4 observations about Christians and voting

For centuries, perhaps millennia, politicians and government officials have sought to co-opt the Church for their own agenda. Secular seekers of their own power and self-importance in government or interest groups make the mistake of viewing the Church as just another club. They think they can sway Christians as a group, like they can persuade other clubs, groups, special interests, etc.

However, unlike other groups of voters, Christians are grounded in a relationship with God and the truths of the Bible. We will never listen to lobbyists, propagandists, influencers, or political activists when we have the strong voice of the Holy Spirit speaking louder and more firmly within our hearts. Christians are not left tossed in the waves, subject to the dishonest voices of secular activists vying for our support.

For a couple decades, there has been a sustained, systematic effort by Democrats and leftists to separate Christians from the Republican Party. Although nothing is new about the project or most of the messages, the intensity has increased in this year's election. Various groups are furiously trying to convince Christians that they should stop voting for Donald Trump and instead vote for the party that booed the restoration of the name of God to the 2012 Democrat National Convention platform.

Now, in decades past, Christians were not generally associated with Republicans. And prior to Ronald Reagan's presidency, there was not much reason for Christians to have any interest in Republican candidates. In 1964, the grassroots insurgency against the establishment Rockefeller Republicans was libertarian Barry Goldwater. There was little reason for Christians to prefer either of those camps more than the old, traditionalist Democratic Party.

It was an unexpected development when Christians started supporting the GOP openly as a movement, such as with Jerry Falwell's Moral Majority and the Christian Coalition. Many have doubted the sincerity of establishment Republicans in pandering for Christian votes. But now partisan activists are trying to swing the Christian voting bloc to Democrats.

The secular world has never understood the Christian Church, nor could it without peeking through the door of God's grace and glory. Your author has been led through no merit of my own into asking in prayer for God to show me how He views a situation, what it looks like from his vantage point from above. When we sometimes remember to ask for God's perspective, it can be enormously enlightening and life-changing.

So by far the most important project in Christendom is to remind and encourage each individual Christian to remain anchored to Christ and Christ's voice. Rather than listening to someone who is still not free of self or self-interest tell you what Christ meant, the power is in hearing from Jesus Christ directly.

Nevertheless, for some odd reason, God has entrusted brothers and sisters to help each other; "every joint supplies" as the body is edified and grows (Ephesians 4:11-18). So, some important observations emerge, which might help meditations in prayer:

First, there is major controversy over whether Christian duties must be fulfilled by the individual and the Church as a community, or whether one may delegate his Christian obligations to the government. Like most assumptions, each side is adamant without explicitly identifying or discussing the disagreement. Left-leaning Christians believe that they can get the government to care for people instead of having the Church do it. So all they have to do is vote. Conservative-leaning Christians do not look to the government as the agency for Christian responsibilities. Surveys show that Christians give only about 2.5% of their income to the church, meaning that God at least aimed for his Church to have four times as much money to work with for caring for the poor and needy.

Second, there is no rule that Christians must vote for only Christians. All other things being equal, I would prefer voting for a Christian, but my duty as a voter is to choose which candidate will have the best results for society.

So, attempts to argue whether or not Donald Trump is a Christian or is a good Christian are simply a waste of breath or ink. A voter might not want the USA to become Venezuela, and might look at the tragic record of dignified and respectable candidates who very nicely damaged our nation. Carefully consider the devastation in cities run exclusively by the Democratic Party for decades. Despite self-advertisement that they will care best for the needy and poor, Democrats in fact do not. If I love my neighbor as myself, I cannot ignore the impact one candidate will have rather than another. Democrats driven by leftist philosophies have caused poverty, crime and misery.

Third, Christianity is not a style. Christianity is about serving God as our absolute ruler, Lord and master, confronting our sins and depending exclusively upon the extravagant generosity of Jesus Christ in choosing to willingly die in our place to pay for our sins. Even if one is overly focused on niceness, still, no one should shrink Christianity down to nothing more than a style. Which candidate would produce better results is what matters, even for Christians. Donald Trump's style has nothing to do with being the better candidate for a Christian voter.

Would a combative, secular leader harm people's view of the Gospel? Well, that depends on what you think the Gospel actually says. If the Gospel is that "There is no one good, no, not one" (Romans 3) but Jesus saves (John 3:16), then no one's style will hurt the actual, true Gospel. We might dispel false concepts about the Gospel. It is about Jesus. The Gospel is not about one's social skills.

Fourth, there has been much discussion about whether pro-life Christian voters should vote for Democrats because they care about a person's life from birth to death. But Christians above all others should not be fooled by what people claim. We must look at their track record. If we love our neighbor as ourselves, Christians should look at actual results, not slogans.