Pastors, Teach Your Church Members to Vote!

I don’t disagree, but there’s an even more urgent need, in my experience: Teaching on how to decide whom to vote for, how to put all of that in a biblical context, the qualifications for leadership (including the elected kind), etc.

Along with abortion, freedom of speech, etc., Christians ought to care deeply about the rule of law. It is foundational to any policy effectiveness on those other issues. Of course, policy is also not where most of these battles are ultimately won or lost, so that context is also extremely important.

....as I read Romans 13 and other passages about human government, it strikes me first of all that we ought to be praying for government leaders first. With the major parties both putting forth very flawed candidates for the Presidency, I must confess that circumstances are driving me to my knees more consistently than before.

That noted, it strikes me as well that the Bible really has few examples of what we are to do for the case when we are in a republic with elections--where we are, to a small degree, "the king", to use Romans 13's word picture. (which, interestingly, occurs in what was officially a republic--but local sovereigns did function as kings) Given the right to vote, is it a requirement for Christians to do so?

The closest analogy I can come up with in Scripture is that, per Aaron's thoughts, Paul, Nathan, and others do indeed confront kings about their violation of the law and human rights--and we might say "if Paul and Nathan risked their lives to confront lawless kings, is it really too much to ask that you learn about the political process and cast a ballot?"

Going further, it is also key that Christians understand that a certain portion of Biblical morality ought to be enshrined in secular law--and that is part, again, of ensuring that the king and ruling elites do not abuse the people a la David & Bathsheba, or a la Paul and the magistrate.

Application across these very different political settings is challenging.

The role of “Prophet” in OT and early church was a unique office. These guys usually heard directly from God and were instructed to deliver a specific message, pretty much verbatim.

Often to an actual king.

In Romans 13… I’m not seeing any references to “king.” We have governing authorities, powers, rulers, etc. There are two references to “emperor,” though in 1 Pet 2:13, 17.

In any case, part of the application process is always asking questions like “In what ways is our own situation similar or different”? It’s significant that even under Moses and the priesthood, there was a written body of laws. In Paul’s day the Roman Republic had already been superseded by the Roman Empire, but they still had some laws.

So what’s similar today? Rulers + laws. A difference is that in true republics the rulers derive their authority from laws (starting with charter/constitution) rather than laws deriving from the rulers. So there is an inversion. It might seem like a technicality to some, but it’s actually huge. In a republic, the law is king and much of what we read in the NT about rulers, authorities, powers, emperors (“kings” in some translations), applies to how we relate to law. It also applies to persons authorized by law to make decisions within their spheres of authority. But law is primary.

In systems such as ours, a ruler who shows contempt for law does not understand literally the first thing about what his job is.

Voting as an American citizen is an act of stewardship. Being a good steward requires knowing not just who to vote for but also when to vote or withhold your vote. Pray for wisdom and discernment before you choose how to exercise your stewardship.

T Howard hits it on the head. As stewards, we are required to manage everything entrusted into our care for the interests of Christ's kingdom. In America, the voting privilege is a precious commodity given by a gracious God. To ignore or waste this resource is poor stewardship.

I agree.

What is a “waste” though? If, from an ethical standpoint, voting is purely a matter of achieving results, then not voting is also achieving a result. In the election itself, only votes are counted, but in the analyses the parties will do afterwards, there’s another number: the number who might have been expected to vote for our candidate but did not. They have ways of estimating this.

And somebody will also count write-ins.

My point is that results of elections extend beyond who wins or loses it.

To use an extreme example that won’t happen: What if the entire electorate looked at the choices and said “Both presidential candidates stink. I’m not voting”? There would be literally zero votes for the electoral college to make a decision on—and the rebellion of the electorate would be quite noticeable. Suppose half of them said, instead, “I’m going to write in someone who is better than either of these.”

In that extreme scenario, “not voting” or “wasting” (as some would say) the vote with a write-in would still be a dramatic statement that would profoundly shape future elections.

In that nearly impossible scenario, it’s obvious that not voting is still letting your voice be heard. I’m going to argue that the result does not have to be that extreme to still be “making your voice heard.”

And I also think that, like every other ethics question we face, the question of “What if everybody did what I’m choosing to do?” is relevant, even though everybody is not going to do that.

I might vote for my dog. It will not be a waste if I do. I will be making a statement that I sincerely wish everyone would make (or at least a large enough % to be a wake-up call).

But this raises another ethical principle that, like most of ethics, apparently, gets chucked when people go to vote: Since when does what everyone else will actually do make what I choose to do right or wrong? (I can hear lots of moms saying, “If all your friends jumped off a bridge, would you?!”😀)

So, the fact that not enough people will vote like me does not change the ethical character of my own vote. I do not need a majority to join me to make my vote “count” in all the ways that matter most.