How often does the subject of politics come up at a dinner party to everyone’s joy and delight?
I would venture to say, “Never.”
The issues are thorny. The candidates are flawed. The media contradicts itself. So, many Americans—including Christians—believe they are rising above the fray when they opt out of politics altogether. They avoid conversations and disengage from the news. Perhaps they cast a ballot for a third-party candidate, write in a candidate, or abandon their vote altogether.
If you’re reading this, I assume you have a different mindset. You believe America is still worth fighting for, and you’re finding ways to show up for our nation. But sometimes it’s hard to sort through the political noise, and perhaps you’re not always sure how to vote your values.
Earlier this month I attended the Republican National Convention in Dallas. I was intrigued by the opportunity to observe this bastion of conservative politics in person. As a Texan, I’m well-versed in the tradition of football and Friday night lights. And mostly the RNC felt like a giant, six-hour pep rally. “Team colors” were loud and proud. There were exuberant pep talks and a little bit of trash-talk, as well as music, dancing, and cheers for the “home team.”
But the most edifying experience for me took place on the first day of the convention in a hotel conference room that featured Newt Gingrich. In an interview with our Moms for Liberty luncheon host, the 83-year-old statesman had much political wisdom to share. After all, he led Republicans in the mid-1990s to the first congressional majority in forty years and negotiated face-to-face with President Bill Clinton to achieve a historic balancing of the federal budget.
He gave conservatives this advice for election season: “Tell the truth, stick to the facts, and make sure everyone you know votes in this election.”
The simplicity of this approach resonated with me.
“Tell the truth.”
I was not very attuned to politics when I started working with iVoterGuide in 2011. For twenty years, I had been raising my three children, serving my local church, and deeply involved in Community Bible Study, but I was starting to explore possibilities for the next season of my life as an empty nester. My CBS Teaching Director was married to iVoterGuide founder Jim Sneeringer. He needed someone to help with the website, and my professional background was in engineering and computer science.
Immediately, I was drawn to iVoterGuide’s data-driven research about political candidates at every level of government. Little did we know back then how the rhetoric and smear campaigns would explode exponentially through social media over the next fifteen years.
The confusion caused by increasingly polarized media and accelerated technology has heightened our nation’s desperate need for truth. While iVoterGuide’s research includes credible sources of media, it also highlights the hard data of candidates’ voting records, funding sources, and endorsements to help voters cut through the rhetoric and get to the truth.
“Stick to the facts.”
A fact-driven approach to voting sounds hopeful, but which facts do we focus on?
Before our Founding Fathers conceived of a government “by the people, for the people,” governments throughout history had sought to control the populace, not serve it. But our founding documents established a revolutionary government framework that would function in service to the people and to the preservation of their freedoms. So when I evaluate political candidates, I’m looking primarily for evidence of their commitment to serving the American people and preserving our freedoms in accordance with our founding documents.
Do I consider their moral failings? Of course I do, but I prioritize evidence of their commitment to serving the American people and preserving our freedoms in accordance with our founding documents.
In a similar way, when I’m looking to hire someone—anyone from my surgeon to my plumber—I evaluate, above all, their performance in their primary function. To be sure, certain functions require greater evidence of personal integrity and character, like my child’s educators, for example, as well as pastors.
I hope and pray to live in an American society again that insists upon our public servants exhibiting the highest Christian integrity and character. But sadly, that’s not the society we, as Americans, have cultivated over the past fifty years.
Let me offer a political example. President Jimmy Carter, widely known as a Sunday School teacher, had a more pristine record of personal Christian morality when he ran against Ronald Reagan, who had been divorced and worked as a Hollywood actor. But which president better served the American people in preserving our freedoms in accordance with our founding documents? I don’t think many people would argue that Reagan was the better president—by far.
The combination of the smart phone and social media have exponentially exposed sin running rampant throughout the population of the world. This includes the sins of our politicians, as well as the slander and false testimony about them that stoke chaos and confusion. In this climate, many Christians have either become callous to the moral failings of our politicians or decided to ignore politics altogether.
We must avoid either extreme if we’re going to vote our values and influence the government for Christ. The only way forward is to follow him as closely as we can. In Matthew 10:16 Jesus said, “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.” To strike this balance, we must stay vigilant—to remain immersed in scripture, obedient to His word, devoted to prayer, and accountable to the church. The Lord promised us in John 15:4: “Remain in me, as I also remain in you.”
“Make sure everyone you know votes in this election.”
As we head toward Election Day on November 3, we must speak about the issues and draw clear contrasts between the platforms:
- border security vs. chaos;
- law and order vs. criminal permissiveness;
- biological clarity vs. gender confusion;
- immigrant assimilation vs. tribalism;
- robust discourse vs. political violence;
- life of the unborn vs. death.
We must rally constitutionally-minded Christians and Americans to the polls to take back our country and restore the vision of our Founding Fathers. And we also must persist in prayer. The Lord came to bring abundant life on earth as it is in heaven, and he is infinitely creative in bringing beauty from ashes. He has moved through broken systems and people throughout the history of the world, and we can learn to trust his voice as we prepare to vote.
Encourage your friends with these truths. Point them to iVoterGuide as a data-driven resource. Invite them to join you in prayerfully discerning the evidence for each candidate’s commitment to serving the American people and preserving our freedoms in accordance with our founding documents.
Then vote with confidence.
