Should Christians Avoid Politics? Myths We Believe in An Election Year

America is split right down the middle between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump as the race for the White House narrows. But what place do Christians have in all this?

Dr. Jeff Myers, an author, speaker, and president of Summit Ministries, recently appeared on CBN’s “Faith vs. Culture,” where he dispelled some of the “myths” believers are tempted to buy into about politics — especially in a contentious election year.

One of the biggest mistakes Christians make, he said, is believing they are choosing between the “lesser of two evils.” Myers wasn’t suggesting there is a perfect choice. Rather, he argued, using that metric makes deciding who to vote for that much more difficult.

Myers explained that Christians “really need to understand how to be good citizens in a time of tension,” acknowledging it’s a “truism” believers are voting for the “lesser of two evils,” because it’s granted in Scripture that every human being is born with a sinful nature (Romans 5:12).

“People only run for president because they have an enormous ego,” he said. “[I]nstead of thinking of choosing between the ‘lesser of two evils,’ I think of my vote as ‘lessening evil.’ That’s what I focus on.”

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The author and popular speaker, who recently released a free video series answering common misconceptions about Christian political engagement, urged Bible-believing voters to consider “constitutional principles” like “life, liberty, [and] property,” because those “are the three things the Constitution said it’s developed in order to provide.”

“So what about life?” Myers began. “How do I support life with my vote? How about liberty — things like religious liberty and free speech? What about property? Who’s going to be most likely to think that people ought to have their own property and own businesses? Because there are a lot of worldviews out there, let’s be honest, who say the abolition of private property would be a preferable state. So which candidate for any given office is going to be most likely to lessen the evils that occur around life, liberty, and property? … That is going to help inform my decision.”

Another myth Christians are tempted to adopt is that, because Scripture instructs believers to “not be conformed to this world,” they should be entirely disengaged from the political system.

That, though, is also a faulty view.

“The kind of government we have [in the United States] is a constitutional republic,” said Myers. “And in a constitutional republic, the people are the rulers. That’s very difficult for us to get our minds around. We just assume that whoever’s running for president or mayor — those are the rulers — but that’s not true.”

He went on to argue the correct interpretation of Romans 13, which tells believers they are to “be subject to the governing authorities,” is that, within the American governmental context, Christians are called to participate in the political system.

“Who are the governing authorities?” Myers asked rhetorically. “The people. So, in this situation — in the American context — if you are a Christian and you are not involved, you are literally disobeying God’s admonition to be obedient to the governing authorities.”

To check out Myers’ video course, “Should Christians Avoid Politics?” click here. You can catch our full conversation with the author in the “Faith vs. Culture” episode above.