Should People of Faith "Do Politics?"

When a major political party advocates things that counter your faith, how should you respond? Why do so many Christians refuse to vote, and does it matter?

“If I sit next to a madman as he drives a car into a group of innocent bystanders, I can't, as a Christian, simply wait for the catastrophe, then comfort the wounded and bury the dead. I must try to wrestle the steering wheel out of the hands of the driver.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

In early 2021, a good friend introduced me to the “Jonathan Project.” Since it no longer appears to exist, I feel free to talk about it.

It consisted of a group of conservative-minded, politically engaged Christians alarmed at the number of like-minded citizens who weren’t involved in the political process. They were shocked at the number of evangelical Christians who belonged to a church and/or regularly attended services but refused even to register to vote, almost half of those identifying that way. According to a new study from the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University, that translates into about 104 million people of faith, or 32 million self-identified Christians.

“The research asked people who indicated they were not likely to vote to explain the reasons for that choice,” the CRC’s report said. “The most common reason, offered by two-thirds of the non-voters (68%), was a lack of interest in politics and elections. Other common reasons included disliking all of the major candidates (57%), feeling that none of the candidates reflect their most important views (55%), and believing that their one vote will not make a difference (52%). Half of the non-voters said they will avoid voting because the election has become too controversial for their liking (50%).”

Those are all pathetic excuses. If 25 percent increases in grocery prices and unaffordable home and insurance prices aren’t a wake up call, take a look at what your kids are being taught in public schools, and who is teaching them.

Another poor excuse I’ve heard is that many people of faith find politics “dirty” or “evil.” I usually respond to that by reminding them that God didn’t find people too “dirty” or “controversial” to save when he sent his Son to save His creation, which has now been entrusted to you. I shouldn’t have to say this, but that’s not granting equivalency to what God did to our presidential campaign. Americans are blessed with a democratic Republic where the people rule, and to whom much is given, much is expected (Luke 12:48).

And for those looking for the “perfect candidate,” they don’t exist. Both our major party nominees for President are badly flawed. So are you and me. It’s their policies we should look to, not their personalities. After all, vibes and joy alone won’t make groceries and gas more affordable, keep criminals away or prevent public school teachers from transing your kids without your knowledge or permission.

Remember that 80,000 votes redistributed in five states would have changed the outcome of the 2020 Presidential election, at least in the Electoral College. A shift of even fewer votes in 2016 would have blessed us with a President Hillary Clinton. It may be closer than either of those contests in 2024.

A few votes decide plenty of elections. US Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA) was first elected in 2020 by a margin of 6 votes out of about 350,000 that were cast in southeast Iowa’s Second Congressional District. I know of local races that have been decided by coin tosses after a tied election. In Ohio’s off-year local elections in 2021, 18 races were tied.

Back to the defunct Jonathan Project. The non-profit, non-partisan organization was created under Section 501(c)3 of the tax code to encourage and assist all Christians in registering and voting. They quoted the late Rev. Billy Graham: “We Christians are not to withdraw ourselves and refuse or neglect to go to the polls and vote. We have a Christian duty and obligation to vote for the particular candidate that we believe to be best qualified for the job…”

The Jonathan Project (not to be confused with podcasts or church programs that now exist under the same name) was named after King David’s best friend and the oldest son of King Saul in the Old Testament (1 Samuel). Encyclopedia Britannica briefly tells the story.

When David became a member of Saul’s household and won many victories against the Philistines, he and Jonathan became close friends. After Saul jealously turned against David, Jonathan attempted to reconcile them, but he was only briefly successful. Saul tried to enlist Jonathan’s aid to kill David, but Jonathan remained David’s friend and warned him of Saul’s anger so that David hid. When the two met for the last time in the Wilderness of Ziph, they planned that David would be the next king of Israel and Jonathan his minister (1 Samuel 23:16–18).

Jonathan died in a future battle against the Philistines, so their ultimate plans never materialized. But Jonathan was immortalized for his fidelity to the future King.

The Project utilized “geofencing” technology—tracking the locations and owners of cellphones—and matched the information against voter registration lists to find regular evangelical church attendees who weren’t registered to vote. It enlisted local pastors to help motivate and assist them in registering and voting. Where pastors weren’t inclined to help, they recruited leading national Christian leaders to fill in. The project never told people how to vote, endorse candidates, or promote political parties.

The project was successful where it was tried. I personally contributed to a modest sum to identify and register Christians via the Jonathan Project to vote in the Virginia 2021 election. Republican Glenn Youngkin was elected as Governor that year.

Newly-sworn in Governor Glenn Youngkin, Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears, Attorney General Jason Miyares and their spouses pray around the official seal of the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Utilizing geofencing and matching the names against voter rolls is very expensive. Recruiting pastors to engage their churches was laborious, and getting their cooperation wasn’t always easy. Some pastors were troubled by the technology's “invasive” nature, even though both commercial and political enterprises widely use it. It’s a form of microtargeting that works. The Mitt Romney presidential campaign first used it politically in 2012.

Perhaps you’ve driven up to a Shell gasoline station, as I once did, and suddenly received a text message about a special promotion or discount. That’s geofencing at work. Privacy concerns give me pause but I’ve never been one to unilaterally disarm, whether with this, ballot harvesting, or other techniques where it is legal.

While the Jonathan project largely succeeded where it was tried, I know from personal experience that it met stubborn resistance from pastors, even well-known ones who supported their church’s political engagement. Often, it wasn’t the cost but the desire to protect their flock and a refusal to share their church membership lists, even with guarantees of confidentiality.

Others were scared of engagement or didn’t think it was the church’s responsibility to encourage political participation, even to talk about the intersection of biblical values and public policies on such matters as abortion and First Amendment freedoms. Some believed it hurt their mission to “spread the Gospel” or “make disciples.” They were worried about offending people. Others rely on the old canard about “separation of church and state,” despite that being found nowhere in the Constitution. The First Amendment protects the government from establishing a religion or “prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” It doesn’t prevent churches, pastors, or people of faith from engaging, even through their churches, mosques, and synagogues.

The so-called “Johnson Amendment” from 1954, named after then-US Senator and future President Lyndon Johnson (D-TX), prohibits non-profit entities from endorsing or opposing political candidates. That provision is possibly an unconstitutional prohibition on the freedom of speech, but no matter—I rarely find pastors who overtly endorse or oppose political candidates. When it happens this election year, it has been Rev. Ray Ortlund of Nashville’s Immanuel Church endorsing Kamala Harris—at least that I’ve seen. The Johnson Amendment doesn’t prevent nonprofits from other forms of political engagement, including public policy discussions or registering people to vote. Ortlund used his X account, not his pulpit, to endorse Harris.

I saw that firsthand just after the November 2021 election that elected Youngkin. The following Sunday, I made a point to attend McLean, Virginia’s Holy Trinity Church, which Youngkin and his family helped launch and where he served as its first warden. I first met Youngkin at the same church 11 months earlier on the Sunday he stepped down as warden to prepare for his gubernatorial run.

I assumed the church would invite the new Governor-Elect to the front of the church and pray for him and his family. The thought of doing otherwise never crossed my mind. Christians know 1 Timothy 2, Romans 13, Colossians 1, and others well, encouraging prayer and support for our government leaders.

I assumed wrong. As the pastor began his sermon, he mentioned that “as you know, we don’t do politics here,” very briefly congratulated the Governor-elect and moved on. I was aghast. I think churches and Christians have a duty to pray for our leaders and engage in policy and politics, especially where it intersects with Biblical precepts.

The pastor of my church, Gary Hamrick, of Cornerstone Chapel in Leesburg, Virginia—sometimes criticized, unfairly in my view, for being “too political”—gave his biennial election sermon last month, just before early voting began in Virginia. Over a half-million people have viewed it online, and now it has been converted into a booklet already out of stock at Amazon (not the Kindle version, obviously).

Nowhere does Hamrick endorse a candidate or a political party. He’s critical of both major party nominees over their stances on policies that intersect with biblical principles. However, he expertly documents the importance of Christian engagement in politics and policies over personalities. It’s 51 minutes long but worth your time. Our, you can just order the Kindle version of his sermon here. It’s 32 pages and will cost you $2.84, a price point designed to cover costs, not make money. Cornerstone Chapel has also made the sermon available online for free in pdf form.

Cornerstone is exploding in growth. Candidates for public office are invited to church; many local officials attend here, and whether they are invited to speak or not, they are prayed for and encouraged. I love it. So, apparently, do thousands of others. You’re welcome to disagree with Pastor Gary’s views and analysis, but you’d better come prepared if you want to persuade him to your point of view.

Some think such expressions smack of “Christian Nationalism,” one of the bogeymen people of The Left erect to disparage and silence people who don’t share their views. Hamrick knocks that down.

“There are some people who say that Christians who let the Bible inform their views are Christian nationalists. But that’s a contrived label used to intimidate believers who love God and their country and discourage them from advocating for biblical values in the political process. It’s a disparaging term the left uses to accuse the church of trying to turn into a theocracy. The truth is there will never be a theocracy until Jesus returns.”

Hamrick’s sermon details Old and New Testament passages that confirm a Christian duty to vote, if not engage politically. Pastor Jonny Ardavanis, lead pastor of Stonebridge Bible Church in Brentwood, Tennessee, in the sermon posted at the beginning of this blog, goes further than Hamrick in his characterization of the Democratic party (“a demonic death cult”) but doesn’t do so joyfully or articulate support for another party. He also admonishes people like me who are better known for our political engagement than our Christianity. Ouch. In fairness, my faith has always informed my politics, not vice versa.

Sure, we can disagree on that, so long as we have unity in the essentials of the Christian faith, liberty in the “non-essentials,” and charity in all things.

I won’t detail the seven specific public policies that Hamrick (and others) referenced, from the appointment of judges and Israel to biological sex and religious liberty. I encourage you to watch, listen to, or read his sermon.

As Christian author, broadcaster, and theologian Eric Metaxas has noted, there are troubling similarities between many in today’s churches and those during the rise of the Third Reich in Germany in the 1930s. As he has recounted in his famous biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, he noted a meeting that church leaders held with German Chancellor Adolf Hitler. Hamrick tells the story:

In the 1940s, Adolf Hitler gathered all the prominent clergy in Germany to reassure them that the churches would not be harmed and that he would protect their government subsidies. The great man of faith, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, stepped up to confront Hitler and said, “We are not concerned for the Church, for Jesus Christ will take care of his Church. We are concerned for the soul of Germany.” Hitler replied, “You do not need to worry about the soul of Germany. I will take care of the soul of Germany.”

How did that work out for “the soul of Germany?” Hitler was instructing the church, with the leverage of government subsidies, to “stay in their lane.” Today’s Left is using the Johnson Amendment, the tax code, to intimidate churches in a similar manner—at least the ones they don’t like. Churches like Cornerstone, which the Internal Revenue Service imposed a tax penalty following their distribution of a voting guide. That’s from a legal challenge to the Johnson Amendment filed by the National Religious Broadcasters (association).

Bonhoeffer eventually felt compelled to support an effort to eradicate Hitler, which failed - Operation Valkyrie. Perhaps you saw the 2008 movie starring Tom Cruise. He was imprisoned and hanged just days before Germany surrendered in 1944. His courage and martyrdom are worth remembering and honoring, if not emulating.

Of course, we should not place too much hope or faith (if any) in our candidates or elected officials. But my faith informs me that I have a duty to help elect those who will protect my God-given freedoms and rights.

You are voting, aren’t you?