Lately there’s been this rumbling that it’s a Christians duty to vote in the U.S. November election. Duty? Duty to who? Jesus? God? Not likely! The U.S. Constitution does not mention the Bible, God, Jesus, or Christianity, and the First Amendment clarifies that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” The Bible also makes no mention of the U.S. Constitution. So this nonsense that it’s a Christian’s duty to vote, or vote a certain way, is just that: Nonsense!!
Here is a hypothetical question.
“Hello, Pastor John! I have been struggling with the question lately about whether or not a Christian who lives in a free society is obligated to vote. God commands us to submit to governing authorities (Romans 13:1), to pray regularly for them (1 Timothy 2:1–2), and he gives us an allowance for civil disobedience in rare cases when it is necessary (Acts 5:29). But if, in a given election, the choices boil down to options I feel no strong conviction toward, or if the election comes down to an option of the ‘lesser of two evil’ choices, do Christians have the choice to simply not vote at all? In my circles, this does not seem to be an option for a faithful believer. I’ve been told that this would amount to neighbor neglect on my part. Would it?”