SPECIAL NOTE: The scope of this article is limited. While all are welcome to read and consider it, the particular audience for this article is ONLY: Christians who are considering voting for Romney but are hesitant and wondering if it is biblically acceptable for a Christian to vote for a Mormon.
- I am not attempting to convince Obama supporters to vote for Romney. This is a free country and you may vote for the candidate of your choice.
- I am not addressing political issues such as taxes, the national debt, the military, etc. This article is of a theological, not political, nature.
- I will not entertain any arguments as to whether or not President Obama is a Christian. Matthew 7:16, 20 say, “You will know them by their fruits.” The president has clearly demonstrated by his words and actions that he is not a regenerate Christian. Neither is his verbal claim to being a Christian sufficient to prove that he has been born again. Matthew 7:22-23 says, “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord… And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you…” Claiming to be a Christian doesn’t make a person a Christian any more than claiming to be a doctor makes a person a doctor. You are more than welcome to believe whatever you like about the state of the President’s soul, but it will not be argued in this venue.
It’s an issue American Christians have never had to deal with before: voting for a Mormon for President. Maybe you’re a Christian who has been considering voting for Mitt Romney, but you’re “theologically hesitant.” If you vote for him, are you, as a Christian, supporting an idolatrous and false religion? Will Romney’s winning the Presidency give legitimacy to Mormonism? Will it further deceive the lost into thinking Mormons are Christians? Will more lost people consider becoming Mormons? These are weighty issues and should be fully considered.
However, I’d like to offer you the opportunity to consider the biblical argument for the freedom to vote for Romney if you so choose. What are some reasons you can consider yourself free in Christ to vote for Romney?
1. Romney is running for president, not preacher.
In Matthew 22:15-22, the Pharisees came to Jesus asking if it were “lawful” –in other words, “in keeping with Scripture”—to participate in a secular government by paying taxes. Jesus’ response? “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and to God the things that are God’s.” (Matthew 22:21)
As in Jesus’ time, our civil government in the United States is secular. It is not run by the church. It is not ruled by the Bible. And, usually (Matthew 7:14), it is not headed up by a genuinely born again Christian.
This isn’t a theocracy. And God’s ok with that. After all, He is the One who, in His sovereignty, has allowed and maintained this republic for the last 200+ years, and has established the authority of every President we’ve ever had (Romans 13:1).
So God gets -established, in fact- that there’s going to be one set of standards and requirements for civil governing authorities, and another set for those who are leaders in the church. For one thing, a leader in the church must be a genuinely regenerate Believer. There’s no such requirement –in the Bible or anywhere else—for Presidents. There’s a whole list of requirements for pastors, deacons, and elders in I Timothy and Titus, but they necessarily, apply only to Christians who desire to be church leaders. They do not apply to non-Christians (or even Christians) who desire the presidency.
2. We have two choices for president, both unsaved. Does it matter which label they wear?
Romney is a Mormon. If he holds to Mormon doctrine, he is, by definition, not a Christian. Obama claims to be a Christian, but his own words and the fruit of his life belie this claim.
Jesus said that the way to life is narrow and there are few who find it (Matthew 7:14). Statistically speaking, if you have voted in any election, you have probably voted for a lost person, even if that candidate claimed to be saved. Simply saying you’re a Christian doesn’t make you one (Matt. 7:21-23), and being a Mormon doesn’t make a person any “loster” than being a lost person who calls himself a Christian.
While it would be wonderful to have the option of voting for a born again Believer in this election, we simply don’t have that choice this time around.
3. Since we only have two choices in this election, and they’re on essentially equal spiritual footing, we have to look at externals.
We have two choices for president:
A.) Obama: A person who claims to be a Christian, yet encourages and promotes sin in the form of promoting the false doctrine of universalism, furthering the homosexual agenda, and promoting the pro-abortion agenda.
B.) Romney: A non-Christian who has pledged his support of the biblical definition of marriage and the pro-life side of reproductive issues.
The great Reformer Martin Luther may have summed it up best when he said, “I’d rather be ruled by a competent Turk (Muslim) than an incompetent Christian.”
4. Refusing to vote at all, or voting for a non-viable third party candidate has the same effect as voting FOR Obama.
We cannot afford to treat the question of whom we shall vote for in this election as merely a philosophical exercise or hypothetical question. There are real life consequences to our actions (or inaction) on November 6. For millions, this election is, quite literally, a matter of life and death. Sometimes we have to think of an election not as voting FOR a certain candidate, but as voting AGAINST a certain candidate by selecting his opponent.
As Edmund Burke said, “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”
5. All governmental authority is established by God. And they’re not always Christians.
Romans 13:1 says, “Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.”
Think back over the kings, presidents, emperors, dictators, and czars throughout history. You’ll come across…
Hitler. Attila the Hun. Idi Amin. Pol Pot. Ivan the Terrible. Caligula.
God put those guys in authority? Yep.
Now take a little journey through the Old Testament and look at some of the evil kings God allowed to rule his own chosen people.
Someone is going to win the election in November, and that someone is not going to be a Christian. Our only option is to vote for the person who, though not a Christian, is closer to lining up with what the Bible teaches.
6. A Mormon president will not cause hordes of people to become Mormons.
How many people do you know who became Catholics because JFK was elected? How many became Quakers when Nixon was elected? How many became “Christians” (or, depending on your way of thinking, Muslims) when Obama was elected?
If anything, the nomination of Romney to the ticket has shone a glaring, and very public, spotlight on the many anti-biblical beliefs of Mormonism. Instead of viewing his election to the presidency as an endorsement of Mormonism, why can’t Christians look at it as an opportunity to help others understand false Mormon doctrine and the truth of biblical doctrine? This is a wide open door for evangelism and the public exposure of deceptive teaching!
I believe biblical principles demonstrate that we, as Christians, have the freedom to vote for Romney. God has seen fit to orchestrate events so that we only have two viable choices in this election. Both are far from perfect, but Romney has demonstrated a willingness to uphold standards that are more closely in line with the Bible than those Obama upholds. If you’re still on the fence, give it some thought, give it some prayer, and consider for whom God would have you vote.
