In todays heated political climate and the 24/7 news cycle pushing non-stop drama and divisiveness the importance of voting has been magnified. As a Christian, it’s important to consider if the way you vote is in alignment with your beliefs, values and biblical directives.
On election day, voters in Tennessee will be asked if they want to change a peculiar provision in the state constitution that prohibits ministers of religion from running for office. The strange history of the clause has been covered by CT, and it hasn’t been in use since the 1970s, when the Supreme Court declared it to be an unconstitutional restriction on religious freedom. Pastors in Tennessee already have the option to run for the state house, and they frequently do so.
The issue of Christian political participation is directly addressed by this amendment. The media has extensively covered the subject, covering evangelicals’ voting history, partisan affiliation, policy stances, generational patterns, and denominational divisions.
Christians are actively calling one another to loyal political action while they are also busy publishing books and speaking sermons. Depending on who is speaking or writing, the message differs greatly: One man’s faithfulness is another man’s submission to a Godless culture of death.
However, despite the fact that we discuss politics and religion nonstop, I doubt many of us have a clear-cut notion of how to engage in politics. In other words, we tend to or feel obligated to engage in politics in a way that is consistent with our faith, but what does it actually entail? There are four questions we should be asking in this situation, but two of them often get overlooked.
1. What does X have to do with the Bible?
This is a simple topic that we frequently pose (a recent CT article titled “Is Student Loan Forgiveness Biblical?” serves as an example). Of all, Scripture doesn’t explicitly address the majority of contemporary policy issues, so the solutions aren’t always obvious. That is not to say that we should cease posing the subject.
However, it does imply that we frequently need to be more modest in our responses, particularly when we’re discussing laws involving organizations or modern innovations that did not exist during the time of the Bible. A policy is not a biblical commandment just because it is consistent with the Bible. In order to properly respond to this question, careful study of the biblical record is required. Ideally, this study should be done in conversation with other Christians who hold different viewpoints (either in person or through reading). This will ensure that we don’t just keep coming back to the same, uninspiring texts.
2. Do I speak and behave in a Christlike manner?
Even though it’s an old question, it’s currently up for debate. That the Beatitudes still apply to politics and that we are still asked to be gracious, meek peacemakers when we vote, campaign, and tweet ought to go without saying.
However, one of the harmful outcomes of the previous five years was the normalization of shaming, ridicule, and belligerence among candidates and pundits that Christians back as desirable political qualities.
A person doesn’t necessarily wash his hands of guilt by transferring that sin to another person, as commentator David French has observed. We might not be stirring up hostility toward other people ourselves. Or, to put it more simply, one doesn’t follow the instruction to “love your enemy” by hiring someone to hate them on your behalf. Beyond reviewing our own political conduct, Christians should think about whether we’ve grown overly tolerant in what we permit our family members to say to or about public leaders.
3. Does my political fervor stem from misguided adoration, dread, rage, or worship?
This third question is one that I hear more and more, in part because Augustine’s claim that our lives are guided by our loves has received increased attention in works like James K. A. Smith’s You Are What You Love and Kaitlyn Schiess’ The Liturgy of Politics.
