Is Christian Political Participation a Sacred Duty or a Civil Right?

In seeking to understand voting as either a sacred duty or civil right, I am not attempting to suggest that Christians should or should not vote, or that they should vote for one candidate over another. I agree with Peter Leithart, who notes, “Faith can be expressed in political action.” I am, however, seeking to frame Christian thinking about voting and to understand voting as a potential way of pointing to and glorifying God. I say “potential” to highlight two aspects. First, there is nothing intrinsic to voting that makes it God-glorifying. Just as various sexual, economic, or even spiritual practices can be deformed and distorted, voting may also point away from or dishonor God. Second, voting is a relatively recent and limited phenomenon. Christians in certain countries may have the right to vote, but that right is both durable and fragile.

Being a “good citizen” (i.e., being subject to ruling authorities and human institutions as an aspect of living under the authority of God) is a sacred duty. It is not sacred because we are citizens of the United States, but because we have committed to being and making disciples of Christ. Unlike good citizenship, voting is context-dependent. If voting were mandated by a given government, it would be similar to paying taxes — we would “render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's” (Matt 22:21). In the United States, however, voting is not mandatory. It is a right granted to citizens that may or may not be exercised at the discretion of individual citizens. Suggesting that we “must” or “should” vote may be a cultural expectation, but Christians often find themselves pushing against such expectations. Christian political participation must serve the Christian purpose of building the kingdom of God.

If we view voting as a right given by the United States government to citizens that may be exercised at the discretion of individual citizens, three considerations follow. First, Christians may choose to take up or set aside that right for the sake of the gospel; while Paul does not appear to highlight his rights as a Roman citizen, he makes clear he is less concerned with asserting his rights than with the progress of the gospel (1 Cor 9:1–27). Second, while voting may be a way of loving our neighbor, we are also called to love our enemies — and political contentiousness can create barriers to the gospel. As Kevin Vanhoozer notes, drawing on Augustine, “To love our enemies is to love them in order that they become our brothers.” Third, elections are often understood as ways to steer the course of our nation, but as political commentator George Will notes, “statecraft is, inevitably, soulcraft” — and the soul a state can shape is, at best, generically moral, never truly discipled.