Why Christians can’t afford to sit out the 2024 election

A recent Barna study stated that 49% of Christians in America don’t plan to vote in the upcoming 2024 election. This startling number got me thinking.

As President of Christian Business Men’s Connection (CBMC) USA, I get the privilege of traveling around the world seeing how people from other countries live and listening to how they view the United States. As hard as it may be to believe, one thing I have heard time and time again is how they admire the United States and wish they had some of the political and spiritual freedoms that we have in our country.

Last I checked, God is still sovereign; He will still be on His throne on November 6 regardless of who wins. There are many verses that support this, but I like the clarity of Colossians 1:16 “For in Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through Him and for Him.”

So, the question that I have been wrestling with is what are we to do regarding this election? If God is in control, then I guess I don’t have to do anything — right? But then why does He give us free will? Del Tackett describes God’s great meta-narrative as this — creation, fall, redemption, engagement and restoration. As you may have already figured out, we are somewhere between the redemption of the world (Jesus on the cross) and the restoration of the world (Jesus coming back to reign). We are in that time in which God is using us in His plan for the restoration of the world. He uses us to share our faith with those who don’t know Him. He commands us to love our neighbors as ourselves and to go and make disciples.

But what does He say about voting for a candidate that we don’t like all that well? Unfortunately, He doesn’t! Both presidential candidates are broken people, like the rest of us, and I am sure that you have local and state officials who are also broken people hoping to get elected to govern in our broken, imperfect world.

As I have often said before, biblical worldview matters! People’s worldview determines how they will lead, and how Americans will vote on very important issues.

The Bible says in Romans 13:1, “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.” Does this change if we don’t like these governing authorities as people?

We will all be held accountable for our actions and if you just can’t vote for someone, that is your right. However, there seems to be a bigger issue at hand when studies show that 49% of Christians will not be voting in this election. Unfortunately, it seems as though these Christians can’t separate these broken and flawed candidates from the policies that they and their party stand for.

These are complex issues. In the past, we often relied on the media to do some of the thinking for us. We can no longer do that today because it has become increasingly difficult to discern the truth. Our trust in the media has never been lower. In fact, one statistic shows that 50 years ago, there were approximately 50 companies controlling the media and the messages we heard. However, those same media are now only controlled by six companies!

As Christians, we must recognize the presence of issues and candidates that may conflict with God’s design. We must look at their positions and compare them to the ultimate authority of God’s Word when thinking about issues like the sanctity of human life, the role of government, parental rights, our freedom of speech, religion and the protection of children.

Please, let me be clear, I am not telling you who to vote for. What I am praying for, however, is that we would all lean in and engage. God can use us in this season as we exercise our right and privilege to vote. Let’s prayerfully approach the ballot box and trust God with the results, knowing He is always on His throne (Isaiah 6:1).

Join the 51% and vote!