NHNE

Many of us will be voting in the elections this coming week. While your pastors are not experts in political theory, we do believe that the Scriptures are sufficient for everything we need for life and godliness. So, if Christ is Lord over all our lives, his Word can help us honor and please him even during this election season. Here are three exhortations we would ask you to consider while seeking to navigate this election season as elect exiles. 

1. Let’s remember our primary identity and calling while protecting and advancing the church’s mission.

As Christians, our primary citizenship is in heaven (Phil. 3:20), therefore, in relation to this world, we are elect exiles (1 Pet. 1:1). We must remember that we ultimately don’t belong to this world. It is also true that we are earthly citizens of a nation in this world. But our obligations as earthly citizens must rightly be rightly qualified and prioritized according to our heavenly citizenship. As citizens of heaven, our ultimate focus is on the eternal kingdom of God (Jn. 18:36). This means that we as Christian reserve our highest allegiance to Christ and greatest affection for his church.

As citizens of heaven who have been rescued from the kingdom of darkness and been brought into the kingdom of the beloved Son (Col. 1:13), we have now been gathered into churches to continue the mission of Jesus of rescuing sinners from the wrath of God. Our mission as the church is to make disciples of all nations teaching them to observe all that Christ has commanded through the proclamation of the gospel and the planting of churches. The mission of the church has been clearly given to us by Jesus over 2000 years ago and will not change no matter who is elected in November. As citizens of heaven, we are ambassadors of Christ, sent into this lost and dying world, imploring others on behalf of Christ – be reconciled to God. (2 Cor. 5:20).

As you think about the election, don’t lose sight of our primary identity as elect exiles, and don’t lose focus on our primary calling as ambassadors of Christ who have been commissioned by Jesus to making disciples of all nations. This must be the governing reality of our lives, our priorities, and our devotion.

2. Let’s pray and steward our vote to restrain wickedness and promote righteousness
While our citizenship is in heaven, we are also citizens in this world, just like everyone else. As Christian called to love our neighbors, we should seek to be responsible earthly citizens who are salt and light (Matt. 5:13). Even as exiles in this world, we are called to seek the welfare of our cities (Jer. 29:5-7). This means that we should strive to wisely, humbly, and courageously represent Christ in the public sphere for the glory of God and the good of our neighbor.

  • Pray
    The most important weapon we have in our arsenal is prayer. It is the means that God has ordained to bring about his purposes on the earth (Matt 6:10). We are also specifically commanded to pray for our political leaders (1 Tim 2:2). We should pray that our government would protect life (Gen 9:6), and preserve conditions that facilitate human flourishing in general, and the church’s pursuit of its mission in particular. We should pray for the government to cultivate conditions for peace (1 Tim 2:2) and a just moral order (Romans 13:3-4; 1 Peter 2:14) that restrains and punishes evil and promotes virtue. We should pray for wisdom for our leaders to make decisions and pass legislation consistent with God’s moral order. We should pray for their salvation if they do not know Christ. We should pray that wicked policies would not pass, and that righteousness and justice would characterize our nation’s laws and practices.
  • Steward our Vote
    There isn’t a clear command in Scripture or general principle that says there is a moral command to vote or that it is sinful to not vote. However, if we consider Romans 13:1-7 from within the American context, in some sense, individual citizens in this nation are the ‘governing authorities’ who have been given political power through voting to place representatives in positions of government. In the context of history, this is a high privilege enjoyed by citizens of this nation. So voting is a means to steward the conditions in our nation towards just ends. Voting is an opportunity given in our American context to do good in the public sphere (Gal 6:10) and testify to God’s righteous standards (Dan 3:17-19). In other words, voting is one way by which we can love and seek justice for our neighbor. However, a reasonable case could also be made for principled abstention, third-party, or a write-in, if a person’s conscience was so burdened. But it is poor stewardship to not vote because of an indifference towards the political process or an unwillingness to enter the political fray.  
  • Consider Biblical Principles when Voting
    When voting, it is important for us to consider some of the biblical principles that we need to keep in mind. Voting, in most cases, would be in the realm of disputable matters discussed in Romans 14 unless a person is voting for a candidate in support of their wicked character or policies. Each person much prayerfully and soberly weigh our choices and vote according to our conscience. However, it would be wise for each of us to consider the possibility that our conscience might be misinformed or malformed and requires to be calibrated according to what God has revealed biblically to be right and wrong. For a Biblical example of this, consider how Peter, who was convinced in his conscience that it was sinful for him to eat certain foods and had to calibrate his conscience according to God’s word (Acts 10:9-16). It would be wise for us to weigh each candidate’s character, principles and policies, and ability to wisely govern before making a decision to vote for them. Let’s consider each of these briefly.

 ----- Righteous Character
Kevin DeYoung argues here that the Bible says much more about the character of political leaders than anything  else. Since Proverbs deals with general principles that apply to all people at all times and in all places, verses in this book that deal with kings and princes give us a good idea of what good political leaders should be like. He considers the following five qualities that are commended in political leaders in the book of Proverbs.

     + Wisdom – knowing the way of righteousness and the path of justice.
     + Understanding – moral knowledge to know the difference between right and wrong.
     + Justice - fairly applying and consistently enforcing the law.
     + Humility – teachable and open to correction from wise counselors.
     + Self-Control – the ability to disciple one’s natural (or sinful) impulses and emotions. 

As far as the importance of character in our political leaders, DeYoung is right to observe that it is not a sufficient condition for good political leadership, but it is a necessary condition. As Christians, we should lament when our political leaders are foolish, morally ignorant, unjust, proud, and lack self-control. A lack of character will necessarily have damaging effects on the health of society.  

 ----- Righteous Principles and Policies
In addition to character, we must also consider the principles and policies of our political leaders. This is because political leaders have been put in place by God to approve what is good while restraining and punishing evil (Rom 13:1-7). The principles and policies recommended by our political leaders must be weighed according to God’s righteous standards which brings blessing to the people (Prov. 14:34, 29:2). Furthermore, we must consider the reality that there is an inextricable link between a person’s character and their principles and policies. A person’s principles and policies reflect their character in such a way that it is impossible to say that a person has righteous character yet wicked principles policies. A person that holds to wicked principles and promotes wicked policies simply reflects their wicked character.

There are a few issues that are of great importance in this election like the sanctity of human life, issues related to gender and sexuality, and the protection of religious speech. These are not simply political issues, but moral and theological issues rooted in God’s Word. We have tried to speak to these issues clearly and consistently in our sermons over the years. We pray that there would be a reversal in our culture against the promotion of these wicked policies that have incalculable damaging effects on our society. We must also do what we can to oppose political leaders who seek to expand abortion, promote ungodly views of gender and sexuality, and restrict religious speech to hinder the church’s mission to speak the truth of God’s Word.

 -----Wise Governance
Not only should we consider the character and policies of our political leaders when voting, we should also want leaders who are able to govern wisely. Our leaders are seeking to serve in a job that requires the necessary know-how of many complex and challenging issues that face our nation. While the Bible gives us some general principles that inform immigration policy, foreign policy, or economic policy, there is much the Bible does not speak to about these issues. Christians in good faith may disagree about many details in these policies. Yet, it is still appropriate for us to seek wise political leaders who are qualified to wisely and skillfully address complex issues facing our cities, our nations, and the world.

Now that we have considered the character, the principles and policies, and the ability of a candidate to govern wisely, here is a simple steps to consider taking before voting.

+ First, consider the character, principles and policies, and the ability for candidates to wisely govern at the local, state, and federal level.
+ Second, be informed about the pressing issues of our day and dialogue graciously with other believers to sharpen your thinking on them.
+ Third, pray and ask the Lord for wisdom.
+ Finally, vote according to your conscience for the candidate you think would do the most to approve what is good and righteous while restraining and punishing evil.

It is true likely that for most Christians that there will be something we dislike or disagree with the candidates on the ballot. This is a reason to lament and long for Christ to return and rule with perfect righteousness and justice. But even as we wait, let us pray that God would give us wise and just leaders and let us steward our vote to do our best to restrain wickedness and promote righteousness, however imperfect that looks like in this election season.  

3. Let us trust in our Sovereign God even as we wait for our blessed hope
Even as we seek the welfare of our cities by praying for godly leaders and stewarding our privilege to vote, we must ultimately trust in our Sovereign God even as we wait for Christ to return. It is easy to give lip service to the sovereignty of God while anxiety and worry fill our hearts and minds as we think about the future of this nation. God’s sovereignty is exhaustive over every atom in the universe. Nothing happens outside his exhaustive control of all things – including this upcoming election. This means we do not need to be anxious about the future of this nation which God is governing according to his wise and sovereign will. This means that we can have great hope that the gospel will be proclaimed to all nations (Matt. 24:14) and Christ will build his church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it (Matt. 16:18). Because he is sovereign and good, he commands us not to be anxious about anything because he cares for us (1 Pet. 5:7).

No matter what happens in this election, we know for certain that it will happen for His glory and our good. All things do in fact work together for good to those who love God and who are called according to His purpose (Rom. 8:28). This means, that no matter what happens in this election, we will still have reasons to give thanks (Eph. 5:20), because this is God’s will for us (1 Thess. 5:18). The reason we can give thanks is because of the hope that we have is ultimately not in our nation being transformed, not in increasing political power, but in our blessed hope - the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. (Titus 2:13).

It is right to have hopes for this election. It is good to hope that righteousness would increase, and wickedness would decrease in this nation. Yet, we cannot allow this temporal hope to eclipse or displace our blessed hope – the return of our King. We are among those who place our ultimate hope in the reality that here on this earth we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come (Heb 13:14).

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This article was written by Dan Sundersingh with feedback incorporated from Steve Bice, Cale Benefield and a few other trusted pastors in Sovereign Grace Churches. Feel free send an email to pastors@sgcdayton.org for any questions, comments, or disagreements you might have :) 

Resources for Further Consideration
1. A Proposed Taxonomy of Seven Views on Religion and Government - Andy Naselli provides the spectrum of views within Christianity on the relationship between church and state. While our SGC statement of faith does not explicitly take a stance on any of these views, the general posture in most teaching in our churches would be closest to View 4. However, this does not mean there is a uniform view on these issues among our churches. There is a spectrum of emphases even within view 4 and it may also be possible for pastors and members to hold a different view if they hold it in a way that protects the church's mission and does not contradict our statement of faith.

  1. The Pastor and Politics – Jeff Purswell, who serves on the Theology Committee of Sovereign Grace Churches, gave this breakout and this outline at the 2023 SGC Pastor Conference to help pastors and members within Sovereign Grace Churches to think biblically about our engagement with the political sphere.
  1. Where the Political Parties Stand on Social Issues in 2024. This article helpfully summarizes the social principles and policies of the Republican, Democratic, American Solidarity, and Constitution Parties.
  1. What Makes a Vote Moral or Immoral? The Ethics of Voting – Jonathan Leeman shares nine helpful principles about the moral responsibility and ethics of voting. This is not just a simple formula to help you decide who to vote for, but it is a helpful way to critically think through our decision on voting.
  1. Politics, Conscience, and the Church: Why Christians Passionately Disagree with One Another over Politics, Why They Must Agree to Disagree over Jagged-Line Political Issues, and How – Andy Naselli and Jonathan Leeman articulate a helpful distinction between those political issues with a straightforward connection to biblical or theological principles (straight-line issues) and those with a more complex, multi-step connection (jagged-line issues).