Most American Christians assume it goes without saying that it is acceptable for Christians to vote in state and federal elections. Most American Christians would even go farther and say that Christians have a responsibility to vote in state and federal elections. American Christians spend a lot of time discussing how they should vote (usually arriving at far too confident conclusions about who the correct, “Christian” candidate is). Very few American Christians, however, spend any time reflecting on the question of whether they should vote in the first place. In a climate of intense secular political fervor, it is important for Christians to take a step back and ask the question of whether they should be voting at all.
Christianity and Politics
The New Testament does not directly address the question of whether Christians should vote. This is because the first century apostles, who lived under the oppressive Roman Empire, wrote the New Testament in a context in which there was no opportunity for Christians to have any say about who should occupy positions of worldly political power. Being able to vote for worldly political leaders was not a possibility that entered their minds. If we want to faithfully answer the question of whether Christians should vote today, we must begin with what the Bible does say about the relationship of Christians to worldly political power, and then do our best to think through what the theological implications of this are for our own political context.
The basic foundation and starting point of all genuine Christian thought about politics is that Jesus Christ is Lord. The Christian Gospel is not a “religious” message operating in a separate sphere from that of the political realm; it is a political message about the establishment of God’s Kingdom. The Christian Gospel is not a message that leaves the secular political structures of this world in place, merely telling us how to operate those structures in a better way; it is a message that fundamentally challenges and calls into question all the secular political structures of this world. If Jesus alone is Lord of all, that means that all the kingdoms of this world have been dethroned and delegitimized.
Until Jesus comes again to fully inaugurate the establishment of God’s Kingdom, secular governments will continue to exist, and they have a part to play in God’s plan as entities that hold back the greater evil of chaos and anarchy. Yet Christians cannot regard secular governments such as nation-states as having any real moral legitimacy or authority per se. By their very nature, nation-states establish themselves through the use of violent coercion, and the use of violence is always contrary to the demands of Christian discipleship. For Christians, the church is the political community in which they must find their national and political identity. As citizens of heaven, Christians must regard themselves as resident aliens within the boundaries of whatever nation-state in which they happen to reside.
This means that Christians must not delude themselves into thinking that America is a “Christian nation” or that they can “build God’s Kingdom” through instituting changes in the laws of the United States. The best they can do is to nudge the United States to be a little less in rebellion against the Lordship of Jesus Christ than it is at present. If Christians do engage politically in order to be a positive influence on American government and society, they must understand this as a way of bearing witness to the Lordship of Christ that is secondary at best to the church’s main mission of advancing God’s Kingdom through evangelism and the building up of the body of Christ.
Christian Engagement with the State
As Christians engage politically in order to be a positive influence on the state, there are a variety of means by which they can do so. One such method is to engage in political protests. If Christians have enough influence in society, and if the government gives them the opportunity, Christians can appeal to the conscience of political rulers by protesting the unjust actions of the state. Christians can then hope that political rulers will take their protests to heart and move the actions of the government in a relatively less unjust direction. This is a method of political engagement which Christians can carry out regardless of the type of government in place, monarchy, democracy or otherwise. By speaking out against the injustices of the government, the church carries out its responsibility as the body of Christ of speaking truth to power.
If Christians live under a democratic government, such as the United States of America, they are given an opportunity to vote in that government’s elections. Most American Christians see this opportunity as the primary means of Christian political engagement, or even the primary means of Christians being a positive influence on society. But is this a legitimate means of Christian political engagement?
If by voting we intend to give our approval and support to a candidate occupying a government office, then voting for candidates for high government positions is deeply problematic. If secular governments lack genuine moral legitimacy and authority, then it is quite dubious for Christians to give their approval and support to people occupying positions of leadership in those governments. If the use of coercive violence is always morally illegitimate, then it is quite dubious for Christians to give their approval and support to people occupying offices in which they will be in the chain of command ordering the use of state-sponsored violence. For participants in God’s Kingdom who are disciples of the Prince of Peace to vote for someone to be the Commander in Chief of the armed forces of one of the kingdoms of this world is certainly a very questionable course of action.
However, if Christians take a different view of what they are doing when they vote, it may be legitimate to do so, at least in some cases. Rather than regarding voting as giving approval and support to a candidate occupying a government office per se, we can regard it simply as an attempt to nudge the nation-state to be a little less evil, a little less demonic, by voting for the lesser of two (or three, or more) evils. If the nation-state gives Christians the opportunity to attempt to influence its actions by voting, Christians can take this opportunity to attempt to make the state a little less in rebellion against the Lordship of Jesus Christ, without regarding that vote as a real endorsement of someone occupying a particular government office or carrying out the duties of that office which are contrary to the nature of God’s Kingdom.
Christians are constantly told that they must agree with the platform of one political party or another, but Christians must recognize that any two worldly political parties will always have more in common that is contrary to the Gospel than either one has that is consistent with the Gospel. Christians must recognize that the platforms of any American politicians running against each other for a high government office will always be farther away from the Gospel than they are from each other, and that no candidate’s platform will ever be remotely genuinely “Christian.” As long as Christians recognize this and keep their political act of voting in the proper perspective, it may be legitimate for them to vote in some cases.
Should Christians Vote?
In reality, the question, “Should Christians vote?” is too abstract. To what extent it is legitimate for Christians to vote really depends upon the particular political system, government, and office they are considering. For example, voting for someone to be the Commander in Chief of a nation’s armed forces may be quite dubious, but voting for someone to occupy a local government office that has no connection at all with the use of state-sponsored violence may present very little ethical difficulties for the Christian.
So the answer to the question, “Should Christians vote?” is: Maybe. Sometimes. It depends. Voting is one possible means by which Christians can attempt to engage politically and to be a positive influence on government and society. Christians should not think that they are under any obligation to vote or that they should necessarily vote for some candidate for every government office. Christians do not always have to vote for the lesser of two evils; they have the freedom to say that they cannot in good conscience vote for either candidate if the situation warrants it. Because Christians know that Jesus alone is the true Lord of the world and that all the kingdoms of this world will very soon fade away, they have the freedom to put things in proper perspective and not to accept either of the political alternatives which the world places before them. Christians may sometimes vote for a candidate or party that they discern is, overall, slightly less opposed to the nature of God’s Kingdom. But they know that God’s Kingdom will not truly be advanced through this or any other vote, but only through the work and ministry of the church.