman government allowed the Jewish people to utilize their own rules and regulations as long as they did not overstep Roman law. Jesus went into the temple and overturned the tables of the money changers in (Matt. 21). That alone was a massive political move. He taught His followers how to treat one another and how they should respond to governing authorities (Rom. 13:1-2). We are to obey our governing authority as long as it does not violate God’s law.

5. What political view should Christians hold?

Christians should understand that only God can save us. Our political views can never save us. God can certainly use those who govern us for our good or for our demise. All countries do not offer its citizens the right to voice an opinion by voting for the candidate they like. But in America, we live in a democratic republic where we get to choose a person who best represents our interests and beliefs. Our interests and beliefs should always be grounded in the truth of Scripture. Because we have a representative government, we get to vote for the person who best represents the policies that are consistent with Scripture. And our involvement in politics should never outweigh our primary focus as a believer in Christ which is to share the gospel and to make disciples. 

6. So what interests and beliefs align with Scripture?

1. Christians should support Israel. All believers should pray for the peace of Israel and should forward policies that bless Israel. Therefore, all Christians should be pro-Israel.(Gen. 12:3, Numbers 24:9)

2. All believers should be pro-life because God is pro-life. Life is in the blood (Lev. 17:14) and to abort a little baby at any stage of development is taking that child’s life. There are 2 things throughout Scripture that God judges people for: idolatry and the shedding of innocent blood. You can’t get more innocent than a baby in its mother’s womb.(Isaiah 59:7, Jeremiah 19:4)

3. Marriage should be between 1 man and 1 woman. Marriage is so important in God’s economy that it is the symbol of the relationship between Christ and the Church. (Eph. 5:22)

4. There are only 2 genders. God created male and female. There is no place in Scripture where it is okay to change one’s gender or to dress as the opposite sex. (Deut. 22:5) The created order of God is that a man and a woman produce a baby. 2 men or 2 women cannot produce a baby. If God knit us together in our mother’s womb as Ps. 139 says, would it ever be okay to unravel something that He knit together? May it never be so. Part of the reason God created man and woman was for procreation. Homosexuality goes against God’s created order as well and is strictly prohibited in Scripture. Homosexuals cannot procreate. (Lev. 18:22, Rom. 1:26-27, 1 Cor. 6:9-10)

5. Believers want to be able to worship God in a safe and open assembly. And while Christians believe that only Christianity leads an individual to eternal life with God, we believe in freedom of religion, with the exception of 1 faith. There is no religion in the world that calls for the death of those who do not belong to that religion except for Islam. Religious liberty for those who mean us harm and who repeatedly state that they will kill us and take over our culture should never be tolerated. (Gal. 5:1, 2 Cor. 3:17)

6. Christians should always promote human rights and love for others. Because we are image bearers of the living God, we are to love our neighbor. (Gen. 1:27) 7.

7. We should support national boundaries because the Lord has set those boundaries. (Acts 17:26-27) Our national security depends in great part on the protection of our borders.

8. Christians should promote work. 2 Thess. 3:10 states that “if you don’t work, you don’t eat.” All of these programs that reward individuals who are able-bodied and refuse to work are going against biblical mandates. It is a blessing and a necessity to work and provide for one’s family. God honors hard work. Capitalism more closely resembles God’s economy than socialism.

9. Christians should vote for individuals who most closely show reverence for the Creator over the creation. (Rom. 1:25) All of this “green” deal stuff has many people around the world worshiping the earth instead of the One who created the earth. The dominion mandate in Gen. 1:26-28 says that mankind is to govern over the earth and not the other way around. We are to care for the earth but realize that the earth exists to provide for the needs of mankind.

10. DEI (Diversity Equality Inclusion) goes against Scripture. While believers in Christ want to show love and compassion for all people, selecting individuals because of the color of their skin, their gender, their sexual preferences, and their race create a system that is unfair and unjust because it rewards individuals who have not earned a particular job by their hard work and time. (Rom. 2:6)

God does care what political candidate you vote for. When you go behind that curtain, you may think that you’re alone, but God is with you. Your ballot should always line up with Scripture. Christians should be leading the charge to promote and vote for the political candidate whose platforms best aligns with Scripture.

John Jay, the first chief justice of the Supreme Court of the U.S. once said, “Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty, as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers.” If our current chief justice stated such a thing, he would be greatly persecuted.

The Constitution of the United States was formulated for a moral and religious group of citizens. The moral law comes from the law of God. Those laws do not change.

As far as the Democrat platform and the Republican platform are concerned, one of these platforms is about as anti-Scriptural and anti-God as it can be. None of the issues mentioned above are supported by one of these platforms. The other platform certainly does not fully line up with biblical values, but it comes far closer to lining up than does the other.

So, go out and vote! Use these issues to tell others why you are voting for a particular candidate. Believe it or not, your political stance could be a tool for witnessing and spreading the good news of the gospel of Christ.