How the Bible Guides My Political Priorities and Candidate Choices

I recently came to the realization that I have been consciously and instinctively navigating the political landscape (mainly in the USA but also in interactions with Cambodian, Chinese, Japanese, and Filipino etc. etc. Christians) based on some of the Biblical principles, that I will share below, for many years.  Finally, my thoughts on this subject have crystalized enough so that I can write them down for my own benefit and possible to encourage other Christians to allow the Bible to guide their own political activities more than emotions or following the crowd.  The purpose of this post is not to tell you what issues to support or oppose or which candidates to vote for but to give you an example my thinking on this topic so that you can allow the Bible to shape your political worldview on your own.  Don't take my word for it, be a Berean for yourself.  God is the God of every aspect of life-- including politics.  

Before we get started, here are a couple of verses to provide some foundation to our thinking.

• Psalm 24:1 says, "The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;"
• Proverbs 3:5-6 says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him,and he will make your paths straight."

My top priorities are not in any particular order because political issues are often so complex that these priorities must be applied on a case by case basis.  Ideally, I try to vote for candidates who will actually govern to advance ALL of these priorities.  However, this is not always possible.  In those cases, I try to vote for candidates who will advance or at least be neutral to as many of these priorities as possible.  I avoid voting for candidates who govern against these principles, even if I may like their personalities or positions on other issues.

Here are my top priorities:

• Religious Freedom:  
  • ​​Freedom to Evangelize and Convert to Christianity:  This priority is based in part on Acts 5:27-29, "The apostles were brought in and made to appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest. “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,” he said. “Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.” Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than human beings!"  It is also based on the persecution of the Apostle Paul and others for preaching the Gospel.  Along these same lines, the freedoms to gather together for worship and Bible teaching, pray to God instead of idols (the book of Daniel) etc. are also important to me.
  • Freedom from Immoral Laws: This priority is based on God's approval of the midwives in Exodus 1: 15-21, "The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, “When you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth on the delivery stool, if you see that the baby is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live.” The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live. Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?” The midwives answered Pharaoh, “Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive.” So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous. And because the midwives feared God, he gave them familiesof their own."  The order of the king to kill the male infants was against God's higher law against murder.  I avoid candidates who support laws which could be used to pressure or force Christians (and others to violate God's higher laws). 
  • Freedom from Violating One's on Conscience or Convictions:  This priority is based partly on Daniel 1: 8, "But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way."  It is also based on Romans 14:22-23.  The conscience is a finely tuned yet fragile instrument from God.  Whenever people go against their consciences, their sense of right and wrong gets numbed and diminished.  I avoind candidates who will pass laws which could force people to violate their own personal convictions and conscience, even if I don't personally share those convictions.  For example as a Christian, I believe that Scripture gives me the freedom to eat a wide range of food but I would never want to see Jews, Hindus, or Muslims forced to violate their own dietary restrictions.  ​
• Respect For The Image of God: Genesis 1:26 says, 'Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” The image of God is the Biblical principle which serves as the foundation for laws against murder and many other crimes against humans.  Here are a few other aspects of this:
  • ​​The Value of Human Life:  Biblically, the value of human life extends from the moment of conception until natural death.  Human life is has special value regardless of age, strength, health, or disability.  All human lives are equally valuable and are more valuable than any other form of life.  I would encourage you to read Psalm 139 in its entirety.  Verse 16 and 17 say, "Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them!"  Therefore, I avoid candidates who are likely to promote  murder of anyone regardless of age or health because these practices violate the image of God and undermine the respect for the image of God by future generations.  
  • Discrimination:  Galatians 3:28 says, "There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus."  I avoid candidates who will pass laws which will treat one group of people better or worse than other groups of people because this ultimately this leads to conflicts, division, and even violence.  This is not to say that all choices and actions of individuals or groups are equal and must be promoted equally but all people should be equal before the law.  
  • Peace: 1 Timothey 2:1-3 says, "I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people-- for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior,"  It is good to support (and pray for) candidates who will help promote "peaceful and quiet lives."  
• Stewardship:  As mentioned above, Psalm 24:1 says, "The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;"  Another passage that is relevant to this discussion is Matthew 22: 18-21, "But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius, and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?” “Caesar’s,” they replied. Then he said to them, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”​​  ​Ultimately, everything, including the government, belongs to God.  Jesus Christ is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  Therefore everyone from private citizens to government officials will be held accountable to God for how they used the resources (this includes financial and natural resources) that God entrusted to the care and stewardship of humanity.   Government leaders should not take any more money from the citizens than is necessary.  The sons of Eli and Samuel (1 Samuel) were condemned for corruption."Even tax collectors came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?” “Don’t collect any more than you are required to,” he told them.  Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?” He replied, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely—be content with your pay.” (Luke 3: 12-14).  For this reason, I try to support candidates who will be good stewards.
  

​​What About the Candidate's Personal Life?
​In a perfect world, we would be able to choose between multiple candidates who fully support all of the Biblical priorities perfectly and many more.  If that were the case, we would then be able to see which one had the most Biblically admirable personal life.  If that were the case, we might be able to see which candidate's life most closely matched 1 Timothy 3 and vote accordingly.  However, the world is not perfect, and politicians are not pastors, elders, or deacons, so few or any of them live up to the standards of 1 Timothy 3.  

The question then becomes, how do we choose between candidates whose personal lives are less than admirable?  Personally, I prioritize the candidates' likelihood to govern according to the Biblical priorities that I have listed above, over the state of their personal lives.  I do take it into consideration and it is important to me, but if I must choose, then I will go with the Biblical priorities.  You are welcome to disagree with me, but first allow me explain why I have come to this conclusion.  It is based on my study of Scripture and not some arbitrary or convenient standard. 

1. In Scripture, God led many Biblical characters to cooperate with governmental leaders who cooperated with God's purposes but whose personal lives were probably unsavory.  For example, in Genesis, Joseph worked with Pharaoh, who was likely an idol worshipper and was probably quite sexually immoral by Biblical standards (harem etc.).  The same is true for Daniel's and Nehemiah's relationship and cooperation with various pagan kings.

2. King David was an adulterer, murderer, and more yet he was used powerfully by God despite his many sins, not to mention all of the brokenness in his family.  

I believe that politicians are the employees of the citizens. By voting, we help hire them to do a job--be good stewards of the powers and resources of the government.  In our lives we must hire many people to perform various functions in our lives: employees, grocers, drivers, doctors, teachers, pilots, auto mechanics and more.  For me, if the skill level is equal, I prefer to hire a strong  Christian auto mechanic with a good personal life to repair my car.  But, sometimes mechanics fitting that standard are not available.  I cannot just walk around for months or years while my car is broken, because I cannot find the perfect mechanic, who not only has the capacity to fix my car and also who has a perfect personal life.  So, in the end I have to have my car repaired by a mechanic who may or may not have a good personal life.  I wish we lived in a perfect world, but we as Christians cannot allow ourselves to be cornered, trapped, or paralyzed by perfectionism.  

The good thing is that God uses imperfect people, like you and me, to accomplish his perfect will.  We may not be perfect, our politicians and policies may not be perfect, but God and His Word are still the only perfect guide for any aspect of our lives.