Unless you have been hiding under a rock, you will be aware that the United States of America have just been to the polls to elect a new president. I am writing this from the UK and, in one sense, have no skin in the game as I can’t vote in the US election. And yet, in another sense – much like everyone else in the world – what happens in the US election will affect all of us. It is just the way it is. Much of the world is watching and waiting because whoever gets in will necessarily have an impact on the rest of us.
Nevertheless, the UK – not all that long ago – held our own election. Our parliamentary system means there can be a few more surprises here than are likely in the US. For example (and this won’t mean much to anybody outside the UK), the entirety of the county of Oxfordshire turned to the Liberal Democrats. Reform – an otherwise very minor, fringe party – managed to win themselves an unprecedented five seats in parliament. The (largely) two party system in the US, along with its electoral college, make these kind of strange anomalies much less likely. In the end, either Kamala Harris or Donald Trump will be President and congress will be dominated by one party or the other.
During the UK elections, I said the following (which equally holds for the US context):
Much can be said about the Christian approach to politics. Some prefer quietism, not wanting to concern themselves at all with the temporal things of the world when we ought to be focused on the eternal things of glory. Others, reckoning the world is just going to get worse until Jesus returns, variously suggest we should check out altogether as there’s nothing we can do about the inevitable downward spiral or else they insist we ought to be a bulwark against the nosedive. Some insist that, as Jesus has dominion over all things, we too ought to be meaningfully engaged and seeking to advocate for what we believe he would advocate for. Others still argue that we are citizens of two kingdoms and, as those currently in exile, should work for the good of the place we are in (whatever that looks like) whilst keeping our eyes on our heavenly home.
However you work those things out, one thing is clear: genuine, bible-believing Christians will vote for both Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, Democrat and Republican and perhaps even a few outliers or write-ins. Nobody can argue ‘this is the Christian way to vote’ because – and this cannot be stressed enough – every single person will be voting for candidates and parties that Jesus never voted for nor affirms scripturally as his choice. We may all consider the various issues at stake, read the scriptures and land somewhere we think is consistent with our Christian principles. But we have to recognise that other believers who vote differently to us will think the same. Jesus hasn’t voted for or endorsed any of the choices available.
That being the case, however you voted yesterday, I think there are some vital things to remember today. These are things I said to my own countrymen as we went to the polls several months ago ourselves. I think they are important and always worth remembering both in the runup to, and aftermath of, almost any election. In no particular order, here are some genuinely Christian things to remember:
Anyone who claims theirs is the Christian vote is a liar
I have increasingly come to view with little regard those who insist theirs is the Christian vote. I am quite happy with Christians thinking about the issues and coming up with a position with which they are comfortable. It is absolutely legitimate for Christians to say this is how I will vote and I personally find it a credible outworking of my beliefs. It is an altogether different claim for anyone to say this is the Christian way to vote and all believers should vote like me if they are to be consistent and believe the Bible. That latter line is not a scriptural comment, it is not a fair comment and it is to claim a greater degree of authority for your political views than you should. I am very wary of those who claim theirs is the only properly Christian vote and we should immediately reject the opinions of those who insist it is so because they make clear, by that very comment, they don’t understand the scriptures (which say no such thing) and therefore cannot be counted upon to help us think Christianly about politics.
Kingdom must come before politics
However you vote in the polling booth, you will have to go to church and sit next to brothers and sisters on Sunday who have voted differently to you. You will be sat with people who have voted Republican, Democrat and possibly other. You will be sat with people who voted Harris, Trump, someone else and none of the above. You will be taking communion with those who voted differently to you, affirming your co-standing in the kingdom together. However you voted, your allegiance to Christ and his heavenly kingdom must overrule whatever political differences you have. Christ’s kingdom must come before politics otherwise we are not worthy of the name brother or sister nor honouring the name of Jesus who specifically died for those who have voted differently to you.
This vote is only for 4 years; Christ’s kingdom is forever
It doesn’t hurt to have a bit of perspective about what you’re doing. However you voted, it has implications for four years. After that, you can vote again (assuming whoever won doesn’t revoke such rights) and have the opportunity to undo or redo whatever happened. Your vote is of temporary significance. That isn’t to say it was totally insignificant, just to say its significance is far more limited than many seem to think or give any sense they understand.
Jesus’ kingdom, by contrast, is of eternal significance. What we do in his name – and how we relate to those for whom he died (even if they voted differently to us) – matters considerably more, and for an awful lot longer, than where we put our mark. How we treat our brothers and sisters who vote differently to us, how we speak about them, how we engage with them has eternal significance whereas the casting of a vote does not (cf. Matthew 25:40-45). A bit of perspective may just help you not to blow the significance of what you’re doing out of all proportion. It may help you show right and proper love and charity to your brothers and sisters who view things differently in the political arena.
Whatever happens, God is still sovereign
Ultimately, whatever happens, you (and the rest of the world) will get the government to whom Jesus has granted power. They are only there really because Christ has put them there. This necessarily means two things.
First, as Romans 13 says quite clearly, those who throw up their hands in despair and speak ill of the government are actually speaking ill of Christ and his judgements. We need to think very carefully about how we speak about the government he institutes, even those we find particularly objectionable, because they are there at his behest. If any of us care to argue that this government is particularly heinous, we must reckon with the fact that Paul (and Peter elsewhere) insisted this was the case under Nero, who was considerably worse from a Christian perspective than any government that has been elected in the West in the modern era. Given Paul and Peter laid out Christian ethics under the time of Nero – a man hardly renowned as a paragon of virtue or full of loving kindness towards Christians – we have quite a mountain to move if we will make the case that this government is so much worse than him that we may set these biblical norms aside. That being the case, whoever is in, we need to be careful how we speak about them and to actually submit to them.
Second, if Jesus has given power to this government, we can rest in the fact that he has the power to remove them. If nobody has power but that given to them by God, we can rest in his sovereign goodness and trust that he knows best. He has the power to change matters and is working even this result (whatever it is) for the good of his people. We may not like the way it will work for our good, we may wish he would work our good another way, but we can rest assured this result is, indeed, for our good – not just of those believers in the US, but all across the world – as it has been instituted by our sovereign God who works all things for the good of those that love Christ (cf. Rom 8:28).
Let me finish with the words of Jesus himself which, if they ever apply, they must surely apply during the most fraught times. They must apply to elections, whatever the result, in which Christians will land differently to one another and feel the weight of those great differences:
34 “I give you a new command: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” – John 13:34-35
Let’s remember this as we respond to the result and sit in church next to brothers and sisters who differ politically from us.