By Bob Orleck

The midterm elections are close at hand and sad as it seems to be, Christians fail to turn out to vote in these elections. Each may have their reason, but honestly, none are adequate considering what is at stake. For Christians, voting should never be viewed as a casual habit, a symbolic gesture, or an act of party loyalty alone. It is one way we exercise stewardship over the freedoms, influence, and responsibilities God has entrusted to us. Our hope is not in politicians, parties, or government, but in Jesus Christ. Yet faithfulness does not require withdrawal from public life. In a constitutional republic, refusing to participate can surrender influence to those whose values may conflict with principles Christians hold dear.

Christians should keep their loyalties in proper order: God first, family second, and country third. God first means evaluating public policy through the lenses of truth, justice, righteousness, human dignity, and moral responsibility rather than personalities or partisan slogans. Family second means considering the nation future generations will inherit. Country third means valuing and protecting the freedoms that allow religious liberty, free speech, conscience, family life, and self-government to flourish.

These priorities are especially important during midterm elections. Many Christians vote in presidential years but stay home during midterms, despite the enormous impact these elections have on Congress, state governments, courts, budgets, and public policy. Midterms help determine the direction of laws affecting families, churches, schools, businesses, public safety, and religious liberty.

Congress remains a powerful institution. It controls legislation, spending, oversight, and investigations, and it influences whether a president’s agenda advances or is restrained. Choosing not to vote does not remove a person from politics; it simply allows others to make those decisions.

Christians should therefore pray, become informed, examine records, and vote thoughtfully from top to bottom of the ballot. No candidate is perfect, and no political party can save a nation. Nevertheless, policies have real consequences. They affect issues such as life, parental rights, education, economic opportunity, national security, free speech, energy policy, border security, and religious liberty.

While Scripture does not address modern elections directly, it teaches principles that apply to civic participation. Believers are called to pursue justice, care for the vulnerable, love their neighbors, steward their influence, and promote the common good. Voting is one practical way to carry out those responsibilities.

Churches need not become partisan organizations, nor should the Gospel be replaced by politics. Yet churches can encourage believers to think biblically, pray for wisdom, discuss public issues honestly, and consider how policies affect life, family, liberty, justice, and human dignity.

Many conservatives argue that recent conservative policies have strengthened border security, promoted domestic energy production, encouraged economic growth, supported constitutionalist judges, and expanded protections for religious liberty. They believe voters should evaluate policies primarily by their results rather than by affection or dislike for individual personalities.

Christians should look beyond style and ask substantive questions. Will leaders protect life, safeguard liberty, support families, uphold law and order, secure the border, defend the vulnerable, manage public resources responsibly, and protect national interests? Character matters, but policies and outcomes matter as well.

America faces continuing challenges involving national security, border enforcement, economic stability, and cultural division. Voters should approach these issues prayerfully rather than emotionally. Anger, resentment, and political tribalism should never replace thoughtful judgment.

America came through four years (2020-2024) in which policies from the Democrat national leadership undermined matters such as  sanctity of life, religious liberty, parental authority, moral clarity, gender identity, secure borders, law and order, and freedom of conscience. For believers who seek to think biblically about these matters in public life, the lesson is clear: elections have consequences, and silence or apathy can allow policies hostile to a Biblical worldview to advance unchecked.

With the new Republican administration, Christians have been given a renewed opportunity to support leadership that aligns more closely with their biblical worldview. The survival of President Trump after the attempt on his life in Butler, PA, and the direction he has taken on issues such as religious liberty, conscience, family, life, border security, and national strength, should cause Christians to reflect soberly on God’s Providence and the responsibility placed before them. If we believe God spared his life and gave him a task for this time, then we should also recognize that he needs a Congress willing to help complete that work. We must not go back to the policies of the recent past. Pray. Study the candidates. Vote in every election, especially the midterms. Encourage others to do the same. Christians should give the president the tools necessary to finish the job by keeping control of Congress in Republican hands.