As Christians, we want to honor God with our lives. We are days away from what is one of the most rancorous  election cycles in American history, and so we want to know, “How can we think and act in this moment in a way  that honors God?” Many ask: Should preachers even talk about politics? Many people say that we must not  mix faith and politics. Why even venture into such dangerous waters? Because I help shepherd this flock, and  I know that you all are concerned about this election. You have questions. You all are trying to think Christianly  about matters which demand your attention.

Back to my question: Shouldn’t faith and politics be kept separate? Colossians 1:18 teaches that that Jesus  must have first place in everything. Politics is a “thing”, so we must make sure that Jesus has first place in our  thoughts and actions regarding politics. The Bible commands us to do good to all people whenever we have  the opportunity (Galatians 6:10). An election is an opportunity, so we must wrestle with how to “do good” in this  current situation. What if, in voting certain way—I end up doing good to people on one issue but bad to them on  a different one? Do they cancel each other out? If we can sort issues according to how much harm or help each  is likely to accomplish, can we vote in such a way to favor the “big” issue and yet maintain a clear conscience  before God as we vote against a “lesser” issue? How do we even sort out issues? And what if I deem an issue  to be “big”, but you deem a different issue to be big? What then? Can we both be pleasing to God? Am I  responsible for the unforeseen consequences of my voting choice? Must I be omniscient to vote “Christianly”?

I was asking these same questions four years ago. Do I vote for a person who says some offensive things—but  with whom I agree on what for me is my most important policy issue, or do vote for someone I find to be more  pleasant as an individual, but who promotes a policy I find repugnant and, try as I might, cannot square with  biblical morality? I decided that the best way I could be of help to my congregation is to “think out loud” in front  of you. Perhaps the process I went through as I wrestled with these questions may be of some help to you.

The starting point that gives me the stability I need to think more biblically about the specific issues related to  this election is that Christians are citizens both of heaven and of various nations, but our primary allegiance  belongs to heaven (Philippians 3:19c–20). King Jesus replaces the president as my ultimate sovereign. This  is the foundational orientation that gives us stability in confusing and troubling times. In fact, my focus needs  not only to be on heaven, it actually needs to be away from this world (Hebrews 11:16). I’m a sojourner here; I  have one foot on earth and the other in heaven—but the direction of my movement needs to be heavenward!  I’ve decided that the Bible will have the controlling voice in my goals, priorities, and attitudes. I also keep in mind  that society is not ever-evolving toward the good. We humans—including politicians—are not going to solve  Earth’s problems. We need a savior! Eventually King Jesus will put things right, but it won’t be through politics.

Yet we also are citizens of earth, and I do believe that politics is one way that we love our neighbor. Consider  the plight of Africans enslaved in America 150 years ago. It made a profound difference that Abraham Lincoln’s  policy of equality won out over Jefferson Davis’ policy of enslaving blacks. Although politics cannot determine  anyone’s eternal destiny, what happens in this life does matter. People live 80 years here on earth, then we live  eternally, either in heaven or hell. Eighty years of bad laws and difficulties—followed by heaven—is better than  eighty years of good laws and prosperity—followed by hell. But thankfully, as Americans in the 21st century,  we’re not faced with that bleak choice. The American experiment of self-governance is a break-through that gave  ordinary people like us the privilege and responsibility to help shape the government we have to live under. I  think that I have a moral obligation to vote. During slavery, there were Christians who kept silent, who didn’t  speak out against it—and we judge them guilty for that. We are commanded to take every opportunity to do  good to people (Galatians 6:10).

But if I don’t like either candidate, do I just “hold my nose” and vote for one of them? I realized that I’m not  voting on which candidate’s personality I enjoy more; it’s policies, not personalities, which have the power to  harm or help people. But since all platforms are a “mixed bag” of good and bad policies, I had to prioritize  policies according to their relative importance biblically. I can live with policies of lesser importance and difficult personalities.

I think lots of people actually are single-issue voters (be it immigration, climate change, health-care, racism,  poverty, prison reform, or gender/sexual freedom). How shall each of us decide what is our “continental divide”  issue? My non-negotiable standard is loving my neighbor as I love myself. I don’t want self-interest to be my  most important criterion. That’s why, for me, the economy and taxation are not very important. Giving the  unborn an opportunity to have any sort of life is more important to me than trying to improve my own standard  of living. Christians disagree on which issues are most important. Thankfully, we don’t answer to each other on  this choice—we each answer to God (Romans 14:4–9). He’s given us his book, and we each become informed  about what he values, what he’ll hold us accountable for.