Why voting is loving your neighbor this election season

By Emily Hawley, Op-ed contributor Thursday, October 24, 2024

Up to 104 million Americans who consider themselves people of faith, including 32 million Christian churchgoers, are projected to abstain from voting in November, according to a recent survey. This number is a sad reflection of the state of the American church, and the blame is placed on both those in the pews and in the pulpit who have deceived themselves into believing that faith and politics should be separate.

If every Christian in America voted and supported candidates and policies that most aligned with biblical values, we would live in a fundamentally different country. The United States has a long history of Christian civic engagement and was forged by bold believers who were strong in their convictions and active in the political process.

In 1776, a Virginia pastor’s rousing call to his congregation that “there is a time to fight, and that time has now come” helped form the 8th Virginia Brigade during the Revolutionary War. Pastors across the 13 colonies rallied their congregations in support of independence, and the British referred to these bold pastors as the “Black Robed Regiment” because of the black robes the clergymen wore. One historian noted that “teachings of the pulpit … caused the first blow to be struck for American Independence.”

While not all of our Founders were Christians, they were heavily influenced by biblical morality and understood our rights derive from God and therefore must be protected. If we want these values to long endure, we cannot remain complacent when it comes to engaging our faith with politics.

Cast a vote to love your neighbor

After “(loving) the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength,” Jesus said the next greatest commandment is to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:29-31).

In recent years, “love your neighbor” has been twisted in ways contrary to what it actually means (i.e., going through the charade of wearing a mask, getting the experimental COVID shot, or posting a black square on Instagram).

To “love your neighbor” means a lot of different things, but it certainly isn’t being driven by guilt or peer pressure to act in ways contrary to the Gospel to advance anti-biblical social justice initiatives or greater government control. Instead, voting is one small way to love your neighbor by supporting policies that protect the innocent, “rescue those being led away to death” (Prov. 24:11), uphold natural rights, and lead to order over chaos.

It is our civic duty and Christian responsibility to cast a vote to protect innocence and not destroy it. There is no excuse for apathy in the political arena for Christians, especially as biblical matters are so intertwined with modern politics, particularly when it comes to abortion, the protection of children, and marriage.

Loving your neighbor means protecting a preborn baby’s right to be born. Loving your neighbor means defending the innocence of children from radical ideologies or medical mutilation. Loving your neighbor means supporting natural rights, freedom, and God’s design for the family.

What’s at stake?

We know what we’re getting with both presidential candidates because both have spent four years in the White House. It is clear whose policies are most supportive of life, religious liberty, prosperity, national security, secure borders, and the family.

While the Republican platform is sadly just a shadow of what it once was on issues like the right to life, it is most suited for the preservation of faith, family, life, and liberty. Its policies will lead to the preservation of natural rights and promote human flourishing as opposed to destruction.

The Democrat agenda, however, centers on perversion and the ability to kill preborn babies in the name of “freedom” or “health care.” Christians cannot support (and should adamantly oppose) such an evil platform that profits off of deception, destruction, and death.

Outside of the presidential race, down-ballot polls for local, state, and federal leaders as well as policy issues will directly impact your life, family, and community. In 10 states, abortion until birth is on the ballot, and countless preborn children will never see the light of day if voters enshrine abortion into law. Your vote matters and can make a difference in life or death and the trajectory of both your community and nation.

At the end of the day, it is people, not politicians, who will be most impacted by the votes you cast, and this is why voting wisely is one way to love your neighbor this November. No one better reflects this quite like author and podcast host Allie Beth Stuckey, who often says, “Politics matter because policy matters because people matter. Politics affects policy, policy affects people, and people matter.”

Hope in an eternal Kingdom

Thankfully, our hope is not in our country, campaign promises, or the outcome of the 2024 election. We know that the results of the election will neither save us nor interfere with God’s plan of redemption for He is Sovereign over all, including earthly authorities (Romans 13).

As believers in Jesus, we are heirs of an eternal kingdom, and as Psalm 20:7 says, “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.”

While this is true, it is not to say that the outcome of the election doesn’t matter or that we are excused from civic engagement. On the contrary, it is truly the least we can do to vote to ensure policies are enacted that will most honor God and those made in His image.

Until God establishes His eternal Kingdom, it is good and right for Christians to engage politically as one way to love our neighbor. In 1 Corinthians 10:31, Paul implores us, “whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

Politics is not excluded from this.

As our nation descends further into chaos and drifts from our founding values, every election is more consequential than the one before. Christians must lead the way in correcting course.

Emily Wood Hawley is a staff writer for Liberty Counsel and Liberty Counsel Action. Emily has worked as a political appointee in the Trump White House, a press secretary in the U.S. House of Representatives, and a reporter for The Christian Post. She has a degree journalism from Liberty University and was editor-in-chief of the Liberty Champion newspaper.