Let’s get a couple of caveats out of the way right off the bat.

I’m not going to tell you who I think you should vote for. That’s a decision you should make on your own, based on the truth of the Bible (we’ll get to that).
My goal is not to inflame. I will try my best not to offend anyone, but the gospel can be offensive. The truth can be offensive. If I haven’t done my job and I offend you, then please accept my sincere apologies. If I have done my job and you’re offended when you’re done reading, maybe it wasn’t my fault?

OK, here we go. It’s election season. That used to mean US citizens of voting age would begin to do their research on the candidates they are eligible to vote on, maybe watch a debate or three, then head to the polls on the first Tuesday of November. Not anymore. Over the past few election cycles, this time has turned into an all-out war. It started with a little mudslinging by politicians and has escalated to what we have today: My side is right and good and just, your side is evil and you hate everyone. My side is the only honest side, the only decent side. Your side wants to do despicable things to the Americans who aren’t like you because reasons. It used to be that we didn’t talk about politics or religion. Remember that? Now, if you don’t want to get sucked into political conversations online, you have to hide just about everyone on your Facebook timeline, including Aunt Linda. And forget about Twitter … So what do we do? As Christians, we have a responsibility to our country, right? Romans 13:1 says, “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.” We are commanded to submit to our governmental authority, to pray for our leaders and, I believe, to take part in the political process. But the Bible doesn’t just tell us to get out the vote. God has also given us some guardrails for how we participate. Here are four. Know Your Citizenship

Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. - 1 Peter 2:11

A sojourner is someone who is just passing through. The place they are in is not their home. An exile is someone who is forced to live in a place that isn’t their home. Do you get the picture? Peter is saying that this world–this country, state, city, neighborhood, house–is not our home. We should respect it, for sure. But it isn’t where we belong. Or as KB said in “Long Live the Champion”

Yes, I love the kingdom more than I love my nation

What do you love more? The Kingdom of God or this nation? Before you answer, think about what you spend more time and energy on. Do you defend your heavenly country tooth and nail from its enemies, or your earthly country from its “enemies?” Instead of proclaiming our undying fealty to the grand old flag, we should instead live like exiles in a foreign land. Fortunately, the Bible tells us how to do that too! In the book of Jeremiah, the Jews were exiled in Babylon. You’ve no doubt seen countless Facebook statuses quoting Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you …” If you keep reading, God tells them that His plan is another 70 years of exile. During that time they are to

Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. - Jeremiah 29:5–7

Peter says a similar thing. We are to “live as people who are free.” (1 Peter 2:16) We do this not to take advantage of our country or as an excuse to do whatever we want, but as a way to serve God. We live good, Godly lives, loving others and serving others, so that we can be Christ in our nation. Know Your Beliefs Political parties have platforms that outline their positions on various issues ranging from economic to humanitarian to foreign policy and more. Theoretically, you should be able to look at a candidate’s platform and determine how that person will make his or her decisions. What will people know about you if they look at your platform? If I were to examine your political beliefs, especially the ones you’re the most vocal about right now, would I know that you’re a Christian? Would I know that you love God and love other people? Or would I know that your individual liberty is the most important thing to you? More from Peter:

“Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.” - 1 Peter 2:12

Our actions, attitudes and beliefs should all point people to God. That very well could mean reexamining your chosen party’s ideals. Here’s a tough example. What is the definition of pro-life? Should the pro-life cause end when the baby exits her mother’s womb? Or should pro-life be pro-all-of-life? If it’s the second one, what does that look like? I don’t have all of the answers, but these are things we should think about before we are in front of the ballot box. Know Your Research Click-bait. It should be a dirty word, but it’s all over our feeds. Did you know there are companies that produce your favorite click-bait article and your least favorite click-bait article at the same time? The same people are “Owning the libs!” and “Destroying the Alt-Right!” at the same time! Cuz money. My wife graduated college with a journalism degree. One of the things she was taught was that journalists needed three sources to verify truthfulness in a story. Coincidentally that’s biblical as well.

For there are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree. - 1 John 5:7–8

I don’t know when that changed, but it went out the window some time ago. Now anyone can say whatever they want, with little to no evidence. Yes, it happens in the mainstream media. But it’s also true of those “news” sites you’ve never heard of, the talking heads that “Facebook doesn’t want you to see” and even the memes your Aunt Linda shared yesterday. Too often we are perfectly content with sharing content that’s full of half-truths, full untruths or straw man attacks simply because it sounds like something we want to believe. Here’s the problem with that, if you’re a believer: we are called to seek the truth, to speak the truth (in love) and to be salt and light. Sharing obviously untruthful and hurtful content hurts your witness. More than that, you could make a good case that it’s sinful (causing someone else to stumble, bearing false witness, and more). So what am I asking? If journalists, “journalists” and content creators aren’t going to fact check, it’s up to us to do it for them. It doesn’t take much time. Google can be your friend. The same goes for your favorite politicians. Their goal is to get elected and they are going to say whatever they can to get your vote. It has become our responsibility to determine the truthfulness, and be honest with ourselves when they are lying! Know Your Neighbor Sadly, this should be the easiest, but I’m finding that it is harder and harder for us these days. Who is your neighbor? More importantly, how should you treat your neighbor? Here’s the secret that our political idols don’t want us to know: the regular Joe voting for the other guy is not evil. He’s not the spawn of Satan or out to get you. Are there malicious people out there? Of course! The world is broken and sinful, after all. The great thing about being Christ-like is we are supposed to love those guys too. ANTIFA? Love them! QAnon? Love them too! Rioters and protestors? Love. Police? Love. You get the picture? These days what we say online becomes what we are. Quarantine and all that. That’s why I keep bringing it up. It’s also much easier to say what we really feel on our favorite social media platform because we don’t have to see the hurt in the other guy’s eyes when we are done. Here’s my final challenge to you. Scroll through your profile. Read your status updates or your tweets, maybe peruse comments and replies that you’ve left. Would someone reading all of that know that you love them? Would they know that you love God? Would your online persona be one that would lead people to want to know more about God? If you answered no to those questions, then spend some time reexamining your citizenship, your beliefs, your research and your neighbor in light of what the Bible teaches us. The more you know about God and what He wants from us, the more Christ-like you will be in your political engagement. You may also end up being a nicer person!