The morning after Ted Cruz suspended
his campaign for president, I posted a silly comment about how I would not be
supporting the candidate who financially supported Hillary Clinton's campaigns
for Senator and President no fewer than 7 times. I naively assumed that most of
my Christian friends would feel the same way. I assumed wrong. I was genuinely
dumbfounded to begin reading about friends immediately throwing their support
and vote behind Donald J. Trump. Some of these new supporters had previously
and publically been in the #nevertrump camp. Now they were trying to morally,
and rationally justify their support for a man they admitted was "wicked,"
"immoral," "proud," and other less than reputable
descriptions. I was truly surprised by how many conservative Christians shifted
their support from one who they considered to be "the best choice" to
one they referred to as "the best chance" overnight - and openly
admitted it.
Since my opinion was already public,
and since I have tried to leave some thought provoking comments and memes from
time to time on facebook feeds, people started trying to explain to me that I
did not "fully understand what is at stake this election." Some of
the most common arguments begin with, "nobody's perfect," or
"we're not voting for a pastor." Some have even stated that "too
much is at stake to vote for the best candidate this election." Finally,
someone asked, "Do you have a biblical reason for voting for the person
you are planning to vote for?" I believe this question hits the nail on
the head. I believe that everything we do should be based on Scripture - even
our vote.
When a Baptist church (or any congregationally
ruled church) selects or ordains a pastor, the Bible gives that church a list
of specific qualifications that must be true of the candidate or he is not a biblically
qualified candidate. When a person is looking for a spouse, the Bible
gives certain qualifications and qualities that must be present before someone
can be considered for marriage. While the Bible gives lots of examples of good and
bad leaders, it does not gives a list of biblical requirements when voting for
heads of state...or does it?
By the end of George W. Bush's
second term, I began to think through and personally create my own list of
non-negotiable presidential qualifications. I admit that some of the following
are preference, but some are strictly biblical qualities of a leader that must
be present if God is to empower and use that leader with grace and wisdom. The
following is the list I mentally developed about 8 years ago. I have not
supported a party since. I am presently registered as an independent. I have
voted based on principle and the character of the individual candidates, rather
than a party since 2008.
Considering the following five
biblical and personal qualifications, I will probably not be voting for either of
the current candidates proposed by the Republican or Democratic parties.
1. HE MUST BE A MAN. God ordained three human
institutions, and God designed men to lead them all. According to the
Scriptures, a man should be the head of the home (Eph 5:22-24). A man should be
head of state (1 Cor 11:3; I Tim 2:12-14). A man should be the "bishop"
or overseer of Christ's church (1 Tim 3:1-7; Titus 1:6-9). Male leadership is
God's ideal, and has been since creation. The desire of women to rule over men
is a direct result of the fall (Gen 3:16). By the way, The constitution does
not contain the word "she." It's signers clearly intended for our
country to be lead by men. Consider this quote from the U.S. Constitution:
"The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States
of America. He shall hold his Office during the Term of four Years, and,
together with the Vice President, chosen for the same Term, be elected, as
follows..." I cannot vote for a Clinton or a Palin because I do not
believe they meet the biblical or constitutional qualifications to be
president.
2. HE MUST BE A MAN OF HONESTY AND
INTEGRITY (Prov
12:22; 19:1; Matt 5:37; Phil 4:8-9). I do not believe that either Clinton or
Trump have proven themselves to be honest or people of consistent integrity.
3. HE MUST BE A MAN OF HUMILITY. The Bible clearly states that God
hates pride (Prov 6:16). God resists proud people and only gives grace to the
humble (James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5). Trump is literally the proudest man I have
ever known. In his acceptance speech of the Republican nomination, he actually
said, "Nobody knows the system better than me. Which is why I alone can
fix it." Really? Trump sincerely believes that he is the ONLY man on earth
who ALONE can make America great. My Bible says that God hates and resists the
proud. I am not looking for a pastor to run the country, but I also cannot
accept a man who brags that he has never asked God to forgive him for anything
either. People often present wicked leaders from the Bible as examples of how
God can use anyone. However, these people miss the truth that God only uses
humble, righteous leaders to bless his people, while God uses proud, wicked
leaders to bring chastening upon his people (Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar, Jeroboam,
etc.). David was a murderer and an adulterer. This is true, but he was also a
humble, repentant man after God's own heart. Someone could reasonably argue
that David was "more evil" than his predecessor, Saul. The difference
was not the number or severity of their sins, but rather their responses to
their sin. God did not reject Saul because he was a sinner, God rejected Saul
because he was a proud sinner! I have never seen an ounce of humility in either
of the mainstream candidates. Time and again, the current candidates have made
significant errors or flat out lied and they refuse to humbly apologize or
admit fault. I do not reject them for being sinners, all candidates are
sinners, I reject them both for being proud, arrogant sinners. I cannot
biblically vote for either Clinton or Trump because neither of them are humble,
and God only gives grace (-the gift of God's supernatural enablement to do His
will) to humble people - period. Read that sentence again. God only gives grace
to humble people. A vote for Clinton or Trump is a vote for the chastening of
America at best.
4. HE MUST BE A SACRIFICIAL PATRIOT
WITH A PROVEN TRACK RECORD OF DEFENDING THE CONSTITUTION. This is obviously not a biblical
point, but one that I personally require when considering a candidate. I think
the best commander in chief is one who has served his country in the military.
I do not require military service, but I think veterans make the best
presidents. There are other ways to prove your sacrificial love, and consistent
defense of the constitution. Clinton has proven her wanton disregard for the
constitution and the military time and again. When asked what he has sacrificed
for his country, Trump replied "I think I've made
a lot of sacrifices. I work very, very hard." Based on his answers (and George
Stephanopoulos asked him 3 times), it is quite evident that Donald Trump does
not even comprehend the concept of sacrifice. Making lots of money by working
hard, employing thousands of people and building big buildings for profit has
nothing to do with sacrifice. Trump
too has already made comments about executive orders that lead me to believe he
has possibly never read the U.S. Constitution. He recently stated that he
doesn't have "time to read," so betting he has never read our
nation's founding document is probably a pretty safe bet.
5. HE MUST BE A MAN WHO FEARS GOD
AND HONORS THE BIBLE. The
Bible plainly states that "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of
wisdom" (Pro 9:10). I want a wise president. If the fear of the Lord is
the foundation and beginning of wisdom, then a president CANNOT begin to lead a
country with wisdom unless he fears God and honors His written revelation to
man - the Bible. I do not require that my presidential choice be a born again
child of God. I do not believe Washington or Lincoln were born again
believers, but I do expect, based on the clear statements in both the Old
and New Testaments, that wise leaders MUST fear God and honor His Word (like
Washington, Lincoln, Reagan, etc. did). The reason our country has shifted to a
position of honoring immorality and condemning the unborn to nothing but a
"choice" is not because we have had a democrat in the white house or
liberals in the supreme court, but rather because we have leaders running our
country who believe God is a fairy tale and humans are nothing more than
evolved animals. I cannot vote for a woman who states that "unborn people
do not have constitutional rights," and neither can I vote for a man who
indicates that his favorite Bible verse is "An eye for an eye." Trump
is the first republican presidential candidate to promise to protect the LGBTQ
community but not even mention the unborn in his acceptance speech - let alone
promise to protect them. Neither Clinton nor Trump fear God or honor His Word.
For me to vote for either of the
big, two party candidates as they stand today would be a direct violation of my
faith and conscience - as formed by my understanding of the Word of God. Such a
violation would be sin for me (Rom 14:23), and I will not do it.
With these mostly biblical
prerequisites in a candidate, I end up voting based on two biblical mandates.
First, my vote must glorify God (1 Cor 10:31). Second, my vote must promote
salt and light (Matt 5:13-14). Notice I did not say "protect" salt
and light. I will not vote for a candidate who might select conservative judges
- that is not a biblical mandate. I will not vote for a candidate who is less
of a disaster than another candidate might be - that is not a biblical reason
either. I will vote for a humble man who desires to glorify God with his life,
and will lead our nation by grace and wisdom. I do not vote for the "best
chance," I vote as a salt and light in a sin darkened world. If my vote,
like my testimony, ends up being a small percentage of the U.S. population, I
will not be surprised. Christ promised that true disciples will be the
minority. I do not consider my life to be a waste simply because it is a
minority in this world, and neither is my vote. I will simply continue to serve
my Lord and Master as a Spirit-filled salt and light in all venues and all
opportunities of society (including voting). I will keep preaching Christ and
making disciples until the next election when I pray more and more salt and
light voters will vote for the glory of God rather than the lesser evil of the two, majority choices.
Let me say that I do not condemn a
brother in Christ who votes for Clinton or Trump believing that his vote
glorifies God and somehow reflects the light of Jesus, but I do have a problem
with Christians who do all kinds of rationalistic gymnastics to try and support
the idea that Trump really is a man of God. He is not. So, let's all pray for
revival, continue to serve the Master, and show deference to all of God's
people whether they vote or not. To be honest, I am not fully convinced that
Jesus would vote at all. He seemed pretty focused on His kingdom, rather than
the kingdoms of this world (John 18:39; Luke 4:5-8).
