OPINION:
As a pastor and a preacher, I want to urge all Christians this election season: Get out and vote. I believe it is our duty as citizens of our state and country, but I also believe it’s especially important given the issues represented in this election. Many of these are not strictly “political.” They are moral and spiritual.
According to some studies, there are 90 million evangelicals who are eligible to vote in this country. Sadly, 40 million of us do not vote. And 15 million are not even registered.
Subscribe to have The Washington Times’ Higher Ground delivered to your inbox every Sunday.
While both candidates are sinners and will say things we don’t agree with, that is not a reason to neglect voting. There is no perfect candidate. But I don’t vote for personality. I vote for policy.
It is my belief that we should vote for the candidates and policies that best reflect the values we find in Scripture.
Why do I say this? Because the church should have a positive influence on the state and the culture. Many people quote Thomas Jefferson’s phrase that there should be a “separation of church and state.”
SEE ALSO: Millions of church-going Christians expected to skip voting in November
But Mr. Jefferson’s point was that the state should not influence the church, not that the church should have no influence on the state. This is part of what we’re called to do as Christians. We are called to shine our light and be the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13–14).
In other words, while it’s important that you vote, it’s even more important that you vote biblically.
1. America’s spiritual roots run deep
But first I need to clear up a misconception. It is not uncommon for our culture to try to shut Christians out of politics. We are even being accused of “Christian Nationalism,” a political term used to stigmatize evangelical engagement in the public square.
They characterize Christians as Christian nationalists who want to take control of the government and force their views on the rest of the nation.
I believe that is a straw man argument. It is simply false. I don’t want to force my views on anyone. What I do want is to present my views as a follower of Christ with the same freedom that everybody else has. And I believe all Christians ought to do the same. After all, America’s spiritual roots run deep.
SEE ALSO: Millions of Christians believe the political process is irrelevant - how to change that
Christians have been in politics since the beginning of the United States. We are a nation built on Judeo-Christian principles.
Ratifier of the U.S. Constitution, Patrick Henry, said it very clearly: “It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded not by Religionists but by Christians.”
And in his 1776 farewell address, George Washington said, “Reason and experience both forbid us, that national morality can prevail in the exclusion of religious principle.” In other words, this morality we should have — our sense of right and wrong — comes from religious principle.
Even some of our most liberal universities today were founded on Christian principles, like Harvard and Yale.
Rather than denying or running further away from these spiritual roots, we must pray to get back to them. And if we, the church, must also take up our responsibility to vote, we must acknowledge what the Bible says about today’s hot-button issues.
2. Bible supports border security
Scripture supports the right and necessity of a nation to be secure. Nehemiah went back to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls of the city. There is a place for walls in a nation.
Act 17:26 says, “From one man he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries.” God is in favor of borders.
Of course, the Bible also talks about welcoming a stranger in the Old Testament. There is a place for that as well. Someone must come to our nation the right and legal way. And the expectation communicated in Scripture is that the stranger abides by the law of the land and assimilates.
Ironically, there are people who have come to our country legally and have even more patriotism than a born American. They value the American dream, freedom, and other American principles. Many times we take our country for granted.
Though border security is important, it’s not the only issue God’s Word has something to say about.
3. Pro-life is the only biblical position
Scripture very clearly supports an unborn child’s right to life. This is not a debatable subject. Life begins at conception.
In Psalm 139, David said that he was fearfully and wonderfully made, knit together in his mother’s womb. And when he talks about every moment of his life being laid out (Psalm 139:16), we know that’s true for every child. Even before birth, God has a plan for a child’s life.
In Jeremiah 1:5, God says, “I formed you in your mother’s womb.” He doesn’t say, “I waited until you were born to have a plan for you because you were not yet really a human, but only a mass of tissue.”
Not to mention that the first person to recognize the Messiah was an unborn child. As Elizabeth was pregnant with John the Baptist, her cousin Mary was pregnant with Jesus. As Mary greeted her cousin, John the Baptist leaped in the womb (see Luke 1).
But unfortunately, both Democrats and some Republicans support abortion today. The Republican position is basically that abortion is okay up until 15 weeks. This is not something I support because 95% of all abortions happen in the first 15 weeks.
The Democrat’s position is far more extreme in the name of “reproductive rights,” allowing abortion up to nine months. There was even a mobile abortion clinic from Planned Parenthood at the Democratic National Convention.
The Bible tells us, “To him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin” (James 4:17). It is irresponsible and bad stewardship to not voice our opinion on this topic. We should all be playing an active role in the battle to protect the unborn.
4. Marriage and family are supported biblically
The family is the foundation of any nation. Almost every social ill in America today is a result of the broken family, specifically of the lack of fathers.
A child from a fatherless home is 68% more likely to use drugs or alcohol, 85% of all youths sitting in prison are from fatherless homes, and 63% of teens who attempt suicide are from fatherless homes. I could go on.
And when I speak of family, I am defining it in the same way God does, “So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27). The man and the woman together in a marriage is the foundation of everything else in our culture. Any attempt to redefine the family is obviously something I do not support. And I also oppose the state overruling the rights of a parent in a child’s life.
God gives us His absolutes. He gives us a lane to stay in, a way to live. And when it comes to marriage and family, God’s order is that a man and woman live together in marriage monogamously.
We still love people. We want to enter the world of those who may not be following these truths and show them that there’s a God in Heaven who loves them, has a plan for them, and will fill that void in their life they’re trying to fill with other things. Nevertheless, we must not compromise on these issues.
5. Christians should stand by Israel
I believe one of the reasons God has blessed our country is because we have stood by our ally Israel and we need to keep doing it. God promised Abraham and his descendants, “I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you” (Genesis 12:3).
When I was invited to speak at the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles shortly after the terrorist attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, I told our Jewish friends that I owed them a great debt. From the Jewish people, my Bible and Messiah came. As evangelical Christians, the love we have for the Jewish people comes from the study of Scripture.
These are God’s very chosen people, and I am looking for a president who will stand by them and their nation.
America needs a spiritual awakening
Though it’s important that every Christian votes, I believe America’s only hope is not found in whom we elect as president but in a spiritual awakening. As I detail more in my book, “Hope for America,” that is our only source of real and lasting change.
But before culture can experience an awakening, the church needs to experience revival. In other words, our country has a choice, and I’m not talking about Democrats or Republicans. Rather, our options are judgment or revival. The future of our country will not be decided by the ballot box, but in the prayer closet. When God sees a problem in a nation, He doesn’t point His finger at the White House, He points it at His house.
God has promised to send revival if we do the following, “If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).
“If my people.” Notice those words.
Let’s make it personal, “If I will turn from my sins and pray and seek his face, God will hear from heaven, forgive me my sin, and heal the land.”
Let it begin with each one of us.
—
Greg Laurie is an Evangelist and the Pastor of Harvest Church in Southern California and Hawaii. His movie, “Jesus Revolution” is streaming now on Netflix.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.