It happened again this weekend. A friend shared an article with a group of us about voting. The essence of the article centered on the character of the candidates that we elect. Shortly after it was shared it happened. The inevitable you are not a serious/mature Christian if you vote for this candidate. Immediately the pendulum swung the other way, you are not a serious/mature Christian if you vote for that candidate.

Maybe you like me find yourself in a contentious political time as a Christian being told that if you are a Christian you must take a particular stance when it comes to politics and/or voting. If you can get anyone to admit that such a position is a relatively dangerous idea, what follows next is something like, “Well a serious Christian would hold this position” or “Well, a committed Christian would hold this view”. Please don’t stop reading at this point and leave to post on social media that I have gone soft or have become this or that politically. Please hear me out and hear me clearly. What I am saying is that to make politics a test of religious fervor or favor is a blasphemous idea. While having strong political convictions is a good thing to do and Christians can and should be involved in the political process, we must remember that our political involvement is always subservient to our identity in Christ. The following are a few reasons why demanding political alignment as a test of faith is a dangerous idea:

Political Ideology Does Not Save

The Bible is incredibly clear what is required of someone to become a Christian, they must acknowledge their status as a sinner and their sinfulness, they must come to understand and believe in Christ as he was and is, they must confess their sins and repent of them, and they must trust in Christ and confess him as their Lord and Savior. The Protestant Reformers framed it as one is saved by faith through faith in Christ according to Scripture for the glory of God alone. This is what was and is required to be a genuine Christian. When we force our political ideology on as a boundary marker of being a Christian not only are we wrong we are in grave error. How so? Consider what the Scripture says, “As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. (Galatians 1:9 ESV) The Scripture clearly says that adding anything that would determine the salvation of a person besides the gospel should be accursed.

Spiritual Maturity is Marked by Christlikeness

When we assert that we have the corner market on spiritual maturity because we claim a political party we have failed to measure our faith in Christ according to biblical standards. One example of a way that we can see the spiritual maturity is by following Christ’s example. “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:5-8 ESV) Servant leadership is at the heart of what it means to be mature in Christ. Pointing others to Christ as their greatest need is an evidence of maturity in Christ. Showing the love of Christ to others in the way that we speak and the way that we care for those in our communities are also practical applications of showing Christlikeness. By selling out to political parties what we are is Esau who sold his birthright for a bowl of porridge. Esau lost sight of the value of the birthright because he thought it wouldn’t matter when he was dead. When we get sucked into believing that politics is a marker of maturity we lose sight of the point of life: to love God with our heart, mind, and soul and love our neighbor as ourselves.

Eternity is a Long Time, Especially without Democrats and Republicans

And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment (Hebrews 9:27 ESV). There is a day that I fear more than those who fear the results of November 3rd, it is November 8th. Why that date? This will be the first time that Christians will gather after the election. For some it will be the first time that Christians will decide to not go to church. After all, if loving my neighbor looks like shouting someone down because they don’t vote with me then why would I go back? This is what some will reason. The harsh reality of the moment is that Christians have forgotten that every idle word and deed will one day be judged. There is no escaping this reality. We can advocate for identity in politicians but one day there is coming a judgement and there will not be two lines, one for Democrat and one for Republican. No there will be one “line” for the entirety of the human race. I need this reminder and so do you. We as Christians would do to remember that as one popular slogan goes, “Right Now Counts Forever”. This is true for all of humanity. We cannot afford to make politics a measure of faith.

David French notes in his new book Divided We Fall that there is nothing that is pulling America closer together than is pushing it together. Evangelical Christians are partly to blame here as we allow issues of politics to push us as congregations and fellow Christians apart. This is why the hope of the Gospel is truly what we need to return to as it is the great unifier. The Gospel breaks down the barriers that mankind places provided we don’t attach things to it. In the book Compelling Community, Mark Dever reminds readers that the community of Christ followers that is truly compelling is the one in which people who would not normally gather are able to gather together in unity because of the power of the Gospel. May all Christians seek to help us get back to this place.