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Dr. Tony Evans: You Can’t Love God and Hate Your (Democrat/Republican) Brother or Sister

In a sermon he preached Sunday, November 1, Dr. Tony Evans continued his series on Kingdom voting, emphasizing that if Jesus is truly Lord of our lives, no political system will be able to divide us. In fact, what will happen is quite the opposite: We will be motivated to show love to the very people with whom we strongly disagree. 

 “What we are seeing today, especially among Christians,” said Dr. Tony Evans, “is us building walls against one another because of government. We’ve allowed government to divide the church and that is an agenda from hell.” The pastor observed that Luke 6:13-16 lists the names of Jesus’ disciples and tells us that one was named Simon the Zealot, while we learn that another, Matthew, was a tax collector. 

These were two men who were diametrically opposed politically, said Evans. Simon was a revolutionary and Matthew was part of “the system.” Yet Jesus called both into his Kingdom. “He can take a Zealot and a man in the system, two different sides of the political divide, and bring them together—why?” asked the pastor. “Because he brought them together under the lordship of Jesus Christ.”

Dr. Tony Evans: How to Be a Kingdom Voter

It is practically a cliché to say that we live during one of the most politically polarized times in the history of the United States. But despite the conflict generated by the presidential election, said Pastor Tony Evans, “We still have to speak and declare in terms of the Kingdom of God.” At the same time, Evans said he did not want to be “insensitive” to the challenges of having to decide between political candidates, particularly when there are compelling arguments for voting for both sides. So after offering several truths he believes should shape Kingdom voting, Evans gave practical advice for how believers can arrive at a decision for how to cast their votes.

Evans says the first truth we need to recognize is that God is sovereign over the outcome of any election, and the next president of the United States will not be decided apart from God’s will. Evans listed multiple passages of Scripture to support this point. For example, Proverbs 16:33 says, “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.” Some of the other verses Evans referenced include:

Daniel 2:21
Ephesians 1:11
Isaiah 45:7
Job 23:13
John 19:10-11
Psalm 135:6
Romans 11:36

“You get the point?” asked the pastor. “God’s gonna decide the outcome. God’s gonna decide what happens.”

But that does not mean our votes do not matter, Evans continues, because our votes and all of our choices matter to God because he wants to partner with us in what happens in our lives. “Your vote matters, but God is still in charge,” said Evans. “He takes into consideration our choices.”

Evans made it clear that when we evaluate how we ought to vote, we need to know what God’s Word says, but our conscience also has a role to play, and that is partly why believers can arrive at different political conclusions even though they are all followers of Jesus. “Within the boundaries of God, you are free to vote your conscience,” said Dr. Tony Evans. “And everybody’s conscience won’t vote the same way when you’ve got two legitimate or two illegitimate forces at work.” Another reason Evans pointed out about why Christians can arrive at different political choices is the fact that we are all at different spiritual levels. It is essential, therefore, that we show patience and love toward one another. Romans 14:1-8 says, 

Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters. One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them.

Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand. One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.