Heading to the Polls? Here’s Who You Should Vote For

Each person must vote by doing their own research and following their own conscience.

A few weeks ago we published an article I wrote on “the privilege to vote and seek God as an informed, Bible-believing Christian.” Now, I didn’t tell people who to vote for—each person must vote by doing their own research and following their own conscience. But I did lay out the principles, based on a Christian worldview, that my wife and I use to determine who we will cast our ballots for. With the election looming, I thought I would share some of those principles with you once again. Here’s an excerpt from the article (I encourage you to read the full article):

For many people, when it comes to voting, what is most important is how someone looks on the outside! Now that is not the correct way to decide who to vote for at all. Think about what God taught us when Samuel came to anoint the king. He didn’t know it was going to be David as we read in 1 Samuel 16:6–7:

When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, “Surely the LORD’s anointed is before him.” But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.”

Samuel thought it would be David’s brother he would anoint king, but God taught Samuel it’s not the outside that matters, but the inside—what’s in a person’s heart.

For a Christian, the outside, such as the shade of someone’s skin, the shape of their eyes, how handsome or attractive they might be, is not important. It’s who they are as a person, what they believe, and how they act (in other words, their fruit) that’s important.

We also need to understand the role of government. First of all, it’s important to recognize that God has ordained government:

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. (Romans 13:1)

And the purpose of government is to maintain law and order:

For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. (Romans 13:3–4)

So obviously, I want to vote for those who will want to maintain law and order. Of course, I also understand that if someone doesn’t believe in the Bible as the absolute authority, then right or wrong, or good or bad, becomes totally subjective. However, I know many people hold (inconsistently) to the morality that comes out of a Judeo-Christian ethic even if they are not necessarily Christians. That’s no guarantee they will continue to do this, but it’s still an important issue.

Romans 13:1 (above) also makes it clear that those who do govern are instituted by God. God is in total control. Remember, in Daniel 2:21 we read, “He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding.”

Now we also need to look at the moral issues confronting us in the culture and judge what people are doing against the absolute authority of the Word of God:

But judge with right judgment. (John 7:24)

We see major issues prevalent in the culture today concerning marriage, abortion, and gender. Based on God’s Word in Genesis:

• Marriage—there is only one true marriage, the one God created in Genesis 2:24: one man and one woman.
• Abortion—humans (not animals) are made in God’s image (Genesis 1:27), and we are totally human right from fertilization; therefore abortion is murder.
• Gender—God made only two types of humans, a male and female (Genesis 1:27).

What about other issues, like climate change? Well, Noah’s flood caused dramatic climate change—and climates change ever since. If people don’t believe the history from the Bible concerning the flood and its consequences, they will make wrong decisions regarding climate change. Also, Genesis 8:22 tells us that while the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease. So when political candidates tell us that people will destroy the earth in five or ten years, we know they are wrong. Now that’s not to say we shouldn’t care for the earth for God’s glory and use it for man’s good—but that’s a whole other topic.

Now, here comes a difficult part. We live in a fallen world. Most of those running for a political office are not born-again Christians who have a truly Christian worldview. For me, I also consider, for some positions, whether someone even has a likelihood of succeeding (part of my human responsibility).

I’m sure most of you have heard someone say this: “If you find the perfect church, don’t join it as you’ll spoil it.” You won’t find the perfect church. You won’t find the perfect candidate.

I also know what a blessing it is to have freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and free exercise of religion. So I also look for candidates who will defend this as I pray we will continue to have the freedom to preach God’s Word and the gospel as we do through Answers in Genesis, the Ark Encounter, and the Creation Museum. Millions of lives have been impacted by what God has called us to do, and I know there are atheists and other anti-Christians running for office who would like nothing better than to shut down such Christian witness.

Ok, I feel rather exhausted having explained all that! So now, I do my due diligence. I check out those who are up for election and who I will have to vote for. I judge their fruit against the above criteria, and then I vote accordingly.

Next week in America, make sure you do your part (human responsibility) and vote. But, before you do, carefully consider the above principles and research all candidates and their party to see where they stand. Then pray, cast your ballot, and pray some more. And remember, no matter who wins the White House, King Jesus is still on his throne. He is sovereignly reigning and accomplishing his plan throughout history, and we’ve been placed here for such a time as this. So no matter who wins, we will continue to share the gospel, contend for the faith, and do the King’s business until he returns.

You can read the full article on our website.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,
Ken

This item was written with the assistance of AiG’s research team.