Christian Participation in Democratic Processes

Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

(1 Timothy 2:1-4)

What about democracies? We have already established that God admonishes His saints to be submissive to the various laws of the nations in which they reside. Democratic nations have laws that empower their citizens to vote for candidates to be elected into various governmental positions, and so as good law-abiding citizens in those nations, all believers who are eligible to vote should do so.

There are a number of democracies that make it compulsory for their citizens to vote, and so it goes without saying that the saints living in those nations would therefore comply with that law and cast their vote. However, there are also many democracies that do not have mandatory voting laws but rather have laws that merely give their citizens the right to vote, and they encourage their citizens to vote as part of their civic duty. Sadly, in those nations there are some saints who walk in disobedience to the Lord's counsel in this area and, for various reasons (mainly ignorance), abstain from exercising their civic duty to vote.

Nevertheless, there are many of the Lord's saints who are obedient in casting their votes, but the question that is then raised is: how do we know who to vote for? In order to answer that question, it is important to understand just who the saints are voting for. In most instances, the candidates of the various political parties are unbelievers who do not share the same values that Christians do, because of which many Christians end up not voting because they cannot find candidates or political parties that even remotely reflect their values.

We need to understand the truth, however, that God has not put governments in place to establish Christian norms in the earth, but rather to create an environment in which the saints can live peaceable and godly lives. The answer to the question of whom to vote for lies in the above quoted passage of Scripture, which teaches us what to pray for regarding a nation's government. The qualities that we pray for in a government are the same qualities that we should look for in prospective candidates.

This passage teaches us that there are two main qualities that the church should always look for in the candidates and political parties for whom they vote:

First, the church should vote for candidates who stand for honest government and law and order, thus allowing the citizens of that nation to live quiet and peaceable lives. As we have already seen, one of the primary reasons that God raises up those in authority is to act as His ministers in rewarding good and punishing evil (Romans 13:3-4).

Second, the church should vote for candidates who support freedom of religion, thus allowing the church to serve the Lord in all godliness and reverence without any constraints being placed upon the preaching of the gospel.

Candidates who meet these two requirements—standing for honest government, law and order, and religious freedom—should always have the support of the Christian vote. We need to realize, however, that no candidate will ever be perfect in these areas. Nevertheless, in any election there will always be one candidate who will uphold these two principles more than their opposition, and it is those candidates that the church should vote for. We see that because God expects His saints to cast their votes in democracies, He then gives them clear criteria to look for in the prospective candidates, so that they will always know whom to vote for.

The Pharisees came and asked Him, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?" testing Him. And He answered and said to them, "What did Moses command you?" They said, "Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce, and to dismiss her." And Jesus answered and said to them, "Because of the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept.

(Mark 10:2-5)

What about Christian political parties? There are many Christians who make the error of trying to enforce the norms of God's kingdom on this world. One of the ways they do this is to start Christian political parties in which they then claim that they will govern society through Christian norms. God Himself, however, never did this, for we see in the above passage of Scripture that Jesus taught the Jews that God set different standards for the Jews than those that He set for His church. The reason God did that was because He understood that those in the world have hardness in their hearts that prevents them from being able to live by His norms. God gave them watered-down principles that they could live by.

In a number of nations in the world today, there are so-called Christian democratic parties. Many of the leaders in those parties are genuine and sincere in their desire to govern their nations according to Christian values and therefore cannot see the error of their way. They don't recognize that by placing the name "Christian" in their party's title, they immediately create division in the nation because they alienate all other religions and atheists by ensuring that they won't vote for them, even if they share similar conservative values.

Sadly, some of the Christian parties even try to shame fellow Christians into voting for them because they are a "Christian" party, again causing division even within the church. Many of these parties also blaspheme the name of Christ by supporting some policies that are against Christian norms, thus making the world believe that these are in fact the norms of Christ.

What is the solution? Political parties that are led by Christians should advocate values that conservatives in the world are able to embrace, but they should not try to enforce Christian norms and they should definitely not include the word "Christian" in their name.

Michael E.B. Maher

The Church and the State

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