The Christians Who Vote Different Than Me Are Not the Enemy

It happens every election cycle.

Christians who loved each other last year suddenly cannot be in the same room. Family Thanksgivings become battlegrounds. Church communities fracture. And we justify it all with the same logic: the other side is dangerous, the other side is wrong, the other side is compromising the gospel.

I have done it too. I have felt the righteous indignation rise up in me when someone shares a political view I disagree with. I have felt the urge to unfriend, unfollow, disengage. I have told myself that my side is God's side and anyone who disagrees is either blind or evil.

And then I read my Bible and I find something uncomfortable: Jesus did not have a political party. The early church did not either. And the thing that defined them was not their voting record. It was their love for each other.

The Kingdom Does Not Have a Party

Let me say something that might be uncomfortable: the Kingdom of God does not fit on a ballot paper.

I know that every political party likes to claim Christian values. I know that both sides are convinced they are the side that God favours. But here is what I have noticed: the political parties change over time. The issues change. The enemies of the church change. The only thing that does not change is the church herself, and the call to love God and love neighbour.

When we make politics the test of discipleship, we are adding requirements that Jesus never added. When we treat our political opponents as enemies of the faith, we are creating divisions that the gospel specifically crossed.

Paul wrote to the Corinthians, a church that was dividing over things that seemed important to them: "Is Christ divided?" The same question applies to us. Is Christ divided between our political parties? Is the gospel split in two between left and right?

Of course not. And yet we act as though it is.

What We Are Actually Communicating

When we treat Christians who vote differently than us as the enemy, here is what the world sees: they see that our faith is really just another political allegiance. They see that we are just as divided and bitter as everyone else. They see that our love has conditions. And they are not drawn to that.

We claim to follow a King who died for His enemies, who prayed for those who crucified Him, who crossed every social boundary to show love to the outcast. And then we cannot even break bread with someone who votes differently than we do.

Our politics are showing the world what we really believe. And right now, what we are showing them is not very compelling.

I am not saying politics does not matter. It does. We should care about justice and care for the vulnerable and participate in the systems that shape our world. That is part of being a citizen of God's Kingdom living in earthly cities.

But our witness matters more than our vote. And the way we treat fellow believers matters more than the way we vote.

A Different Way

What if we treated fellow Christians who vote differently than us as... fellow Christians?

What if we assumed they were trying to follow God too, even if we thought they were wrong? What if we extended the same grace we hoped to receive when we mess up? What if we remembered that none of us has all the answers, that we are all walking by faith, that even our political convictions are subject to the test of Scripture and the leading of the Spirit?

What if we agreed to disagree on secondary things without calling each other heretics? What if we kept talking even when it got uncomfortable? What if we prioritised relationship over being right?

The early church faced much harder divisions than we do. There were debates about whether Gentiles could even be Christians. There were fights about food and circumcision and law. And the way they handled it was not by cancelling each other. It was by gathering together, worshipping together, and figuring it out as they went, all while the world watched.

We need that same spirit. Not uniformity of thought, but unity of love.

A Plea for Proportionality

Here is my plea: let us get better at proportionality.

There are some issues that are truly non-negotiable. Things that the Bible is clear about, things that define the gospel itself. Those are worth standing firm on.

But most of the things we fight about are not that. Most of the things we argue about are applications of principle, interpretations of situation, reasonable disagreements about how to love our neighbour in complex circumstances. And on those things, we need to give each other room.

When you vote differently than me, you are not my enemy. You might be wrong about a particular issue. So might I. We are all working it out. We are all growing. We are all going to give an account to God for our own lives, not for each other's.

And on the day we stand before God, I do not think He is going to ask us which party we voted for. I think He is going to ask us if we loved each other. If we took care of the hungry, the naked, the stranger. If we showed the world what His Kingdom looks like.

Let us make sure our witness is stronger than our political opinions. Let us love each other across our differences. Because that is what will show the world who Jesus is.

One More Thing

I want to address those who feel like their political views are the gospel. I have been there. I have felt like God was on my side of every issue. It is an easy trap to fall into, especially when you are convinced you are fighting for righteousness.

But remember: the pharisees were convinced they were fighting for righteousness too. They were the religious and political right of their day. And Jesus kept hanging out with sinners.

Maybe we need to be a little more humble about our political certainty. Maybe we need to listen more and shout less. Maybe we need to remember that God is bigger than our platforms and our parties and our causes.

And maybe, just maybe, the most Christian thing we can do in a divided political climate is refuse to let politics divide the church. That would be revolutionary. That would be counter-cultural. That would look like something the world has never seen.

Let us be that kind of different.