The 2024 presidential election season has already been wilder than I anticipated, and the crazy train isn’t showing any signs of slowing. 

In late June, former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden (who was still running for reelection at the time) faced off in a debate. To put it mildly, it did not go well for Biden. His lack of focus and visible confusion throughout the debate immediately sparked speculation that he would soon drop out of the race. 

For his part, Biden denied that he would be stepping aside, at one point even saying he would only consider it if “the Lord Almighty came down and said, ‘Joe, get out of the race.’”

A couple of weeks later, on July 13, Trump was hosting a rally in Pennsylvania when he narrowly escaped an assassination attempt. Obviously shaken by the attack, Trump promised to strike a new tone and promote unity. 

Roughly 48 hours later, Hulk Hogan stood on the stage of the Republican National Convention and ripped his shirt off before Trump gave a 90-minute speech peppered with references to “crazy Nancy Pelosi” and election denial.

Oh, and by the way, the Republicans removed all meaningful pro-life language from the party platform. 

Shortly thereafter, Biden tested positive for COVID-19, and speculation swirled about his condition during his extended hiatus from the public eye. 

But apparently Biden got an important call from the Almighty during his recovery, and on July 21, he announced that he would not be running for reelection, via tweet. Biden officially endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, and Harris went on to break fundraising records, clinching the Democratic nomination within two weeks. 

Given the removal of pro-life language from the Republican Party platform, some evangelicals aren’t sure who to vote for. For years, many of them have said that they only supported Trump because of his stance on abortion. Now that Trump has shifted, and the entire Republican Party with him, the veracity of that long standing claim is being put to the test. 

Some have continued to support Trump, citing the fact that while he isn’t as pro-life as they’d like him to be, he is still worlds better on that front than Harris. Indeed, access to abortion has already become a major talking point of Harris’ campaign. 

Others have indicated that they will be voting for a third-party candidate. 

Others still, many of whom were “Never-Trumper” evangelicals to begin with, have taken their opposition to Trump a step further. The Evangelicals for Harris group, which was preceded by Evangelicals for Biden, has already garnered considerable attention. 

Just this week, the group hosted a Zoom call to rally support for their cause of electing Kamala Harris. The call featured several longtime critics of Trump, including historian Dr. Jemar Tisby, Texas Pastor Dwight McKissic, whose church is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention, and Raymond Chang, president of the Asian American Christian Collaborative and executive director of TENx10, an organization focused on youth evangelism. 

Likewise, conservative commentator David French, who is known for his legal advocacy for the unborn, announced that he will “vote for Kamala Harris in 2024 and—ironically enough—I’m doing it in part to try to save conservatism.”

In an op-ed for The New York Times, French argued that given Trump’s moral shortcomings, his softening on pro-life issues, and his apparent support of Vladimir Putin’s Russia over and against Ukraine, Trump must lose the election in order for the conservative movement to heal and regain its focus. 

French acknowledged that many will disagree with him, and said that he would never want to end a friendship over such disagreement. 

“At the same time,” he wrote, “we should make the argument—firmly but respectfully—that this is no ordinary race and that the old political categories no longer apply.”

But can a Christian, in good conscience, vote for a candidate who is an avid supporter of abortion access, as well as for “gender affirming care” protocols for minors that clinical studies have shown to be potentially dangerous?

Conversely, can a Christian, in good conscience, vote for a candidate who lies habitually, routinely demeans people who disagree with him, continues to demonize migrants and blame them for everything that ails the nation, does not appear opposed to political violence, and is ambivalent toward the plight of the unborn? 

In many ways, it depends on how pragmatic you want to be—or what you want to be pragmatic about. After all, abortion rates tend to drop most precipitously under Democratic presidents, likely a result of the party’s advocacy for access to healthcare and other social safety nets. In fact, abortion rates actually rose for the first time in a decade during the Trump administration—after a historic drop under Obama. 

The Democratic Party also tends to have a better record on racial justice, the environment, and other issues of economic justice. However, they have in recent years campaigned hard for trans issues with legislation proposals that many Christians believe present a serious public health risk, in addition to running contrary to deeply held convictions. 

The character of the candidates is also an important matter to consider, particularly given that Trump represents a shift away from democratic and diplomatic norms—to the point that his actions following the 2020 elections seriously bent (though did not break) the systems that ensure a peaceful transfer of power and the carrying out of the will of the people. 

But perhaps you are convinced that Harris’ economic policies will not yield favorable results, leaving more Americans struggling with poverty than would otherwise be the case. Maybe you’re concerned about her foreign policy, particularly with regard to Ukraine or Israel. Or maybe you feel that way about Trump. 

It’s complicated, and people vote different ways for different reasons. To be sure, many of these questions aren’t moral or theological in nature; they are pragmatic differences of opinion on how to achieve a moral result. 

So can Christians vote for Harris? They are certainly free to do so. Can they vote for Trump? Same answer. Should they vote for either? I’m less certain. 

For me personally—and there is certainly room to disagree with me—I feel convinced that a vote for either of the two major party candidates would require me to compromise my values in ways with which I am not comfortable.

(And just in case anyone is asking, no, I’m not voting for RFK Jr., either.) 

This isn’t the case for everybody. Perhaps you’re even offended by my language of moral compromise. But please know that I’m not applying that language to you, only to myself. While Christians hold to common moral values, the way we apply those specific values can be highly context driven. And the boundaries are often not as clear-cut as we would like. 

Good faith disagreement is not a sign that any of us is being unfaithful. In fact, the New Testament writers expected that there would be instances in which believers would end up on different sides of an important issue. 

When that’s the case, Paul encourages us with these words: “So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding” (Romans 14:19). 

What has grieved me deeply about how American Christians have interacted with public politics in the last decade is the way churches have been divided, the integrity of faithful Christian leaders has been called into question, and how a segment of the evangelical church has apparently given itself over to the cult of Trump. 

This election season, I am also disturbed at how many evangelicals appear to be campaigning for Harris as a salve for the nation, throwing the weight of their theological credentials behind their endorsement of her.  

To be sure, there is a difference between endorsing a candidate and becoming uncritically loyal to them to the point of idolatry. But the difference is a matter of degree, not kind. 

All that to be said, I think American Christians could afford to be slightly less engaged in the debate over which presidential candidate to vote for. Not that we should necessarily become ambivalent, but our perspective should be that of peculiar outsiders who are looking on at the affairs of the nation as resident aliens and citizens of a different kingdom. 

The Kingdom of God is not of this world. And that doesn’t mean that we should disengage from the world. Rather, we should love it and serve it despite all its faults. 

But if we are truly to be witnesses primarily of Jesus and not the Republican or Democratic Parties, maybe we should think twice before throwing in our hats for our chosen political candidate and questioning the faith of any Christian who dares to disagree with us.