Voting and Christian Morality

One week away from an election of tremendous consequence, Christians face three logical options.

First, they could vote for Kamala Harris. Some Christian leaders have encouraged this, with one stating in a now-deleted post, “Never Trump. This time Harris. Always Jesus.” Most Christians are unlikely to follow this advice, but some will.

Second, they could disengage from the political process in some way. A number of ways exist to do this, which include abstaining from voting, refusing to cast any ballot for president, or selecting a third-party candidate. This option marginalizes your political voice but is an option for those with problems of conscience. Because it is a sin to violate your conscience, Christians must have great patience with their brothers and sisters on this matter (Romans 14:23).

Third, Christians can vote for Donald Trump. This is the option the vast majority of evangelicals will choose. It is also the most controversial option for the watching world. Many have pointed out the apparent inconsistency in following Jesus Christ as Savior while casting a vote for someone as morally complicated as President Trump.

The point is well taken that before any Christian can vote for Trump, they must demonstrate that such a decision is consistent with biblical morality.

Moral Clarity about the Character of President Trump

Donald Trump provides plenty of reasons for moral disappointment. His sexual immorality is a matter of public record going back decades. Mr. Trump has been no paragon of virtue, and no Christian should pretend he has.

In his political life as sitting president, as a former president, and as a current candidate, Mr. Trump’s temperament and language has regularly been reckless and unhelpful.

If that were not enough, Mr. Trump has disappointed Christians on the ethics of abortion. After the most pro-life administration in my lifetime, Trump now insists that these issues must be left to the states.

Christians have a responsibility to Jesus Christ to express concern on each of these matters.

Consider my concerns registered.

Moral Clarity about the Character of Vice-President Harris

Christians must also express our serious disappointment about the morality of Vice-President Harris. She creates moral concern in the same categories as her opponent.

Harris’s past violations of sexual morality are also a matter of public record. In the present, she is the second highest-ranking official in an administration presiding over the dangerous inclusion of men in women’s sports, and she has called for taxpayer funding for sex-change operations.

Harris also has many problems with her language and temperament. She has been denounced by Holocaust survivors for likening her political opponent to Hitler, has refused for as long as possible any interviews which would expose her record, and has reversed course on countless issues in an effort that even her supporters have described as a craven attempt to get elected. She said that people at her rallies who believe Jesus is King have come to the wrong place.

More than all that, Vice-President Harris is one of the most aggressively pro-abortion politicians in American history. Trump’s modification of his position on life has been a disappointment to Christians. But Vice-President Harris’s celebration of death at any phase of pregnancy is breathtaking. Her bold calls for abortion without restriction draw raucous cheers from tens of thousands of people at her political rallies. This is a scandal that every faithful Christian must denounce.

Moral Clarity about the Issues at Stake

Moral clarity requires Christians to move from evaluating the character of the candidates to the issues they espouse. Many issues are of great concern to Christians, but at least three rise to the level of contemporary crisis. The crisis at the border is ushering in criminals who are hurting innocent people, bringing in vast numbers of people sufficient to destroy our economy, and delivering terrorists that will soon seek to destroy us. Then there is the crisis of abortion, which kills more people in the womb every year than die from all other causes combined. Finally, there is the transgender crisis, placing at risk the bodies of our children as well as the health and safety of women in the sports where they compete and the locker rooms where they undress.

Both major party candidates have their fair share of violations of biblical morality. But simple honesty compels every Christian to conclude that President Trump’s positions on each of these crises is far superior to that of Vice-President Harris.

Choices in a Sinful World

In a sinful world, Christians make imperfect choices all the time. We do it every day with medical decisions for our bodies, with educational decisions for our kids, and with financial decisions for our budgets. We don’t usually expect to make perfect decisions but reasonable ones, given all the factors on the table.

Next week, every Christian is going to make an imperfect decision for president. In the grand scheme of Christian morality, the scandal is not that believers will be forced to support an imperfect candidate since Jesus Christ won’t be on the ballot. The real scandal is that Christians would refuse to see that one imperfect candidate is closer to Christian morality than the other.

That is the moral case for Donald Trump.