We live in a tumultuous, polarized, sharply divided partisan political environment. Everyday exchanges on social media and daily conversations with friends, co-workers, and family members can, and often do, devolve into heated debates over the issues of our day. Many voices in our culture cry out to us much like the Sirens of Odysseus and Orpheus from Greek mythology. The Sirens would lure sailors to their death with their irresistible songs, flooding their minds with a false sense of security while drawing them ever closer to disaster.
Odysseus’s solution was to plug the ears of his crew to prevent them from hearing the songs. He wanted to hear the songs, so he lashed himself to the mast and instructed his crew to ignore his commands as they came under the influence of the Sirens. Orpheus chose to drown out the sound of the Sirens by playing beautiful music on the lyre as they passed by.
Today we face our own Siren song in the form of political voices that would draw us away from the truth and into the chaos and confusion of the current political environment. Many believers have taken the Odysseus approach to the chaos by plugging their ears, choosing to ignore the political fights. They have determined that it doesn’t matter who wins an election because “they are all a bunch of crooks.”
This may be a tempting solution, but I would respectfully suggest it is not a solution that is open to us as believers. We should replace the song of the Sirens with biblical truth.
In the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5:13–16), Jesus tells us: “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored”? Verse 14 says, “You are the light of the world. … Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”
Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians: “We are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us” (2 Cor. 5:20). An “ambassador” is someone who represents their home country to the country they are assigned. As believers, our home country is the kingdom of God, and we are sent into the kingdom of this world to represent Christ. We do this by being salt and light in every area of life, including the political world. Since we must live under the laws made by those elected, we need to bring the salt and light of the truth into the voting booth.
We do this by knowing the issues and choosing the candidate who is closest in their support of biblical values. We should not look for or expect perfection. In a world where absolute truth has been abandoned by the majority, no candidate or political party is going to perfectly reflect biblical truth in their policy making. Whether we vote for the next president, the next senator, the next house member, or the next local city councilman, believers should choose their candidate based on the candidate’s alignment with biblical values.
We must study the issues and check out each candidate’s position. Don’t rely on their campaign website alone. If they are an incumbent, look at their voting record and see how votes line up with statements. Listen closely to what the candidate says. Are they direct in answering questions, or are the answers evasive and unclear? Research the candidate through trusted sources that are not associated with the candidate’s campaign.
Major issues Christians should consider include life (Psalm 139), gender (Gen. 1:27), sexuality (1 Cor. 6:9–11), religious liberty (Acts 5:29), fiscal responsibility, (Prov. 21:5), justice (Ps. 106:3), the rule of law (Rom. 13), provision for the poor and destitute (Prov. 14:41), and, of course, many other issues addressed in the Word of God.
Should the character of a person seeking office matter? Wherever the Bible speaks of choosing leaders, it calls for us to choose leaders of good character (Ex. 18:21). Don’t expect perfection, but choose the leader whose character most closely aligns with biblical values.
How important is it for believers to vote? Recently, I met Yaroslav Pyzh, a 2012 PhD graduate of Southwestern Seminary, who has served as president of the Ukrainian Baptist Theological Seminary since 2013. At a recent luncheon, he said though the churches in Ukraine were full of believers, they have stayed in the churches and lost the culture.
Believers should be informed and highly motivated to vote for leaders who will fear God and lead with righteousness. The future of our culture will be greatly affected by their decisions.