Christians Should Not Vote, Unless ...

On Election Day, Americans across the country will have the opportunity to cast their ballots in the midterm elections. On this day state and federal legislators, governors, and various local officials will be elected to office.

About 48 hours before the polls open a torrent of emails will begin clogging up my inbox: "Oh my goodness, Mark, there is an election tomorrow!  Am I even registered to vote?  Who am I supposed to vote for?  What is on my ballot?"

Despite the fact that I have run an entire website for several years that includes regular social media blasts informing people of various important election deadlines, the arrival of these requests for election assistance is as sure as the sun rising.

This year, I'm getting ahead of the curve and have crafted my response ahead of time. 

Simply, Christians should not vote …

... Unless you, before Almighty God, can honestly say that you have consistently given thanks and blessed in prayer ALL of our leaders in government, you should not vote.  (By the way, prayers that go something along the lines of: "God, you who raise up kings and tear them down, get rid of our President, convince him how wrong he is about abortion and marriage," do not actually count as prayer.)

Point 1 - First Things First (1 Timothy 2:2)

This passage starts off with a very clear instruction: "FIRST OF ALL ... supplications, prayers, intercessions, and THANKSGIVINGS be made," for ALL of our leaders in government.  (Please read Romans 13 for why “thanksgivings” is emphasized.)

Guess what, "first of all," means?  You got it: "First of all."

If you have not even consistently taken the first step prescribed by the Bible regarding interaction with the political, do you really have any reason to be dabbling with much else in politics?

Point 2 - Those who commit "Eritheia" will not inherit the kingdom of heaven.

Many of us are familiar with Galatians 5:19-21. This frequently cited scripture is used as a blunt weapon by people from both within and without the church regarding all matters of sexual immorality.  Certainly, sexual immorality is identified as a sin; yet, right in the middle of this list of lurid and scandalous works of the flesh is the Greek word, "Eritheia." 

Depending on what translation you prefer, the word "Eritheia" is quite inconsistently translated into several English words, which often includes "seditions" or "strife."  The problem is that these single word substitutions are all based on Greek meanings of the word "Eritheia" from decades and centuries after the text was actually written by Paul.

In fact, prior to Paul writing Galatians, the word "Eritheia" can be found only ONE time in all of Greek literature.  Recalling that Paul was a highly educated Greek citizen, this logically means that this word, "Eritheia," must mean exactly what it meant in its singular original use. 

What was this single and original use? 

Aristotle originated the use of "Eritheia" in his famous work Politics.  According to Aristotle, of which Paul certainly had been educated in, "Eritheia" actually means: "engaging in electioneering for political office," especially in pursuit of personal political power.

That's right, listed right in between sexual immorality and murder is ... electioneering. 

Be warned, according to Galatians 5:21, those who engage in such things will not inherit the kingdom of heaven.  If that doesn't make you pause before you go vote, I'm not sure what will.

Point 3 - A Prophetic Act?

One of the most common reasons argued for why we should vote is that it is a prophetic act.  I get the reasoning; however, this logically should provoke an especially high level of trembling before the Lord prior to casting our votes.  The reason: Jude 1:8 & 2 Peter 2:9-11.

According to both Jude 1:8 and 2 Peter 2:9-11, one of the key signs of a false prophet or false teacher is that they despise and reject authority.  The Greek word for authority in both verses refers to political heads of state. The Greek word for “despise” includes thoughts and words of disrespect and contempt.  Interestingly, the Greek word for “reject” is a verb that includes pursuing actions of nullification, frustration, and refusal against political leaders.  Simply, a sign that a prophet or teacher is false is that they think and speak ill of leaders in government and actively work to nullify or frustrate the actions of the political authority.  These verses are not preconditioned in any way.  In fact, the political authority that Peter is writing of in 2 Peter (as well as 1 Peter 2:9-17) is the Roman Emperor Nero, the very emperor who had Peter executed.  According to Tacitus, Nero had Christians, “Covered with the skins of beasts, they were torn by dogs and perished, or were nailed to crosses, or were doomed to the flames and burnt, to serve as a nightly illumination, when daylight had expired.  Nero offered his gardens for the spectacle.”  Yet, it is in the context of Nero that Peter and Jude are giving God’s instruction to us.

Even if your motives for voting are "noble," such as standing for the child in the womb, if​ you have not consistently blessed your leaders in prayer, I do not see how you could possibly be voting out of a spirit other than trying to nullify or reject your current leadership.  In such a case, at the very least, you are leaning on your own understanding, which is a sin.  While at worst, you are operating in a false spirit of prophecy.

Conclusion

Unless, before God Almighty, you have consistently, "First of all," given thanks for and blessed in prayer ALL of your leaders in government, vote at your own risk.

The especially troubling matter is that in an open democracy like ours, even the act of not voting has a mathematical outcome on the results of the election.  Therefore, even the act of not voting is, mathematically, a vote.  As Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, “Not to act is to act.”

The bottom line, we must all repent and commit to consistently obeying 1 Timothy 2:2, "First of all."