On Voting

"But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for [the government] does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath upon the one who practices evil." Romans 13:4

"But I say to you, do not resist him who is evil; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also." Matthew 5:39

It seems that the Church, like a drunkard on a horse (to steal an analogy from Martin Luther), has a tendency towards extremes, falling off the truth toward one side or the other. It doesn’t really matter which way we tip because either way we’re hitting the ground. And as we approach another year at the polls, I’ve been thinking about the way American democracy places us in an even more precarious position.

As Christians, we are called to follow the path of mercy—the path of forgiveness, grace, acceptance and love. When wronged we are to turn the other cheek (Matthew 5:39). We are not to seek after our own justice but rather to do good to those who persecute us (Romans 12:19-20). We are not called to shout down the world, but to bless it and transform it through the love of Christ. The duty of the government on the other hand, is not one of mercy and grace, but rather to serve as “an avenger who brings wrath upon the one who practices evil” (Romans 13:4). The job of the government is to right the wrongs, to punish the wicked, and to be exacting in dispensing justice. So where the Christian life is to be characterized by mercy and grace, the sword of Cesar is to be rightly characterized by justice and wrath against the evil doer. And herein lies the rub, for in this democracy in which we live, we are citizens who have been called upon by our country to exercise a certain amount of judicial authority through the votes we cast. So when we go to the polls as citizens we are to ask our government to dispense justice against the evil doer, but when we go to our neighbor as Christians, we are to bring only mercy and grace.

The tension of these legitimate and competing agendas has a tendency to drive a wedge between each. If not careful, we can wrongly carry the Christian mandate of charity and tolerance into our political/social agendas, or conversely we can mistakenly carry the government’s rightful orientation toward justice into our churches. This wedge is seen perhaps most clearly in the issue of homosexuality. Christians who lean toward the left often do a fantastic job of demonstrating Christ’s love and compassion to homosexuals, but often wrongly expect the government to establish policies in kind. And Christians on the right correctly ask the government to give no legitimacy to this community, but too often forget the Church’s mandate of love and tolerance toward sinners. As God-honoring servants of Cesar, we must, as it is within our power, establish policies of justice and truth without regard to mercy. We cannot allow the Christian mandate of tolerance and charity to stand in the way of our government’s biblical mandate of justice. But conversely, as God-honoring servants of Christ we must not allow the governmental mandate of wrath to seep into our Christian community. Though we may rightly ask the government to condemn the wrong doer, our churches must be the safest places that the repentant sinner can find.

Most Christian citizens throughout Christian history have never been placed in such a position. Paul and Peter were not asked to set the policies of the Roman Empire. Not bearing responsibility to wield Cesar’s sword, they wielded only the message of the cross. But in this democracy, this America in which we live, Christian citizens are called to wield both. As we do so, let us do our best to render unto Cesar the justice that belongs to Cesar, to the Church the mercy that belongs to the Church, and all things unto God.