On Sunday morning, one of my assistant pastors shared a question with me that was burning in his heart:
“Did the Christian who publicly displayed a Trump or Biden mask (or yard sign, flag, bumper sticker), make it harder to reach their unsaved neighbor across the street, but who is also across the aisle, with the gospel?”
I got to thinking, Did it?
Did the “Make America Great Again,” “Biden/Harris,” “Trump 2020” and “Nope” signs serve to hurt or harm the kingdom of God?
One of the calls on my life is to help the body of Christ think like citizens of heaven. So after our conversation, I pondered what the long-term kingdom consequences might have been to publicly displaying our favored political candidate—on our face or elsewhere. While these are difficult questions many believers struggle with during every election (I know I certainly have), I believe they beg asking.
While it isn’t inherently wrong to display whom you are voting for, and as American citizens it is our constitutional right, do we place our American citizenship over our citizenship in heaven? Therefore, I ask you to take these questions before the Lord for honest, heartfelt reflection.
Here are eight questions for Christians who publicly displayed their presidential candidate of choice:
- Do you think by publicly displaying your favorite politician, the unsaved were brought closer to the Lord, or farther away?
- Do you think publicly displaying your candidate could have created a wedge in relationships with your unsaved neighbors, co-workers, family members and so on, who hold opposing political views?
- As a result, moving forward, do you think it will be harder to share the gospel with them?
- Do you publicly display the gospel as freely and openly (face, lawn, house, car) as you did for your favorite candidate?
- Are you as passionate about soul winning as you are about campaigning for your favorite presidential candidate?
- Do you think Christians who publicly displayed their favored candidate served to unite or divide the body of Christ?
- Do you think Christians in our nation see themselves more as American citizens than citizens of heaven?
- Do you think first century believers would have put “John Doe for Emperor” signs on their front lawns? Or were they more interested in building the kingdom through the preaching of the gospel?
As ambassadors of Christ, sojourners who are just passing through and citizens of heaven, we must not let civilian affairs distract us from kingdom purposes. We should always pause and ask ourselves, “Are my actions going to advance or impede the Great Commission?”.
This is food for thought and prayer. {eoa}
