How Should a Christian vote?

By: Pastor Michael Matejka

Last week Pastor Brandon and I started this blog. When deciding on the list of topics that we wanted to

address, Brandon thought a great first topic for me to write on, to make no enemies, and to not

ruffle any feathers, would be on politics… so here goes…

I want to take a moment to remind and reiterate a main principle that Brandon wrote last week.

Read these blogs with an open Bible. That is how it will best be received. I will be using the ESV

in this blog.

Before we get into Biblical principles which should govern how one casts their votes, we need to

address another question. Should a Christian vote? I have met many a Christian who believe that

they shouldn’t vote and I myself used to feel the same way. We should be about the Gospel and

not focused on politics, right?

Separating the Gospel and politics is an error. The Gospel is pervasive and penetrates all areas of

life. In Matthew 28, verses 18-20 when Jesus ascends into heaven, He tells us that He holds all

authority on heaven and on earth. We are given the commission by King Jesus to make disciples

of all nations, but it doesn’t stop there. We are told to make disciples and to teach them to obey

all that He has commanded of us. Christians are commissioned by Jesus to teach the nations to

obey the God of the universe, and this goes hand in hand with the Gospel. We are told to repent

and believe, to turn from our sin and follow Christ and His ways, and then to preach this to the

world, to call people to live under the rule of their King Jesus whom they are in rebellion against.

Fundamentally, politics is legislating morality, and the Scriptures have a lot to say on morality.

When there is a law in place that says, ‘You shall not murder’, we as Christians recognize the

good in that because of the Biblical foundation. God says, “Thou shall not murder” (Ex 20:13)

for all men are created in the image of God (Gen 1:27). It is wrong for people to murder other

people because God says it is wrong. It is wrong to steal from other people because God says it is

wrong (Ex 20:15). Without the Word of God, there is no foundation to what is good and evil.

With this understanding that the Government legislates morality, what does God say is the role of

the Government? Paul speaks on this in Romans 13:1-7. In verse 4, Paul writes that the

government whom God has appointed is His deacon (διάκονός). A deacon is a minister, or a

servant, and the governments in this world are God’s deacons. Now some are good deacons and

many are bad deacons. Regardless, they are all called to submit to King Jesus. It’s important to

note, that when we as Christians are called to submit to government authorities, our submission

to God supersedes any submission to government if they are not in alignment with one another.

Now along with the title or office of God’s deacon comes responsibilities. These responsibilities

are: (1) to be a terror to bad conduct by bearing the sword of justice, and (2) to approve what is

good. The government carries out these roles through the establishment of laws, and the

enforcement of said laws.

Our government invites us to share our voice. God calls all kings, all leaders, all governments to

submit to Christ’s authority and rule (Ps 2:6-12). We are given the privilege in this nation to do

the work of a prophet and to tell our government what God says, what He commands of them.

God commands all governments to do justice, to not bear the sword in vain. We as Christians

must love justice the way God does. One of the main gripes Jesus had with the Pharisees during

His ministry on earth was that they neglected the weightier matters of the law of God. Justice,

Mercy, and Faithfulness (Mat 23:23-24). The leaders of Israel were chastised for their failure to

uphold justice. God turns His face away from a nation and a people who stand by idly and

approve of injustice (Mat 23:37-39).

In Isaiah 1, Israel was full of iniquity and evil, as the nations and many people within their nation

were offering their children in sacrifice to Molech, Israel stood by idly while such abominations

were carried out. What God says to them should pierce our hearts and convict us. (Read Isaiah

1:11-17). What to the Lord are our prayers? What to the Lord are our offerings of praise? He will

turn a deaf ear if we do not ‘cease to do evil, and seek justice, correct oppression, bring justice to

the fatherless, plead the widows cause.’

Does this mean the Christian should vote? It means we must do far more than vote. We need to

tell the world what God has commanded of them and warn them to repent and turn to God. Stand

up for justice and advocate for those who are being oppressed. Preach the Gospel to all nations

and disciple the nations. To love what is good and to hate what is evil. One of the ways we can

do this is by voting, by putting your stamp of approval or disapproval on a Person, Policy, or

Platform.

When it comes to how a Christian should vote, I will give some Biblical guidelines that should

govern the way one thinks through this subject. In blogs to come Brandon and I will dive into

more specific political issues and what the Word of God has to say regarding them.

1. God commands everyone everywhere to repent.

This is no time for apathy. Just because a nation is set to do evil does not mean we as Christ

followers throw our hands up in defeat and exclaim, “It’s going to hell in a handbasket anyway”,

or “My vote won’t make a difference”, or “I don’t like any option.”

Contrary to what many say, even writing in a blank ballot sends a message to the candidates or

those who propose policies, it tells them that they must do something more to earn a favorable

vote from a Christian. Our vote can always send a message to our leadership that the Platform,

Person, or Policy is either in opposition to God’s Word or in favor of God’s Word.

Read Jonah 3:1-4:2. Whereas the average man would believe that Ninevah was a lost cause,

God used Jonah to turn the hearts of the men in that city so that a decree went out from the King

of Ninevah that the whole city should fast, put on sackcloth, and repent. Jonah’s sin was his

hatred for the people, he knew well enough that even an evil, corrupted city like Ninevah could

return to the Lord. I find we often have the opposite problem as Jonah; we pity the people, but

have no faith that God can turn the hearts of our nation back to Him. He can, and we must

continue to act faithfully and declare the Word of the Lord to our nation. Now if the Lord

doesn’t, we still would have been faithful to our God.

2. Recognize the role of the Government vs. that of the Christian.

There is a clear distinction made in the word of God for how a Christian is to respond to personal

vendettas and how the government should step in to deal with these issues. (Read Matthew

5:38-42). Many Christians make the claim that what Jesus was doing during the Sermon on the

Mount was ‘elevating’ or ‘changing’ the law of God. This could not be further from the truth.

Jesus was by no means ‘elevating’ the law of God, Jesus was correcting their understanding of

the law of God, for the Jews of His day were twisting it for their purposes. In verse 38 Jesus

quotes Leviticus 24:20, part of the judicial law for the government of Israel. The Jews were

taking the judicial law and applying it to personal situations of revenge. (To see the Old

Testament agreeing with Jesus’s words, see these passages (Lev 19:18, Prov 20:22; 24:29)).

Christians are not to take revenge, and this has always been the case throughout the Biblical

testimony.

In Romans 12:14-21, we are told to “never avenge ourselves but to leave it to the wrath of

God…”, and in quoting Deuteronomy 32:35, “Vengeance is the Lord’s and recompense…” One

of the primary means that the Lord uses for vengeance and justice comes in the very next chapter

which we have already discussed, Romans 13. It comes from the Lord’s deacon or servant in the

governing authority which He instituted.

3. Seek Justice, Correct Oppression.

Isaiah chapter 1:16-17 is God’s command of repentance for Israel. ‘Cease to do evil, learn to do

good, seek justice, correct oppression, bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.’

The policies, platforms, and people we vote for should be judged based on God’s standard of

justice, not our own. We need to see where there is injustice and call for our government to bear

the sword it was given by God. We need to see oppression and call on our government to repent

and cease to do evil.

When we see injustice, we must call for an immediate stop (Ecl 8:11). The law is a tutor. Laws

that are enacted teach the nation what is good and what is evil. We as Christians need to

consistently show the nation what is good and evil through the preaching of God’s Word in the

public sphere, so that the laws enacted will be in alignment with God’s standard of justice, the

only true standard.

We ought not show favor to either the poor nor the rich. The standards of justice don’t change

whether we pity one’s situation or not (Lev 19:15). It is easy to let our emotions affect how we

approach reality and justice. We must not show partiality, for God sees this as an evil (Prov

24:23; 28:21). We recognize as Christians that we were saved and given mercy, and we wish to

show that same love and mercy to others. With this in mind, we must be careful in our sympathy,

that it does not turn into cruelty for the true victim (i.e. letting a poor thief off the hook is cruelty

to the middle-class shop owner who lost merchandise, likewise letting a rich thief off the hook is

cruelty to the poor man who lost his wallet).

These are guidelines that are grounded in Scripture that ought to help govern how you cast a vote

in our country. The Lord our God is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. Take heart,

for our King Jesus is in control with complete sovereign authority (Mat 28:18). As you take to

the voting booths remember that you are a Christian, everything we say and do must be done in

the name of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ (Col 3:17), proclaim His Word from your vote to

the streets with the preaching of the Gospel.

“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” – Romans 12:21