Sunday Thoughts: How Should Christians Behave After the Election?

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I deliberately keep this column politics-free most weeks, but it’s hard to ignore the election. We faced the prospect of an administration that would be more hostile to people of faith than any before.

If you regularly read this column, I would guess that you’re Christian or Christian-adjacent. If you regularly read PJ Media, I would also guess that you’re happy that Donald Trump won or at least happy that Kamala Harris lost.

I ordered a t-shirt the week before the election that reads “No matter who’s in the White House, Jesus is on the throne.” It’s a powerful message regardless of how the election turned out, although it arrived the day after the election, of course.

Many of us have at least prayed “Lord, Your will be done,” and more than a few Christians prayed for a Trump victory. But what do we do now that the election is over?

Josh Howerton, pastor of Lakepointe Church in Dallas, posted “4 things Christians should be doing after the election” on Instagram. Howerton has been outspoken about how Christians couldn’t in good conscience support a Harris administration, even as he has admitted that the Trump campaign hasn’t been ideal for Christians. Naturally, this has led to plenty of people commenting on his pages that they are Christians who voted for Harris.

“Our nation was given an undeserved mercy last night, and it is a window for repentance (more on that later),” he begins. “No Christian anywhere should’ve supported the policy platform that was (mercifully) defeated last night, and saying that should never have been controversial.” He added that “it should prompt *deep* reflection about what happened to the U.S. church in the last ~20 years that made it controversial for a pastor to say that.”

Howerton’s first bit of advice to Christians is to give thanks. He says that we should celebrate the election results.

“It is not wrong to celebrate and give thanks today for being spared from something our rebellious nation deserved,” he writes. “If you have kids, they need to see you celebrate because it trains their hearts!”

He quotes Proverbs 11:10a: “When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices…”

To his advice, I would add that we should express gratitude and celebrate, but we shouldn’t gloat. Remember how so many people were bad sports after the 2016 election? Back then I wrote:

Trump partisans are gloating like nobody’s business, and many of them are terrible winners. On the opposite side of the spectrum, I’ve seen plenty of posts acting like we’ve reached the end of the world, and sour grapes and sore losers abound.

We need to act in a different way — in humility and grace, no matter which side we’re on. 

Let’s be grateful and graceful even as we celebrate.

Howerton’s second bit of advice is to “be the adult in the room.”

“Politicians last four years; friends and family last lifetimes,” he wrote. “Do not lose a lifelong relationship over a short-term leader.”

Amen! He references Ephesians 4:3, which suggests that Christians be “eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” He also references Matthew 5:9: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”

Next, Howerton advises that we need to pray. Before you say, “Duh!,” ponder the rest of this advice:

Not only because we are commanded to pray for our governing leaders (1 Tim 2:1), but because of the situation. We elected Jehu (a flawed leader who defeated a greater evil) not Josiah (a righteous leader who led national revival), and that comes with risks.

The command to “trust not in princes” (Psalm 146:3) means there is Someone 10 trillion times greater than a President and something 10 billion times greater than an election that we should ache and hunger for — an outpouring of the Spirit in our generation.

Finally, Howerton suggests that we “hurl [ourselves] into the purposes of God in our generation.” Embedded in this advice is the idea that we should pray for revival as well as be a light to the world around us.

“Absent a spiritual awakening in our country, it will not matter in the long run if there are politicians who will propose godly laws [because] there won’t be enough godly people to vote for them,” he writes. “More importantly, ‘Judeo-Christian values’ can keep a nation out of chaos, but they cannot keep a person out of hell. Only the blood of Jesus Christ can do that.”

The Bible tells us to “seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare” (Jeremiah 29:7, ESV). That’s true no matter who is in power.

“The main thing is still the main thing: making disciples of all nations,” he adds. “Reformation and revival for a resurgence of the purposes of God in our generation. It feels like we’re on the verge; the tall grass is rustling everywhere, and we’re waiting to see where the Lion of Judah will pounce.”

Jesus’ Great Commission to us is to “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20, ESV). He commanded the church to “…be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8b, ESV).

He also told His followers (and us):

You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Matthew 5:14-16 (ESV)

Let’s continue to be that light of the world, no matter who is in the halls of power.