Hello, my friends,

A lot of pastors and other influencers have been sharing "Christian voting guides" lately, which has prompted a lot of folks asking me for one as well. While I see the merit in some of these guides, I have always felt they can become a bit too partisan or even encourage us not to engage in the political process as Christians. Because of this, I wanted to step back and take a look at our fidelity to Jesus instead, which is the ultimate influence over our life's choices, including in the political sphere. So, I want to look with you at the temptations Jesus faced in the wilderness and how Jesus' response give use Christians a timeless example of political engagement.

But before we get into that, here are some resources to consider:

​-Abortion: what is our goal as Christians? A lot of people messaged me about abortion the last several weeks asking how to think through and respond about this issue with others. I have also noticed that this issue is one of the top subjects used by Christians to shame other Christians if they see it differently. So, I took the time to create this brief article to simply ask about our overall goal as Christians when it comes to abortion in light of the current data and then share a bit where I am on the topic. I hope you find it helpful.

​-11 ways to stop politics ruining your relationships: How to get through the elections without falling out with your loved ones, according to relationship therapists. I shared this recently but thought it would be helpful to share again with the election drawing closer. I, like many of you, have lost family and friends over the years due to political disagreements. Even when I have tried my very best to remain respectful and calm, the beliefs I expressed about where I am on certain topics have led to people choosing to no longer speak with me. Writing as publicly as I do can add fuel to this flame as well. It always hurts and I don't think it ever gets any easier. I have found this list to be helpful and practical along the way in trying to avoid those fractures as much as it is my power to do so. I hope you find it helpful too.

​-The Role Young Men Will Play In The 2024 Election by 1-A podcast. I have been thinking a lot about masculinity lately. How it is defined and the role it is playing in this political cycle, especially within Christianity. For the first time in many decades, we are seeing the younger generation of men attending church while young women seem to be declining. This podcast sheds light on how it relates to the 2024 election. I found it rather insightful and further convinced me that we need to talk more about the state of masculinity within Christianity moving forward.

​-A History of Christian Nationalism by Throughline podcast. I have been waiting for Throughline to tackle the topic of Christian Nationalism through the historical lens and they did so through their usual integrity and clarity. I think you will find it deeply contextual and insightful. They also did a throwback episode on the history of voting in our country, which was also really eye opening. Highly recommend giving both a listen.

Okay, onto today's topic.

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Jesus' Response To Satan's Temptations Should Be The Christian's Voting Guide.​
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Matthew 4:1-11

“Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.” Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.”

Not just "you," but "y'all."

One of the things we often take for granted when we read the Bible in our very individualistic Western culture is how those in the ancient world of the Bible understood the world more in communal terms. My New Testament professor in Seminary would often half jokingly say that you had to get a little southern when you interpret the New Testament in English and say “y’all” when you see the English singular “you.” Paul’s and Peter’s letters were written to entire communities and so were the gospels, like Mathew. Not everyone was literate and scrolls were expensive, so people would gather to hear someone read it aloud to everyone.

So, when we read the Bible by ourselves as individuals, it is really important to remember that they were written with the community in mind, not just individuals. We miss so much when we do not read the Bible to consider how we Christians ought to live together in our time as a collective.

The same is true for our passage from Matthew today. The way Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness were not just about Jesus, but they reflected the temptations faced by Israel when they wondered the desert for 40 years and also, they were temptations faced by the early church who would have been among the first to read Matthew’s gospel as well. Jesus is not just seen here as an individual who overcame his own personal temptations, but he also gives his early followers an example to live by when they faced similar temptations together.

I believe that example still holds true for us Christians in the United States today, even towards how we vote and participate within politics. After all, the Greek root word in the word politics is “polis,” which simply means “city, citadel, or community of citizens.” So, how we govern ourselves as a community who follows Jesus will have a direct impact on how we relate and participate with our broader community of citizens in the nation we call home.

To me, this is the first conversation followers of Jesus should have together before policy is ever discussed, because this is a conversation of our fidelity to Jesus which then directly impacts how we see policy.

For example, you will see numerous voting guides come out this time every election year from Christians on all parts of the political spectrum. They will usually take scripture verses to enforce certain policy issues, which quickly reveals which party they are trying to move you towards. While these can be helpful at times, they focus more on “what” Christians should support where as the temptations faced by Jesus give us a much clearer picture of “how” Christians should conduct themselves as followers of Jesus no matter the issues they support or oppose.

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​ So, let’s look at the three temptations faced by Jesus.

The three temptations center on some very explicit themes: selfishness, arrogance, and the worship of power. Characteristics that if left unchecked will distort and threaten to destroy any effort, no matter how noble it may be at face value.

In the first temptation, Jesus is told to turn stones into bread. Bread, representing all food, is needed for humans to survive, yet Jesus isn’t being tempted just by bread simply because he is hungry. Jesus is being tempted to believe a myth of scarcity and told to turn all the stones into bread to hoard for himself, therefore no longer needing to depend on God for his essential needs, or “daily bread.” This echos what the Israelites went through in Exodus 16 over being tempted to hoard manna. Jesus responds with Deuteronomy 8:3 to reiterate that humanity doesn’t need to selfishly be preoccupied with bread alone because every word that comes from God’s mouth doesn’t result in scarcity but abundance. Just take the Garden of Eden as one example.

In the second temptation, Jesus is taken to the roof of the temple, which was the center of worship in his religion and is seen as the very presence of God. Then Satan tells him to throw himself down from it, trusting that God’s angles will keep him safe. Just like the builders of the Tower of Babel were trying to build their way to be above God, Satan putting Jesus above the Temple has the same symbolism. It signifies that Jesus shares equality with God and should exploit that relationship for his own advantage for all the world to see. Of course, this would be exploiting God’s love and promises to arrogantly make Jesus the center focus, saying “look at what God did for me. Look at how God saved me!” Hence why Jesus responded with Deuteronomy 6:16, “you shall not put the Lord your God to the test.”

In the third temptation, Jesus is taken up to a high mountain and shown all the kingdoms within the Roman Empire and promised all power over them if he would just bow down and worship Satan. Like all empires, the Roman Empire had developed a rigid social structure and predatory economy where those on top lived the very best life and controlled all the resources for the empire all while those in the middle and especially the bottom were exploited to maintain the empire. Rome created idols in its own image to justify this kind of controlling power, all of which Satan was tempting Jesus to embody. If he accepted this temptation, Jesus would be worshiped just like Caeser demanded he be worshiped, but this would mean fidelity to the ways of Satan, the ways of The Beast, rather than the ways of God and the ways of the Lamb he came to be. This is why Jesus responded with Deuteronomy 6:13, “worship God alone.” Worship equals fidelity.

When we read this through a collective lens in our time as Christians, we see how this passage still has such powerful relevance for us today. If we look at American Christianity as a whole, we are constantly being lulled by these same temptations of selfishness, arrogance, and the worship of power. We are being fed narratives, especially by the politicians on our time, to buy into the myth of scarcity, the impulse to use God as a justification to center ourselves above others in our society, and to control the exploitation of the empire for our own benefit and power.

As we know the rest of the story, Jesus rejects all these temptations and goes on to live a life of generosity rather than selfishness, humility instead of arrogance, and sharing power with others, espeically the most vulnerable, rather than taking power over everyone for himself. As I elaborated more fully in this article, Jesus gave his life, displaying love for others, rather than seeking power over others and forcing them to submit to his will. This is the same mindset that Paul calls the Philippian community to embody so beautifully in Philippians 2:2-8:

“Be like-minded, have the same love, be one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!

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Can you imagine if that mindset was the beginning and end of how we Christians conducted ourselves politically in the United States?

What's Our Motivation?

As a Christian, one of the primary things that motivates my politics and my vote is opposing my sacred faith being hijacked and politically weaponized against my neighbors, my country, and other nations.

Church history is just too vividly clear about the dangers of the union between the church and the empire.

​Ancient Christians left us an excellent example of in their public witness, which was defined by calling for the empires of the world to be more hospitable to the poor, the marginalized, the stranger, the vulnerable, and to resist violence, but they never pursued power for themselves. They would have found the desire to make an empire “Christian” not only offensive but as accepting the temptation of Satan that Jesus rejected.

What we see in our history after Emperor Constantine made Christianity the official religion of Rome is why the ancient church saw this to be so evil. We see crusades, inquisitions, genocides, slave trade, the subjugation of women, and the pillaging of our planet, all justified under church doctrine and ironically, in the name of the One who was crucified by the unholy union between religion and the empire: Jesus Christ.

Whenever the church justifies accepting the temptations of Satan in an effort to make the world more “Christian,” all that happens is Christians become less Christ-like.

No matter the issue we Christians claim to care about deeply, we simply can’t ignore the widest possible difference between the way of Christ’s cross and the coercive way Caesar’s throne. It is the difference between compassion and coercion.

We simply can’t demand the ways of Jesus to be carried out by the ways of Caesar and expect that they will remain the ways of Jesus. No, they just become the ways of Caesar. The moment we Christians think we need a bully to protect and enforce our values, that’s the moment we can be sure our values are no longer in line with Jesus.

We always have a tremendous opportunity to see our politics and our vote, not as a way to enforce our own interests, but to guide our empire to prioritize the interests of others and be more hospitable to the poor, the marginalized, the stranger, the vunerable, and to resist violence. It is an opportunity to refuse pursuing power just for our own religious group in order to try and make our empire more “Christian” but rather be more Christ-like within our empire and work for resources, justices, and power to be shared more equitably and compassionately.

Otherwise, we will just keep trying to change the world the way Christianized Rome did rather than the way Jesus did.

Every political issue and election is an opportunity akin to what Matthew was doing for the original audience of his gospel. It is an opportunity to highlight the humble and faithful example of Jesus for the church in the United States to turn and embody as well. The church is a collection of individuals, yet we are all called to be one and emulate the body of Christ. When enough of us individuals refuse these temptations from Satan the way Jesus did, the body of Christ is then set free to embody radical love the way Jesus did too.

May it be so with us.