Biblical Principles for the Ballot Box


Maxims of Christ’s Servant Standing Before the Political Parties of America

by Douglas W. Phillips, Esq., November 4, 2008

I am a Christian. I am the servant of Christ and His representative. All loyalty, fealty, and duty is owed to Him above all other relationships and associations. This means that my political loyalty and allegiance is to the Lord Jesus Christ when I walk into the ballot box, when I evaluate the action of political leaders, or when I exercise my God-given duty as an American to hold such leaders accountable for their actions. My principles and my practice are bound by an objective and transcendent standard established by my Master, not by the political objectives of a party.

Though political parties may be useful vehicles for advancing the Crown rights of Christ, they are only vehicles. They are never an end. At the moment that any political party or any representative of a party ceases to honor the Lord Jesus Christ through practice or principle, I must stand in firm and unequivocal opposition to such a party or person, at least in so far as their behavior is offensive to God.

As a Christian, I must refuse to apply a hypocritical standard of judgment against the leaders of one party, while refusing to hold another party accountable to the same standard. This means I am never at liberty to minimize or cover the sins of my own partisan friends who profess the One True Faith in order to gain a political advantage. To the contrary, the purity of the Church and the integrity of the Gospel point to the fact that I must be uncompromising in holding those who claim to represent Christ to the very standards that Christ has established.

When I step into the ballot box, I am there representing the Lord Jesus. This means that I am bound by the standards He has established in His Word for the selection of leaders, and am not to be motivated and directed by my own private opinions or fears. I stand alone before God and am personally responsible to Him for the choices I make. I am not responsible for the sinful choices of those who may not be committed to representing the Lord in the ballot box, or who will not be governed by His transcendent standards. I would rather honor the Lord than win an election. I recognize that my obedience will have more to do with God’s blessing on this nation, regardless of an election outcome, than my man-centered efforts at political victory.

Ultimately, however, I believe in victory. I do so because I serve the God who not only owns the cattle on a thousand hills, but who will vanquish his opponents in His time and in His way. As Christ’s servant standing before the political parties of America, I am content to know this, to trust Him, and to be faithful.

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