Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Evangelical
Politics and Religion
Election Day 2025 What we need to know to vote well

Election Day 2025 What we need to know to vote well

Last updated on: November 4, 2024 at 12:07 am by Rob Dalrymple

Election Day 2025 What we need to know to vote well 2024-11-02T20:15:19-08:00 Rob Dalrymple

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Election Day 2024 may be important, but the kingdom of God is not on the ballot

The Kingdom of God Isn’t on the Ballot: A Guide to Voting with Purpose

“Today is the day of salvation” (2 Cor 6:2).

Okay, I am not applying this text to tomorrow’s election. Unfortunately, many Christians do. In saying this, I don’t intend to undermine those with serious convictions about the election.

But I would note that the Church existed for well over a thousand years before the US was founded. And the Church thrives today in places like China, N. Korea, and Iran. The Church doesn’t need the US to be the Church.

With that being said, here are my thoughts on who and what to vote for as you go to the polls tomorrow:

For President %$%$QQ$T%QW

(You should certainly vote this way! I would even say, “All Christians must vote this way. And if you don’t, maybe you are not a Christian.”) For those who may not be used to my sarcasm, that was definitely sarcasm.

For Congress @#$U(^&^W$%Q% (Same)

For your state elected officials 09q4q90qerqw$$%$ (yep, all true Christians vote this way)

The major issues that should determine how we vote are:

$%#673#$%$#%
#$^*(wsg%T$#5

That’s it; just two issues are all that matter for every Christian!

I’m sorry, but what I wrote above looks great on my end. Every time I hit “send,” the text changes to what is shown above. It must be my accountability software.

Understanding the Kingdom of God and how that impacts our approach to politics

Over the past 7 months, we at Determinetruth hosted 20+ livestreams in preparation for the coming election (see the Determinetruth YouTube page and the playlist “Politics and the Church.” Be sure to SUBSCRIBE). We also produced an additional 7 livestreams on the Gospel and the Kingdom.

We had several objectives in putting these conversations together.

First, we wanted to lay a foundation regarding “What is the kingdom of God?” One of our primary concerns about the Church in the West is our poor understanding of the kingdom.

“Why is this a problem, and how is it relevant to politics?” I’m glad you asked.

Understanding the kingdom of God provides the framework, game plan, and agenda for the people of God. It details what we are called to work towards.

NB: There has been much debate on the relationship between the Church and the state, so for one of our livestreams, we talked with noted biblical scholar Michael Bird.

The Gospel of self-denial

Second, we wanted to help the Church understand the Gospel and what it means to think politically in light of the kingdom of God.

The Western world is highly individualistic. Unfortunately, much of this has infected the Church.

If you are like me, you have been inundated with text messages telling us who to vote for or, more commonly, who not to vote for. Virtually every political advertisement, whether TV or text message, appeals to our self-interest. Most run along the lines of “This candidate is bad for you because. . . .” Though there is the occasional, “This candidate is good for you because. . . .”

Either way, they appeal to our self-interests.

Yet the Gospel is, “Deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Me” (Mark 8:34).

The Gospel also says, “Love your enemies” (Luke 6:27, 35).

We can’t love our enemies, let alone our neighbor unless we first recognize the self-sacrificing demand of the Gospel.

The radical call of the Gospel is, “We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren” (1 John 3:16).

These constant appeals to what is best for me undermine the missional call we have to lay down our lives for one another.

Loving our neighbor means understanding them

Third, we wanted to provide an understanding of some of the issues (Christian Nationalism , abortion, Critical Race Theory, Mass Incarceration, Islam, and War) so that we can understand the other side.

We did not intend to say, “This is the correct way to think, believe, or vote” on a given issue. But we wanted you to understand why others might believe, think, or vote differently than you.

Thus, we did livestreams on race and CRT so that we might better understand the issues that matter for people of color and why they think, believe, and vote the way they do.

Critiquing our own

Fourth, we want to challenge Christians to critique our own views.

If we believe that Jesus is the Truth and all truth derives from Him, then we have nothing to fear when it comes to the truth.

But why is it that Christians can be some of the most close-minded people? What are we afraid of?

We should be more afraid of believing a lie. After all, lies come from the evil one, “Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44).

It is one thing to advocate for a particular political party or candidate. It is another thing, however, to believe that your party or candidate is infallible.

When we fail to critique our own, when we fail to acknowledge that we may be wrong, when we fail to listen to the other, we fail to love God.

When you go to the polls this week

When you go to the polls this week, remember that the kingdom of God is not on the ballet. Sure, you might be convinced that the nation’s well-being is at stake. Even so, the Church will survive. The question is, “Will it survive well?”

We refuse to put these posts behind a paywall as this hinders the poor from accessing the information. But we can only continue these posts with the support of those of you who can afford to give. So, if you can afford to give $5, $10, $25, or $1 million/month, please do so. You can give a tax-deductible contribution by following this link.

Please share this post and let others know about determinetruth.

If you wish to view this blog on your smartphone through the Determinetruth app, download the “tithe.ly church” app and insert “determinetruth” as the name of the church you wish to follow. Once it is loaded, click on the “blog” icon, and it will automatically load.

If you would like Rob to speak to your church, organization, or group in person or via Zoom, please let us know by filling out the contact info on the Contact Me tab on this site.

Progressive Christian

Politics and Religion

About Rob Dalrymple

Rob Dalrymple is married to his wife Toni and is the father of four fabulous children, and two grandchildren. He has been teaching and pastoring for over 34 years at colleges, seminaries, and the local church. He has a PhD in biblical interpretation. He is the author of four books (including Follow the Lamb: A Guide to Reading, Understanding, and Applying the Book of Revelation & Understanding the New Testament and the End Times: Why it Matters) as well as numerous articles and other publications. His commentary on the book of Revelation titled, “Revelation: a Love Story” (Cascade Books, July 2024) has just been released. His new book, Land of Contention: Biblical Narratives and the Struggle for the Holy Land, should be out by the Fall of 2024. You can read more about the author here.

Previous Post

October 21, 2024

Israeli Settlers: CT's Misguided Narratives on the West Bank

Next Post

November 5, 2024 Why We Need to Look Beyond just Abortion in the Election

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 000 1 Cor 11:17-34 1 Corinthians 1 John 1 Peter 1 Thessalonians 1 Timothy 10 Commandments 2 Corinthians 2 John 2 Peter 2 Thessalonians 2 Timothy 3 John 666 Abortion Acts 2:42 Ahmaud Arbery AIPAC All Saints Day America antisemitism BDS Beast Betting Bible Bible study Biblical Interpretation Biden Book of Acts Boycott Campus Protests Catholicism Ceasefire Chavez Ravine Christian Nationalism Christian Zionism Christianity Today Christmas Church Colossians Communion Convict Leasing Covid-19 Craig Blaising creation Crucifixion Daoud Nassar Deception Deconstruction Democracy Devotional guide Discipleship Easter Eden Education Election End-times Ephesians Eschatology Ethnic Cleansing Evangelicalism Evangelicals Evolution Fall Famine Fascism FIFA Freedom of Speech Galatians Gary Burge Gaza Gaza; Genocide; Boycott Genesis Genocide George Floyd Global Warming God's will Gospel Gospel of John Gospel of Luke Gospel of Mark Gospel of Matthew Government Grace Great Prostitute Hamas Harris healthcare Hebrews HeGetsUs Holy Spirit Holy Week Honor Father and Mother ICJ Immigration Indigenous peoples day Iran Israel Israel Palestine Itamar Ben Gvir James Jesus Joel Willits Jude Just war Justice Kamala Harris Kingdom Of God Kings and Queens land of Israel Law (OT) Lazarus Les Miserable LGBTQ+ Love Luke Mahmoud Khalil Man of Lawlessness Mark Mark of the Beast Marriage Martin Luther King Jr Mercy Mexican Repatriation Military-Industrial-Complex Ministry Mission Money NAFTA Nakba Netanyahu New Creation New Testament Nicaragua Nicodemus Non Violence Occupation Pacifism Palestine Parable Paul Peace Pentecost Peonage Philemon Philippians Politics Poor Power Prayer Pride Month Priests Pro-life Propaganda Prophesy Prophet Qatar Queen Elizabeth Racism Reconstruction Redemption Reformation Resurrection Revelation Roe v Wade Romans Romans 13:1-7 Rome Russia Sabbath Samaritan Seals Sermon Settlements Slavery Spiritual gifts Taxes Tent of Nations Terrorism The Beast Theology Titus Torture Trump truth Ukraine Uncategorized Veteran's Day War Warsaw Ghetto wealth Wedding Women World Cup 2022 Worldview Worship Wrath Yemen Zionism

Select a Month September 2026 May 2026 February 2026 November 2025 October 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 August 2018 June 2018 May 2018 March 2018 September 2017 July 2017 May 2017 November 2016 October 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who restored water to Jericho by throwing salt into a spring?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Elijah Jonah Naaman Elisha

Support this
Column