In the last post I addressed the first consideration for Christians as they prepare to vote. We must consider the negotiables and non-negotiables in our candidate selection. In other words, what issues can we “live with” and what issues automatically remove the candidate from our consideration. In this post I want to address the next element of the Christian voting process (in my opinion, of course).
Playing the Long Game
We are a microwave society. We want everything now and immediate results. Our impatient nature has crept into every area of our lives, including politics. Most Americans vote for the here and now. They want to know what the candidate is going to do for them and how that is going to affect them in the short term. I am calling for Christians to think long term and develop a generational perspective in their politics. In the consideration of the negotiables, we consider specific policies and issues. Next, we consider long term momentum and direction.
Every candidate, taken as a whole, is going to be moving in a certain direction. It is not always as simple as conservative and liberal. A conservative candidate may have some liberal tendencies and vice versa. It is, however, usually simple to get a sense of the general direction in which each candidate will take the country. We should use that to our advantage.
Step outside of the here and now for a moment. Establish what you want America to look like in 10 years, 50 years, 100 years, and so on. What kind of nation do you want your great-great-grandchildren living in? Let’s be realistic. Neither candidate is going to transform the country that much in four to eight years. The most popular candidates will be the ones placed before us and godliness is not currently popular. But what is popular in a culture changes slowly over time with small steps in the beginning. That is how we found ourselves in a secular America. That is how we can climb back out of it.
So then, the question is, “Is this candidate going to move the ball closer to the overall goal or will he be taking it in the wrong direction?” There will be another president (or Senator, Congressman, etc.) after this, and then another. How will this one pave the way for the next?
I know the Democratic party likes to use the term “progress” for their slogans and messaging, but they don’t own that term. Every candidate, regardless of their affiliation, is going to make progress. Every party is the party of progress. The question is not about whether we are progressing, but where we are progressing to.
A Comment on the Third Party Vote
During both the Trump-Clinton and Trump-Biden campaigns many Christians opted to vote third party. Their reasoning is understandable. Trump is not a godly man. In my previous post I expressed my opinion on this. Now I want to revisit it for clarity. Third party voting is definitely an option and no Christian should be insulted for choosing it. I personally do not think it is a wise option unless both major candidates have non-negotiable issues (like we talked about in the last post).
My view on third party voting may change in the future depending on where things go, but in our current situation I don’t think we can afford it. Yes, we want to vote on principles. We don’t want to compromise on them. That is why we establish our non-negotiables. But if we are realistic, voting third party in the current climate only allows the direction to continue to the left. And considering the momentum of change, we will eventually be left with even third party options that we cannot swallow.
The left is pushing the ball of culture further into godless oblivion. They are using all the strength they have and with each generation the momentum of culture is backing them even more. There has to be resistance coming from the other side. The conservative candidate may not be perfect. He may not get everything right. He may not even be a Christian. But even if he is only going to move the ball an inch to the right, there is at least momentum heading in the right direction.
There was a lot to dislike about Trump. But Roe was overturned because he was president. And it didn’t even happen during his presidency. Why? Because enough Christians used their vote to move the ball. Then, even after he was off the scene, the momentum did its work. The current presidency is a train wreck. Imagine if more Christians had voted third party, like many of the leaders of evangelicalism were telling us to do. How much further down the spiral would we be now?
Conclusion
There is one more thing I want us to consider in our voting as Christians. That is, believe it or not, our eschatology. Your eschatology affects your politics. We will talk about that in the next post.
Take a walk through Psalm 88, often called the darkest Psalm. There is comfort here for the saint in seasons of darkness.