Political Endorsements and Scripture

Dear Church Family,

The Scripture text for the sermon this coming Sunday is Philippians 3:12-4:3, in which the Apostle Paul uses two different images to speak about the Christian life: as a foot-race and as citizenship. I’ve been thinking about the latter image, specifically as a citizen of the U.S. in which our national elections will be held next week. As believers, we have a kind of dual-citizenship. Christians are citizens of various nations in this world. And, as Paul writes to the Philippians, “our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself” (Philippians 3:20-21).

Staying in my lane

It’s alarming to me how some church leaders seek to become “influencers” by endorsing one candidate or another. As a pastor, sometimes people will ask me for my thoughts about who to vote for. Certainly, I have my own personal opinions and will make my own decision as to who I will vote for – or whether or not to even vote at all. However, as an ordained minister of the gospel in the church, I take the responsibility and the authority of the office very seriously, such that I try for everything in my public ministry (in preaching, teaching, and writing) to be rooted and grounded on the authority of God’s Word. As a confessional church which holds to the Westminster Standards, I also have these to help guide me. 

Specifically, when it comes to the moral law (how to define both righteousness and sin according to Scripture), there needs to be clear biblical and confessional ground for making specific declarations about ethics and morality. Yet, many seek to make moral and ethical arguments (attempting to root them in Scripture) for voting for a particular candidate. I suppose some people feel the freedom to do that. I do not. Just because someone holds office in the church, it does not make them an expert in every field. Frankly, the whole idea of “leading evangelical pastors” actually endorsing a particular candidate and making biblical arguments for their endorsements seems a bit like bowling in someone else’s lane. 

Politics is compromise 

Certainly, the Bible does give clear witness to ethics and morality. The Bible does speak to the issues of our day; however, as someone once said, “Politics is compromise.” That statement is not an argument for situational ethics, but a recognition that we live in a fallen world in which (at least, in the political arena) one must learn to do the best that he can (to give and take), while realizing that perfection will never be realized. 

Therefore, because God alone is Lord of the conscience – and He has not told us in His Word who to vote for, or even how to vote – individual Christians have the liberty of conscience to vote for the person that they deem to be the best for the job. As your pastor, I might give you advice or try to help you think through some of the issues involved, but I would never presume to try and bind your conscience one way or another. 

Imagine if the session of our church decided that it was a moral obligation for the members of our church to vote for a particular candidate, and a sin to vote for another. As a follow-on decision, we would probably need to come up with some kind of mechanism for finding out who voted for whom, and then discipline the “sinners” accordingly. But, you see, the Christian church is not comprised of Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians, or Independents, but believers in Jesus Christ – sons and daughters of God saved by the grace of God – who must make difficult, and sometimes differing, decisions about political matters and voting. 

Additionally, I find it perplexing, when people say that it is the Christian duty of all believers to vote. Personally, I find no such command in the Scripture. Perhaps one could make a Constitutional argument, or reason on some other basis, but not from the Bible. When people say things like, “As a Christian, you have a moral obligation to vote,” and then they go on to provide proof-texts that speak about God’s exiled people seeking the welfare of the city (Jeremiah 29:7), I sort of scratch my head. Aren’t there many different ways to seek the welfare of the city? Is voting really the only way to do that? General moral commands of Scripture may sometimes be rightfully obeyed in different ways by individual believers. The Biblical command to “love your neighbor” does not mean that every Christian is morally obligated to work in a soup kitchen or run a homeless shelter.

Conclusion 

Well, in case you’re still wondering and longing for what I have to say about how Christians ought to vote, I’ve created a document which contains all of my pastoral advice, with all of the relevant biblical proof-texts for who to vote for in the upcoming presidential election. You may view or download that document online here.

The Lord be with you!
– Pastor Peter M. Dietsch