Should Evangelical Political Self-Interest Trump the Common Good?
Pro-Trump Evangelicals are savvy voters. They know political power comes only from acting upon their self-interests. And who can blame them? Everyone does it, after all, and if Evangelicals don’t do it then no one will do it for them. What many don’t seem to understand is that solitary political self-interest is not the ultimate factor in a Christian’s decision making in an election. Self-interest, in and of itself, is an insufficient footing for a Christian’s political action. Naked political self-interest must be checked by biblical values that underwrite the common good.
Theologically informed political thinking appreciates the nature of self-interest in the pursuit of power, even as it accepts clear biblical limits to the role self-interest plays. There are greater values than finite and flawed self-interest, and these better values should constrain political self-interest and dictate a Christian’s vote. The Bible bears witness to higher ideals like truth, love, hope, and justice which are God-honoring and foster human flourishing. Truth vanquishes lies, love conquers hate, hope overpowers fear, and justice subdues inequality. It is by these values we uphold the welfare of society and our pursuit of its common good. There is wisdom in the placing of limits on political self-interest, as biblical values serve as a check on the manipulation of Christians who are susceptible to politicians whose claims and policies do not pass muster. Apart from these ultimate values, freedom from captivity to the short-sightedness and immediacy of political self-interest is not possible.
A failure to accept biblical limits to political self-interest invites dangerous consequences. It is common for zealous Trump supporters to claim Joe Biden and the Democratic Party are an existential threat to Republicans in general and Evangelicals in particular. According to numerous unfounded claims I’ve read, if Biden is elected Democrats will certainly impose tyrannical rule, deny Christians religious liberties, and destroy America’s constitutional republic. One big problem with such baseless allegations is they elevate the survival of our republic as the ultimate political value and entice Christians to strip self-interest of its biblical limits. (As worthwhile as it certainly is, our republic is not in the same league as the Kingdom of God or Christ’s Church.) When political self-interest becomes a zero-sum game of reelecting Trump in order to stay alive, Evangelicals become vulnerable to the heroic bad-boy attitude that boasts of the bringing of a gun to a knife fight. It’s a lot like what the Outlaw Josey Wales said: “When things look bad and it looks like you’re not gonna make it then you gotta get mean, I mean plumb mad-dog mean. ’Cause if you lose your head and you give up then you neither live nor win.” But getting mad-dog mean to defeat one’s political enemies will not guarantee the survival of our republic or Christianity. All bets are off when one party shatters our hard-won norms of wielding power and sets in motion the downward spiral of payback politics; “When they go low, we’ll go lower.” The short-term political gains of unbridled political self-interest are much more likely to result in long-term damage to our constitutional republic and religious freedoms it grants; get ready, “hell is coming to breakfast.” How ironic that when people are driven by unchecked political self-interest, they undermine what is ultimately in their best self-interest. Only disastrous outcomes await those who fail to yoke their political self-interests to the greater good.
In a democracy, Evangelical Christians can and should act on their political self-interest, but they must do so according to biblical values that serve as restraints on an unbridled pursuit of power. In so doing, they would honor God, promote human flourishing, and preserve the common-good. The wisdom of complying with biblical limits on self-interest prevents political manipulation and protects our republic. The reach of truth, love, hope, and justice surpasses naked political self-interest and extends well beyond the ballot box to the common good. What would happen if pro-Trump Evangelicals chose to live up to these values in this election?
