By tomorrow night or early Wednesday we will know who the next president of the United States will be.   When we go to the polls tomorrow, how should we cast our vote as Christians? Should the candidate’s faith or lack of faith be a concern for us?

Here is an excerpt from the Christian Post opinion page by Eric Metaxas on how Billy Graham and Chuck Colson view the issue:

“Billy Graham also has strong views about voting for the best candidate no matter what his private beliefs are.   A few days ago, the Rev.  Graham took out newspaper ads in USA Today, the Wall Street Journal, and the Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch urging people to vote for candidates who supported biblical teaching on some of the great moral issues of the day.

As Graham put it, “We are at a crossroads, and there are profound moral issues at stake. I strongly urge you to vote for candidates who support the biblical definition of marriage between a man and woman, protect the sanctity of life, and defend our religious freedoms.”

Chuck Colson also held strong opinions on the issue of voting and I was a bit surprised by his position with respect to the candidate’s faith:

“Chuck also quoted Martin Luther, who reportedly said he would rather be judged by a competent Turk than an incompetent Christian. He meant that he’d prefer to choose the best qualified leader available than vote for someone less qualified who happened to share his religious beliefs.  We do this in other areas of our life all the time.  For instance, if you needed to undergo brain surgery, would you choose a Christian surgeon, or the best surgeon available no matter what his beliefs?

Chuck felt very strongly about the duty of Christians to vote-and to vote for the best qualified candidate no matter what his personal religious convictions.   He considered voting a spiritual duty.  On BreakPoint, Chuck noted that as voters, we are to choose the most competent people to be God’s magistrates to do justice, restrain evil, and preserve order.  He pointed to Exodus 18, where Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, told him to select men of good moral character who were competent to help judge the people.

I agree to a certain extent with Billy Graham, and Colson, who when it comes down to it… really are casting a vote for the lesser of two evils in order to support biblical principles.  But  we should always keep in mind that there are nonnegotiable issues Christians must endorse, like freedom of religion and speech, the sanctity of life and the institution of traditional marriage.

Now go vote! 🙂