Is It Ever A Sin To Vote?

Over the years I have had countless Christians tell me that voting is a gift from God, a privilege that is to be taken very seriously. They even go so far as to say that not voting is a (gulp) sin! Using the word sin is very uncommon these days; even among the professing evanjellyfish. But that is a topic for another day.

To globally declare that not voting is a sin displays the shallowness of today’s Believers with regard to their Biblical Worldview.

When discussing this topic with those well-meaning folks, I try to keep it simple. The conversation goes something like this:

(Me) “Are you aware that the Bible contains qualifications for the office of Elders and Deacons?”

(Them) “Yes, I am. I think there are some passages in I Timothy somewhere and maybe Titus…”

(Me) “OK, well suppose two men in you congregation (We’ll call them Joe and Bill) were running for the office of Deacon. Joe clearly meets the Biblical qualifications outlined in the Scriptures and Bill clearly does not. Would it not be a sin to cast your vote for Bill?”

(Them) “Well, yes, I guess it would…”

(Me) “There are also Biblical qualifications for the office of civil magistrate. Exodus 18 and Deuteronomy 1 would be some verses you could start with… men who are able, men who fear God, men committed to truth, men who hate covetousness, etc.”

(Them) “That’s very interesting, I was not aware of those verses…”

(Me) “So do you see how casting your vote for someone running for office in the civil sphere who does not meet the basic qualification outlined in the Bible would be a violation of Gods law and therefore a sin?”

(Them) “Yes, I guess I should find out more about the candidates and determine if they are Biblically qualified…”

This, my friends, is what we are trying to accomplish at MARS, to get Christians to think and act Biblically. To look at everything (voting, war, money, law, property, etc.) from a Biblical perspective.

Sam Rohrer

This past Tuesday was our Primary Election day here is Pennsylvania. There were several men running for office that clearly meet the Biblical standards. State Representative Sam Rohrer, running for the office of Governor is one of them. Sadly, none of these men won and I submit to you that the reason is because the average Christian does not take the voting process seriously, votes for only those candidates who “have a chance”, or votes for the lesser of two evils, etc. My prayer is that when Sam or other qualified candidates seek office in the future, that we who name the name of Christ would do our homework, assist these candidates however possible, and then vote for them.

Any candidate not up to Biblical standards should not get our vote… It would be a sin to do so.

~ Toby Grater