How Should Christians Evaluate Political Candidates and Policies?

Have you ever looked at an election ballot and thought, “These are my choices?”

I have.

We would probably like every election to give us a candidate with impeccable character, sound judgment, complete honesty, a proven record, and policies that line up perfectly with biblical principles. That’s usually not how elections work.

More often, we’re choosing between imperfect people. One candidate may be stronger in an area we consider important while raising serious concerns somewhere else. Another may say many of the right things during the campaign, but their record gives us reasons to wonder what they’ll actually do after Election Day.

People sometimes describe this as voting for “the lesser of two evils.” I understand the expression, although I think there’s a better way to approach the decision. We’re not being asked to declare someone righteous. We’re being asked to decide which imperfect person should hold a particular civil office.

So how should Christians evaluate political candidates and policies when the perfect candidate isn’t on the ballot?

I think Scripture gives us principles that can help.

Start With the Office, Not the Personality

One of the first questions we should ask is surprisingly simple: What are we electing this person to do?

We aren’t hiring a pastor when we elect a president. We aren’t electing a national spiritual leader when we choose a senator, and your township supervisor has a very different job from your governor.

That matters because different offices carry different responsibilities.

Romans 13 describes civil government as having legitimate authority to maintain order, restrain wrongdoing, and administer justice. In the United States, our Constitution further divides governmental authority among different offices and branches. For example, Article II gives the president executive authority and responsibilities that include serving as commander in chief, making certain appointments, negotiating treaties subject to Senate approval, and faithfully executing federal law.

So before evaluating a candidate, understand the job.

A candidate may have wonderful ideas about something completely outside the authority of the office they’re seeking. Another may make promises they couldn’t possibly fulfill without Congress, a state legislature, or some other governmental body cooperating.

Knowing what the office actually does helps us separate campaign rhetoric from responsibilities the candidate will really have.

Don’t Confuse Campaign Promises With a Candidate’s Record

Here’s where we need a healthy dose of realism.

Politicians aren’t exactly sitting near the top of America’s trust list. Gallup’s most recent honesty and ethics survey found that only 7 percent of Americans gave members of Congress high or very high marks, putting them near the bottom of the professions Gallup measured. Ipsos found something similar internationally: politicians ranked last in its 2024 survey across 32 countries, with only 15 percent saying politicians were trustworthy.

I doubt those numbers surprise many people.

Political candidates know what voters want to hear. If an issue matters to you, a candidate may tell you, “I strongly oppose that,” or “I will fight for this.”

Fine.

But if that candidate has already held office, we don’t have to rely solely on what they’re saying today. We have a record.

How did they actually vote? What legislation did they support? What did they do when keeping their promise became politically difficult? If they tell us today that an issue is extremely important to them, does their record demonstrate the same sense of importance?

There are legitimate reasons politicians sometimes compromise. Our constitutional system practically guarantees that nobody gets everything they want. But there’s a difference between reasonable compromise and campaigning one way before an election only to govern another way afterward.

Proverbs 18:17 reminds us:

“The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.”

Campaign advertising is the candidate stating his case.

Do some cross-examining.

Character Matters, but You’re Not Hiring a Pastor

Character matters because Scripture repeatedly connects the quality of leadership with the well-being of the people being led.

When Jethro advised Moses to select men to help judge Israel, he told him:

“But you should select from all the people able men, God-fearing, trustworthy, and hating dishonest profit.” — Exodus 18:21

That passage isn’t giving Americans a voter checklist, and we shouldn’t use it as though it were. However, notice what mattered when people were being entrusted with authority: ability, character, trustworthiness, and integrity. Those are reasonable qualities for Christians to consider when evaluating anyone who wants governmental power.

Someone who regularly lies doesn’t suddenly become trustworthy when walking into a government building. Pride, greed, cruelty, dishonesty, lack of self-control, and corruption don’t become irrelevant simply because we’re talking about politics.

At the same time, we need to keep the office in view.

When a church chooses a pastor, Scripture gives specific spiritual qualifications in passages such as 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1. Those qualifications were given for church leadership, not civil government.

The Constitution makes a different distinction. It establishes legal qualifications for federal offices, while Article VI says that no religious test can be required as a qualification for federal public office.

That does not mean a candidate shouldn’t be religious, nor does it mean voters must ignore a candidate’s faith. It simply means the government cannot require someone to profess a particular religion in order to qualify for federal office.

Christians can certainly consider a candidate’s faith, worldview, character, and values. We just shouldn’t confuse evaluating someone for civil office with examining someone for the pastorate.

Evaluate the Policies, Not Just the Person

A candidate can be charming, articulate, and likable while advocating terrible policies. Another candidate can be abrasive and personally difficult while supporting policies you believe are substantially better.

So don’t stop with personality.

Proverbs 29:4 says:

“By justice a king brings stability to a land, but a person who demands ‘contributions’ demolishes it.”

The United States doesn’t have a king, but the principle is clear: how leaders exercise authority matters. Justice strengthens a society, while corruption damages it.

That gives Christians another reason to look beyond personality and campaign slogans and examine what a candidate’s policies are actually designed to accomplish.

Ask what the candidate intends to do with the authority you’re giving them.

Does a proposed policy fall within government’s legitimate responsibility and does it protect innocent people and restrain wrongdoing? Does it respect responsibilities God gave families and churches? What behavior does it encourage? What incentives does it create, and what have similar policies produced in the past?

Those questions help us move beyond whether we simply “like” a candidate.

Not Every Political Issue Has the Same Biblical Clarity

We also need to remember the distinction between biblical commands, biblical principles, and judgment calls.

Sometimes Scripture speaks clearly about the underlying moral issue. Christians shouldn’t pretend those teachings become unclear simply because applying them politically makes us uncomfortable.

Other questions require us to apply biblical principles. Then there are genuine judgment calls where two Christians can share the same biblical values and reach different conclusions about the best policy.

For example, two Christians may agree that government should protect the country but disagree about how much should be spent on a particular defense system. Both may agree that people in genuine need should receive help while disagreeing about the most effective way to provide that assistance.

That’s why we need to be careful with the phrase “The Bible says.”

• If the Bible says it, say so.
• If you’re applying a biblical principle, explain the principle.
• If you’re making a judgment call, have enough humility to admit that’s what you’re doing.

Don’t Let One Issue Keep You From Examining Everything Else

Some political issues carry greater moral weight than others because Scripture speaks about them with greater clarity or because the consequences involve fundamental questions of justice and human life.

Recognizing that doesn’t mean we stop evaluating everything else.

Suppose a candidate agrees with you completely on the issue you consider most important. That’s significant information. But it doesn’t magically make the candidate honest, competent, wise, or correct about every other issue.

Look at the whole record.

You may ultimately conclude that one issue deserves extraordinary weight in your decision. That’s a judgment you have to make. Just don’t use agreement on one issue as an excuse to stop asking questions about everything else.

Your Vote Is Not an Endorsement of Everything About a Candidate

I think Christians especially need to remember this in our divided political culture.

A vote is a decision about who should hold an office. It isn’t a declaration that everything about that person deserves your approval.

You don’t have to join the fan club.

You don’t have to put the candidate’s sign in your yard, buy the hat, defend every foolish thing they say, or pretend their character flaws disappeared because you voted for them.

And when your candidate does something wrong, you’re allowed to say it’s wrong.

In fact, Christians should be among the first people willing to do that.

Political tribalism tells us we have to defend our side because admitting our candidate did something wrong somehow helps the other side. Biblical integrity requires a different standard.

If dishonesty is wrong when their candidate lies, it’s still wrong when ours does. If abusing governmental authority concerns us when the opposing party controls the government, it should concern us when our party controls it too.

Your vote doesn’t transfer your allegiance to a politician.

Your allegiance still belongs to Christ.

What If Neither Candidate Is Good Enough?

This is where some Christians decide they’re simply not going to vote.

I understand the frustration. There have been elections where I’ve looked at the choices and wished there were another box marked, “Can we start over?”

But waiting for a perfect candidate creates a problem.

There aren’t any.

Proverbs 29:2 makes a simple observation:

“When the righteous flourish, the people rejoice, but when the wicked rule, people groan.”

That verse doesn’t tell us which name to mark on a ballot. However, it reminds us of something important: who governs matters. Leadership affects real people, which is one reason Christians shouldn’t treat the opportunity to participate in choosing our governing authorities casually.

Scripture doesn’t contain a command saying, “Thou shalt vote in every American election.” The biblical authors lived under political systems very different from ours, so we shouldn’t claim God directly commanded something Scripture doesn’t directly address.

However, we have been given something Paul and Peter never had: a meaningful voice in selecting many of our governing authorities.

That is a stewardship worth taking seriously.

We can research candidates, examine their records, compare their policies with biblical principles, pray for wisdom, and then make the best decision we can among the choices actually available.

Sometimes that may still leave a Christian with a serious conscience problem about a particular race. Christians can reach different judgments about write-in candidates, third parties, or leaving a particular contest blank. What we shouldn’t do is treat civic disengagement as automatically more spiritual simply because the choices are difficult.

You’ve probably heard the old saying, “If you didn’t vote, don’t complain.”

I’ll confess that there have probably been a few elections when preserving my right to complain provided a little extra motivation to get to the polls.

I’m kidding.

Mostly.

The serious point is that citizenship gives us opportunities previous generations of Christians could scarcely have imagined. We should think carefully before voluntarily surrendering them.

Pray, Research, and Make the Best Decision You Can

James 1:5 tells us:

“Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God—who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly—and it will be given to him.”

That’s a pretty good place to finish.

Research the candidates instead of relying entirely on campaign advertisements. Examine what they’ve actually done when a record exists. Understand the office they’re seeking, evaluate their character, and compare their policies with biblical principles.

Then pray.

You may still end up choosing between two people you wouldn’t have chosen yourself. Another sincere Christian may examine the same candidates and reach a different judgment.

That doesn’t necessarily mean one of you abandoned Scripture. Sometimes it means two Christians made different judgments about imperfect choices.

Our responsibility is not to find a politician worthy of our complete allegiance. We already have Someone worthy of that.

Our responsibility is to use the wisdom God gives us to make a faithful civil decision with the choices actually before us.

That’s how Christians should evaluate political candidates and policies: understand the office, examine the record, consider the character, evaluate the policies through biblical principles, pray for wisdom, and then make the wisest decision you can.