Thinking Christianly, Loving Others And The 2020 Presidential Election

Editor’s Note: the following is a perspective piece by Todd E. Brady, vice president for university ministries at Union University.

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”  -Romans 12:2

“One’s task is not to turn the world upside down, but to do what is necessary at the given place and with a due consideration of reality.” -Dietrich Bonhoeffer

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These are tense times. Words like “pandemic,” “racism” and “division” are a regular part of American vocabulary today. For months, we’ve been washing our hands, social distancing and wearing masks in public. We shudder when we think of the horrific deaths of George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery. A seat on the nation’s Supreme Court is vacant due to the recent death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Add to this a contentious presidential election, and 2020 is indeed what they say it is—an “unprecedented” year.

This fall, Americans are voting for a President. We will either re-elect Donald J. Trump, or we will elect former Vice-President Joe Biden as President of the United States of America. For many students at Union, this will be their first time voting.   

Engaging in politics can be sticky—especially for the Christian. Things on the political spectrum seem to be more divided than before. On one extreme, we might be inclined to jump into the political process by adopting the hostile speech that often includes dehumanizing attitudes. On the other, we could wash our hands of the political rancor we constantly hear and bury our heads in the sand, abandoning any kind of political involvement. Neither approach is appropriate for the believer in Christ.

How do we approach a Presidential Election?

Christians think and live differently than the world. With that being said, Christians themselves do not all think the same, and they do not all vote the same way.  

These words will be read by different people who believe different things about different issues. The following are election-season reminders for all Christians who are a part of the Union University community. While each of us may disagree about some things, there are some things on which we can all agree.

The Christian faith shapes our thinking about all things.

Jesus’ greatest command is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37). Our faith should shape everything about us. Our politics do not shape our thinking about faith. It’s the other way around. Our faith shapes our thinking about politics.

Each year the McAfee School of Business hosts the Business through the Eyes of Faith luncheon. This is a time for us to hear from someone who looks at their business from the perspective of faith. For the believer, however, it’s not just business that is seen through the eyes of faith. All things are seen through the eyes of faith. Business. Education. Law. Nursing. Social Work. Psychology. Everything. Our faith is pervasive in its approach. In all things, we seek to think Christianly, and this includes politics—particularly the 2020 Presidential election.

Christians love one another.

When Jesus mentioned the Great Commandment, he also said a second is like it. “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39). In fact, he said that our love for one another will be the sign by which people will be able to tell that we are Christians (John 13:35).

President Thomas Jefferson once said, “I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy as a cause for withdrawing from a friend.”

In an election season, our love for another person does not hinge on how that person thinks or on how she votes. Instead, our love for one another is rooted in the imago Dei—the reality that every person has been created in the image of God. Each person, regardless of whether we agree or disagree with her on a particular matter, is a special creation of God—a bearer of God’s image. 

We might not agree with the way some think about something, but we sure do love them.

Christians are citizens of heaven and citizens of the state.

The Apostle Paul told the Philippians, “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself (3:20-21). Christians in America may be American citizens, but let us not forget that we have another citizenship—a greater citizenship, an eternal citizenship—a citizenship with Christians throughout the world. 

I may be an American, but first and foremost I am a Christian. My primary identity lies not in where I live or in what I do, but in Who died for me. In many ways, I have more in common with the believer living in China than with the unbeliever living down the street.  

We are called to be salt and light.

Having citizenship in heaven is not a reason for isolating from the world. We certainly do not want to be so heavenly minded that we are no earthly good.  Nor do we want to be so earthly minded that we are no heavenly good. On one hand, we are not to love the world (1 John 2: 15-17). On the other hand, we realize our calling to be a preserving and shining influence on the world (Matthew 5: 13-16). We live in a fallen world, but we have been given the ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:11-22) and we have been called to do good to others (Galatians 6:10, 1 Thessalonians 5:15, 1 Peter 2:15, 3 John 1:11).

One way to be salt and light is by participating in the American political process and voting. Be salt and light. Do good. Vote.

Government is from God.  

Consider 1 Peter 2:13-15—”Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.” We also are told “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment” (Romans 13:1-2).

Of course, we should not take part in any activity of the state that would require us to be disobedient to the Lord. The Bible does not call us to be blindly allegiant to the state. We are to be subject to the governing authorities unless the state requires joining or endorsing something contrary to the commands of Scripture.

God is in control.

The Bible teaches that God is the one who is in control of all things. He is in control of human history. Nothing threatens God’s control, and nothing will ever threaten it. He is sovereign over history and we are never outside his providential purposes.

There have been times when earthly events caused the faithful to question God’s work.  The Old Testament prophet, Habakkuk looked at events around him and had difficulty understanding how God was in control. Pharaoh of Egypt (Exodus) and Cyrus of Persia (Isaiah 45) were certainly not God-followers, but we see that even with their actions, God was in control.

Regardless of the outcome of the election on November 3, the control of God will not be compromised. God’s work in the world is not tied to a certain political party being in power in America or even to the person who sits in the Oval Office. The providential plans of God will stand, regardless of what happens with the Presidential election.“Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases” (Psalm 115:3).

God is redeeming the world.

The ultimate victory of Christ was hinted at in Genesis 3:15. In Genesis 12:1-3 God established the nation through which he would bless the world. The Old Testament tells the story of God’s people anticipating the Messiah. The Messiah, Jesus, entered the world (Luke 2:1-7), died for the sins of the world (1 Peter 3:18) and will one day come again for those who are his (John 14:3).

The consummation of God’s work of redemption is seen in Revelation 7:9-11. “After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’ And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God.”

God’s plan is sure. It is going to happen. Guaranteed. Nothing will stop it or interfere with it.  

We pray for our elected officials.

As we live confidently in the certain plan of God, we pray for our elected officials.

The apostle Paul told Timothy, “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions…” (1 Timothy 2:1-2). 

The command to pray for our officials is not conditioned on our agreement or disagreement with them. We are not told to pray for those government leaders who follow God or for those whom we like. We pray for all those in authority.

We are gracious in our speech.

Rhetoric is tense and inflamed these days. We live in a society of people with furrowed brows, bulging neck veins, and loud voices that often utter unkind things. Christians have an opportunity to model things differently—especially with our speech. This includes what we say and the way we say it.

In Ephesians 4:29, we are told, “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” Regardless of what we are saying, Christians are those who give grace to others as they speak.

Like Daniel Barrett of John Brown University has said, “No matter how often you hear commentators declare 2020 ‘the most important election of our lifetime,’ don’t buy into the perspective that the stakes of any one election are greater than the stakes of a compromised witness that besmirches the name of Jesus.” 

We hope in God.

Our hope is not in the one who is elected President of the United States. Any political views we may have are surpassed by our view of God. We are not controlled by the circumstances around us. We do not find hope in earthly things.  Moreover, earthly events do not cause us to despair.  

Because we hope in God, we live with a continual trust in him. As the Bible tells us, we trust in the Lord with all our heart, and we do not lean on our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Psalm 37:4 says, “Trust in the LORD, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.”  

However the election turns out, let us look to God. Let us wake up on November 4 trusting in the Lord. Let us commit to doing good. Let us dwell in the land and let us befriend faithfulness.