Politics

How should we vote Part One

by Brian Erwin
12/08/19
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We are not far off from another major election year. It will not be long and we will be swayed by campaign ads. Now is the time to start thinking about and to develop a biblical philosophy of governance. There are many questions that we need to think about. Like How do I know if the person I am voting for - as he or she pursues public office, represents a Biblical worldview? How do I determine who (if anyone) among the various political candidates, better reflects these Biblical values?  

There are many ways to look at this. First of all, we have to keep in mind that politicians are not in power to promote his or her personal theology. That rule belongs to pastors and theologians. Some will try to push their worldview - but that is not what they should be dong. 

A politician is elected to politically and economically to govern our state or country. Therefore, we should select candidates not based upon their personal theology but rather upon their philosophy of government.

When you compare candidates' philosophies of government, which philosophy better mirrors biblical values? This is a question that all Christians need to ask in any election. As discerning Christians, we should select those candidates whose philosophy of government, while not perfect, is closer to Scripture than the others’. That is not always an easy task for sure. 

Second, until Jesus Christ rules the world from David's Throne, there never will be a perfect candidate. In the mean time, we are left with the task of selecting from among flawed human beings those who will be our next political leaders. Thus, the issue becomes not which candidate has a perfectly pure Christian worldview, but rather who of the competing candidates has a worldview that is closer to the Scripture in comparison to that of their competitors. 

Third, a biblical philosophy of governance has little to do with party loyalty or affiliation. Many falsely assume that a biblical understanding of politics means identifying with one party or the other. Party loyalty is not the issue here. Rather, the true issue is what a given candidate believes and how he or she acts or votes on key issues that are important to God. This often gets lost in the mix of things. 

In the series of articles, I am going to put together some general issues to look at in order to disarm the biblical orientation of the governing philosophy of any politician. Granted, each election has its own unique issues that individually and specifically impact voters at the local, state, or federal level. However, here I am going to speak of more broad, generic terms. With each issue I will include Bible verse references in order to demonstrate that these preferences are not uniquely mine, but rather are derived from the pages of God's Word. While these issues are often irrelevant to the thinking of modern man, they are extremely important to God. For purposes of organization, these issues can be categorized under the following headings: economic issues, social issues, and foreign affairs matters