A journey of discernment looking at the Presidential candidates
in light of biblical teachings
By Sandy Szwarc, BSN, RN, retired emeritus © Szwarc 2024
This upcoming Presidential election is the most important one in my lifetime. I can’t remember an election that will so clearly decide the direction for our Country and if we can hold onto it. It’s impossible to ignore that our country has been in moral decline and, tragically, become a culture of death, immorality and darkness. I see many Christians like me grappling with how to vote because neither candidate is ideal, perfect, or sinless.
Of course, only one man has ever been perfect, Jesus. But something happened in a few short minutes on the night of August 22nd that changed everything. It was as if Jesus was shining down and guiding Christians in how to make the right choice.
The night, Kamala Harris became the 2024 Democrat Presidential nominee. Her acceptance speech had a glaring omission that went through the heart and soul of every Christian and person of faith. Yet, who was listening carefully and caught it?
“…And so on behalf of the people; on behalf of every American regardless of party, race, gender or the language your grandmother speaks; on behalf of my mother and everyone who has ever set out on their own unlikely journey; on behalf of Americans like the people I grew up with, people who work hard chase their dreams and look out for one another; on behalf of everyone whose story could only be written in the greatest nation on earth, I accept your nomination for Vice President of the United States of America.” − Kamala Harris, August 22, 2024
Her speech was roughly taken from our Nation’s founding document, the Declaration of Independence, which formed the guiding principle of America, based on Judeo-Christian values that our Creator made all men equal:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of happiness.”
More specifically, her speech writer incorporated the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which guarantees equal protection under the law for every American “without discrimination or segregation on the ground of race, color, religion, or national origin.”
In fact, that exact phrase appears 37 times in the Act. But the Civil Rights Act includes the very word that Ms. Harris conspicuously removed from her speech when describing the Americans she will work on behalf of regardless of… That word was:
“religion“
People of faith were excluded from Ms. Harris’ commitment to the American people.
That was my wake up call.
It alerted me to what I believe was an obligation to turn to God’s teachings to show me the way to the truth and what is right. I knew in my heart that I needed do the hard work that Jesus calls us to do. Discernment. Would it be even possible as a Christian to vote for Ms. Harris?
“Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.” John 17:17
There are dozens of warnings in the Bible about being careful not to follow falsehoods, calling upon believers to test all things against the teachings of Scripture. Throughout both the Old and New Testaments, Jesus told believers to use discernment and make wise choices, not to lean on their own understanding, but to look for truth.
“Test all things. Hold fast to what is good. Reject every kind of evil.” − 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind,
that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good
and acceptable and perfect.” – Romans 12:2“Whoever speaks the truth gives honest evidence,
but a false witness utters deceit.” – Proverbs 12:17
What to do?
I am sharing my journey in election discernment in hope it’s of help to other Christians. I wanted to follow God’s teachings as well as I could. To begin to understand what Jesus would want me to do, took me first to our country’s founding documents and to the Bible.
There was broad agreement among the Founding Fathers, regardless whether they were all Christians, although most were, that the Bible was essential for nurturing the civic virtues that give citizens the capacity for self-government and that are necessary for a republic form of government to succeed. It promotes the principles of wisdom, justice, dignity, virtue, and goodness. They understood that without a national morality a representative republic form of government could not survive. As John Adams once wrote: “The Bible contains the most profound Philosophy, the most perfect Morality, and the most refined Policy, that ever was conceived upon Earth. It is the most Republican Book in the World.” It was after Pastor Peter Muhlenberg’s famous sermon that the fight for American liberty began and the Constitutional Convention would be held.
The Bible was the most frequently read and cited book during America’s founding era and played a major role in the establishment of our country. It could actually be seen as the fourth founding document. The Declaration of Independence expressed the soul of the new Country, establishing the moral, spiritual, rational, political and legal grounds for its founding. Each sentence came from the Bible.
The Constitution laid out the fundamental features of our country’s representative republic form of governing. While the authors made no actual mention of God in the Constitution, Judeo-Christian concepts − of covenant, sovereignty, limited government, consent of the governed, social contract, unalienable rights, separation of powers, checks and balances, federalism, rule of law, due process of law and representative government − all came from the Bible.
And the Bill of Rights – which laid out the essential principles of human liberty and rights given to all people from the Creator – came from the Bible. First among those rights was the First Amendment: freedom of religion to believe and practice our faith without interference from the government; the freedom of speech and a free press and the right of people to assemble and petition to the government. The Founding Fathers understood that religion, speech and assembly were essential for a free and sovereign country. Totalitarian rulers understand this, too, which is why these are the key freedoms they try to destroy.
That’s why the Bible matters. If we fail to understand the Bible and its role in our lives and the soul of America, we will lose the sense of who we are, where we’ve come from and what we can become.
I discovered there is one primary question for Christians to answer before placing a vote.
In studying Scripture, I learned that, as Christians, we bear a responsibility to vote for government leaders who make it most possible to do God’s work and share the Good News.
I realized it was more than just a matter of picking the lesser of two evils. That became key for me. Countless times in Scripture, God used pagan rulers to move his people to faith − pagans sympathetic to God’s people and who enabled people to do God’s work, despite the sinfulness of the pagan rulers themselves. Nehemiah and Artaxerxes come to mind. We certainly do find ourselves in a lost world today. How can we as Christians know the best leader to nurture God’s work and what do in the face of overwhelming division?
“Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.” − Romans 13:1 *The original Greek text is ἐξουσία (exousia) and appears over 100 times in the New Testament. It is mistranslated in some English translations to “government authorities.
“God reigns over the nations.”− Psalm 47:7-8
“Do not become the slaves of men.” – 1 Corinthians 7:23
“A ruler who lacks understanding is a cruel oppressor, but he who hates unjust gain will prolong his days.” – Proverbs 28:16
I found help in my decision by better understanding God’s covenant with his people that was established in the first five books of the Old Testament and found throughout the entire Scripture. As part of his “Dominion Covenant,” God established four earthly governments that he delegated specific responsibilities to each of the governing authorities (individual, family, church and civil).
God’s Dominion Covenant and the Ten Commandments became part of the founding governing principles in our U.S. Constitution. Civil rulers are God’s servants and are instructed by God to uphold His law and act as God’s avenger and carry out His wrath on wrongdoers and punish evil (Romans 13). The Covenant reminds Christians that God is the ultimate authority and we are held by God’s law. No other laws of man can supersede God’s laws.
Civil leaders may not commandeer God’s authority. God recognized that, left unchecked, worldly leaders descend into tyranny, subjecting people to oppression and injustice as they set themselves up as the higher authority, a false God. Hence, when civil governmental leaders stop upholding God’s law, they make the State God. That’s where another scriptural principle was helpful for learning what God instructs Christians to do when our civil leaders and governments depart from God’s law.
The Doctrine of the Lesser Magistrate, developed during centuries of tyranny against Christians and churches, teaches that God approves of obedience to His laws, in defiance of tyranny. When civil authorities depart from God’s laws by making immoral or unjust laws or decrees, the “lesser magistrate,” or lower ranking civil authority, is obligated to refuse and intervene to protect the people, their freedoms and property. The duty of people is to rally behind the lesser magistrate when he takes a stand against a tyrannical and unbiblical civil ruler.
I was taught we are held by God’s law, always. It is absolute. Our duty is to do the right thing in the eyes of God, to understand and stand up to tyranny, and fight against evil. Doing nothing, looking the other way, and failing to act (vote) is not an option.
So, my work began. Given both candidates have failings and both have had one term in office to compare, I searched for the strongest evidence of their actions while in elected offices and how closely each adhered to the oath of office, the Constitution, and the job the people elected him/her to do. Most importantly, how well they upheld God’s law. Actions speak louder than words, as the saying goes, so I focused on what they had actually done, not what they might have said they’d done or might promise now. Would one excel as showing by their deeds a willingness to sacrifice and lose everything to do what he/she felt was morally right for the Country?
I began my journey trying to learn about Ms. Harris since her acceptance speech had left Christians in the dark. How had her actions and words stood up in respect to the Bible?
