Christians should vote by evaluating candidates and ballot measures against biblical principles, the sanctity of life, the protection of the family, religious liberty, and honest governance rather than by party loyalty, personality, or cultural pressure. No candidate will be perfect. The goal is faithfulness, not perfection.
Scripture gives believers a framework for evaluating the people and policies they put into power. It does not endorse a party. It does something harder: it gives you the criteria and expects you to apply them.
Exodus 18:21 “Select capable men from all the people who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain and appoint them as officials.” When Moses needed help governing Israel, God did not tell him to pick the most popular leaders or the most powerful. He gave four qualifications: capability, reverence for God, trustworthiness, and integrity with money. Those criteria still apply to every name on a ballot.
Proverbs 29:2 “When the righteous thrive, the people rejoice; when the wicked rule, the people groan.” The character of leadership has consequences for everyone under it, not just the leaders themselves. A vote is not a personal endorsement of a candidate’s character. It is a decision about whose policies your neighbors, your children, and your church will live under.
Romans 13:1-4 Government is established by God to punish evil and reward good. When Christians participate in selecting that government, they are exercising stewardship over an institution God Himself ordained. Sitting out is not humility. It is neglect of a responsibility God placed in your hands.
Matthew 5:13-16 “You are the salt of the earth… You are the light of the world.” Salt preserves. Light exposes. Neither one works from a distance. Voting is one of the most direct ways a believer can function as salt and light in a society that needs both.
You do not need a seminary degree to vote biblically. You need a short list of non-negotiables and the willingness to apply them honestly.
God is the author of life from conception (Psalm 139:13-16, Jeremiah 1:5). Candidates and measures that protect unborn life, restrict abortion, and defend the vulnerable align with this principle. This is not one issue among many it is foundational.
Scripture defines the family as a mother, a father, and children (Genesis 2:24, Ephesians 6:1-4). Policies that protect parental rights, preserve the biological reality of sex, and shield children from ideological experimentation in schools align with God’s design.
The freedom to worship, preach, and live according to your convictions is not a political convenience, it is a God-given right. Evaluate whether candidates would protect or restrict the ability of churches, Christian schools, and individual believers to operate according to Scripture.
God hates dishonest scales (Proverbs 11:1) and commands rulers to defend the oppressed (Psalm 82:3-4). Look for leaders who pursue equal justice, oppose corruption, and steward public resources honestly even when their style is imperfect.
Paul instructs believers to pray “for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness” (1 Timothy 2:1-2). Policies that reduce conflict, protect citizens, and promote stability serve this biblical priority.
This is the single most common reason Christians give for not voting. It sounds principled. Pastor Tim Thompson calls it a copout.
“I think it’s dangerous when I hear Christians just say that they’re going to disengage because, oh, it’s the lesser of two evils,” Tim says. “They just say, ‘They’re both corrupt, I’m just not going to vote.’ And I think that’s such a cop out.”
Here is why the argument fails: you are not voting for a pastor. You are voting for a set of policies that will govern your community.
No candidate in the history of democratic elections has been sinless. If moral perfection were the standard, no one would ever vote and the vacuum would be filled by people with no regard for biblical values at all. As Tim puts it: “Nature abhors a vacuum. We have 25 million registered Christians in America who don’t show up to vote in federal elections. When you have that kind of retreat, it’s filled with all the crazy.”
The question is not: Is this candidate worthy of my full approval?
The question is: Which available option will do the least harm and the most good for the things God cares about?
That is not a compromise. That is stewardship.
Pastor Tim’s teaching on faith, culture, and civic engagement
In his conversation with journalist Brittney Mayer, Pastor Tim lays out a framework that cuts through the noise and gives believers a clear path to the ballot box.
Tim’s method is three steps: know the times, know the standard, and then act.
Know the times. “The sons of Issachar were applauded and honored for knowing the times in which they lived,” Tim says, referencing 1 Chronicles 12:32. “I think we need to really know the times in which we are living here in America.” Before you evaluate a candidate, understand what is at stake in your city, your state, and the nation. If you do not know what is on the ballot, you cannot vote biblically.
Know the standard. Tim tells his congregation to ask which platform is “most closely aligned with our values as Christians.” Not perfectly aligned most closely. “Nothing’s going to be perfect. No one is going to be perfect. If you’re sitting around expecting perfection, just don’t hold your breath. It’s not going to happen.”
Then act. “God called us to occupy till he returns, which means we’re supposed to be busy, we’re supposed to be active. We live in a constitutional republic, and the way God brings about his sovereign will is by having his people show up and put their vote in.”
In a separate conversation with Dinesh D’Souza and Pastor Tom Hughes, Tim pressed the same question: what do you say to the Christian who refuses to vote? Pastor Tom’s answer cut to the bone:
The Jeremiah argument. “Go back to the Prophet Jeremiah,” Tom says. “What did he do? He was casting his voice against the king, against the judges, against the princes, even against religious leaders.” Jeremiah had no ballot; he only had his voice. American Christians have something Jeremiah never did: a vote. “Voting gives you a voice against the king, against the queen whatever it is.”
The Parable of the Talents. Tom then turns to Matthew 25. The servants with ten and five talents invested and were blessed. The one who buried his talent heard the harshest judgment: weeping and gnashing of teeth. “That’s what people are doing,” Tom says. “Here’s an opportunity for the Christian to say, ‘I’m supposed to be salt and light in this world’ but no, I’m just going to sit it out. It’s casting a vote for darkness when you just sit this out.”
The “lesser of two evils” answer. When someone protests that both candidates are flawed, Tom quotes Dr. Ben Carson: “Unless you’re voting for Jesus, you’re always voting for the lesser of two evils.” The standard is not perfection. The standard is faithfulness with what God has put in your hands.
Dinesh D’Souza diagnoses why some Christians reach for that excuse in the first place. He calls it the “gospel of niceness” believers who “turn their own weakness into a virtue” by claiming they are too principled to fight. “Running away from the battlefield is not your highest moral duty,” Dinesh says. “It’s not a real argument, it is a way of coping with weakness.”
No. Party loyalty is not a biblical principle. Evaluate every candidate and every measure against Scripture. In practice, one party’s platform may consistently align more closely with biblical values, but that alignment should be verified each cycle not assumed.
A pastor can and should teach the biblical principles that apply to civic issues: the sanctity of life, the design of the family, religious freedom. A pastor should not tell you which specific candidate to vote for from the pulpit. Your vote is between you and God, informed by Scripture and applied through your own conscience.
Scripture does not call it a sin by name. But James 4:17 says, “If anyone knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.” If you have the ability to influence the welfare of your community through a vote and you choose not to, that is worth taking seriously.
Start with your state’s official voter guide, then look for trusted Christian voter guides that evaluate candidates against biblical principles. Our Watch publishes a California voter guide each election cycle. Read candidate websites directly, and compare their stated positions against the five principles listed above.
Yes. Exodus 18:21 sets the standard: capable, God-fearing, trustworthy, honest. A candidate does not need to be a professing Christian to govern in ways that align with biblical principles. Evaluate their policies and their record, not just their testimony.
Voting is not the most important thing a Christian does, prayer is, and discipleship is. But it is one of the most concrete ways you carry your faith into the public square. You were not called to sit in a pew and hope the country figures itself out. You were called to be salt and light, and the ballot box is one of the places that calling gets lived out.
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