Faith.In.Life

An Evangelical Is Not: Just Defined By Their Vote

In listening to Dan Koch’s podcast “You Have My Permission” in the episode “Worries About Deconstruction” with Josh Porter, one of the things you right away hear is their disdain for the blind devotion of many ‘Evangelicals’ to Trump.  This is where those who claim the Evangelical label must repent - but not because they voted for a particular person.  We believe that for freedom, Christ has set us free, and with that freedom there may be differing views within the church of who might we vote for and who we do not.  I have listened to strong Christians who have voted for Republicans and Democrats alike and, while I may not agree with their decision, you will find legitimate biblical reasons for why they voted for the person.  In 2020 there was something strange that happened: I was hearing on both sides of the political isle that they didn’t like either of the options, but they would vote for the lesser of the two evils.   My reaction was:  “Why are these the options?”  Now, as we approach the 2024 election, it appears it will be the same two candidates in front of us once again.

The sin Evangelicals need to repent of is actually the very sin that the people of Israel committed.  In entering the promised land the people of Israel consistently sin and fall away from the Lord.  Initially God raises up Judges to deliver the people from their judgment and lead them back to faithful living.  Upon the end of the Judges, Israel calls for an earthly king.  At first, God refuses because He is “the Lord of lords and King of kings.”  God knew that if Israel has an earthly king they would very likely serve the thing that is right in front of them.  Their hope then would no longer be in the God and rightful King of Israel, but rather an earthly throne.  I am absolutely amazed at how we as people intrinsically look to a person and worship them like they are the Lord or King.  I too must repent of this in terms of if I vote for a particular candidate, but if that person loses to the candidate I might even dislike, I naturally feel a certain let down.  I fail to believe that “authorities that exist have been established by God.”  I fail to remember that bad leaders can be used for particular reasons just as good leaders could very quickly become bad leaders.  We then get caught up in thinking our opinion and voting is clearly the only way to go as if God is not in control over life and death.  

An Evangelical should not be a Christian Nationalist.  Yet, many Evangelical’s have gone the way of Christian Nationalism.  Although, its worth pointing out that there is really no such thing as Christian Nationalism, its really just Nationalism disguised as some form of Christianity.  The first time I encountered Christian Nationalism was when I was challenged in regards to this question:  In times of war, who do you pray for?  Do we pray our enemies to be conquered by our allies?  Or do we follow Jesus’ teaching to pray for our enemies?  We have to be very careful with the nature of our prayers where yes, we can very much pray for our allies, and even in my case, in living in America pray for America as a nation.  I think a Christian can be proud to be living in the country God has established them in as earthly citizens, but we are not to be overly prideful.  If we fail to pray for all people “from every nation and tongue” then we fail to have a Revelation sized vision where every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord.  And yet, people throughout history even up till today have sided with a particular nation and tongue to somehow prevail over another.  Such a perspective has in a great deal defined the conflict that forever has gone on in the Middle-East in order to suggest a narrow vision of who may or may not be God’s people.  We are told in Galatians 3:26-29 that:

26 For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. 28 There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you. 

If we are in Christ, then why is there still racism (separation between Jew or Gentile or any other race), slavery (segregation between slave or free), and sexism (disparity between male and female)?  If Evangelicals truly believe in the Word of God, then we ought to be on the front lines of restoring unity.  Yet, it seems that many times when Evangelicals somehow align themselves Christian Nationalism, then we fuel discord and chaos - rather than live into what 1 Corinthians 5:18-19 calls the “ministry of reconciliation.”  Of which we need to repent, and live into Paul’s vision of the church being part of God’s mission where we are being used to reconcile people from every nation and every tongue with the God of all creation through His son, Jesus Christ.