I’ve been reading How Should Christians Vote by Tony Evans off and on for months now. I ordered it from Moody publishing when they had a big sale, so whenever that was. I thought it would be good to read during an election season. As you can see, I didn’t finish it before voting day.

There’s been some really good points made, but what I want to talk about is perhaps a big question in the political realm among Christians particularly.

Is God a Democrat or a Republican?

At this point, you may already have an answer in your head. Over the years I’ve had a hard time pointing to one completely, personally. There are a few things about each that I feel would reflect God’s desire for this nation and one seeks each a different way. Through my reasoning, one stands out more than the other. That may interest you, but it’s not important to the intent of this post.

In Evans’ book, he brings up the book of Joshua. The battle of Jericho is about to happen, for Joshua was by Jericho. This section is as follows:

When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?” And he said, “No; but I am the commander of the army of the Lord. Now I have come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him, “What does my lord say to his servant?” And the commander of the Lord’s army said to Joshua, “Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.

Joshua 5:13-15 ESV

Notice when Joshua asked if the commander was “for us or for our adversaries” he said “no”? In other translations he says more directly “neither” or something equivalent.

God doesn’t explicitly tell us a side to be on. He rules over all and He is the ruler over the Democrats and the Republicans alike. Whether either party acknowledges that is another issue.

What God does tell us is all in the Word. He’s given us His written word to discern His plans, His heart and His desires for us individually and how we should vote. The things that matters to God should matter to us when we go out and cast a political vote.

The captain of the host of the Lord made it clear that he hadn’t come to take sides. He had come to take over. He was not on Joshua’s side, yet neither was he on Jericho’s side. However, Joshua could have easily assumed that he would have sided with him, since Joshua was on the side of the chosen people of God. After all, that would make sense. Yet the captain made it clear: He was on God’s side.

Tony Evans, How Should Christians Vote

When we vote, we shouldn’t be on one side or the other, political parties that have become more and more divided over the years. We should be on God’s side and voting for the betterment of the nation we reside.

Ultimately, our vote is for one party or the other. That won’t change (unless by some instance the political realm shifts and parties are eliminated?). It takes intentional discernment to cast a vote and I hope that in the years to come, Christians will stand up for God rather than a political party – a flawed man-created system.

Evans’ book, as you can tell from the title, How Christians Should Vote, is the connection between politics and religion, specifically Christianity.

There’s a notion that religion doesn’t belong in politics even though politics was founded on religious principles. In reality, government has no place getting involved in church but the church has a responsibility to actively pursue God in all things politics. As many defend their stance of not wanting religion and politics mixed, they state the popular quote of “separation of church and state.” How can a Christian live their life for God if they vote for worldly views instead of God’s desires?

He makes some other good points in his writing and I’m not going to make this a post about a book, but I would encourage you to read it. If you do, let me know!