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Few politicians evoke such strong reactions as Donald Trump,  including in Christian circles.

Former CEO of World Vision Australia and Christian commentator Tim Costello laid his cards on the table by writing a strong critique of Christians who support Trump.

In a recent article entitled ‘I am a Christian, but my tribe supports Donald Trump. I feel like I no longer belong’, Costello writes:

“Eighty per cent of white evangelicals voted for Trump in 2016… Whatever my fellow US evangelicals think about the supposed evilness of Joe Biden and the Democrats, they condemn themselves by supporting a man who denied he lost in 2020, refused to attend Biden’s inauguration (the first losing president to do this) and continues the lie of the Big Steal. This man should never be supported by anyone who believes in democracy, where one person, one vote is an expression of my faith that everyone is made in the image of God.”

Those are strong words.

While he’s writing as an Australian who doesn’t vote in US elections, he touched a nerve felt by many Christians around the world: how could Christians support a man like Donald Trump?

While I sympathise with Costello’s lament about the often-strong support many US Christians provide Trump, I am concerned by his argument. It’s one thing to say you disagree with Christians supporting Trump. It’s another to say Christians “condemn themselves” by supporting Trump – that it’s effectively ungodly to vote for Trump.

Here’s why I’m concerned:

1) The Bible does not mandate how Christians should vote in the upcoming US election.

Costello and many Christians look at Trump’s character and conclude he is not fit for office, and thus Christians shouldn’t vote for him. In their eyes, Trump’s statements about women, immigrants and the 2020 election should disqualify Trump from Christian support.

Other Christians, however,  take a different view of deciding how to vote.

Many take a “package deal” view of elections, noting that voting for one candidate or the other doesn’t only install the candidate, but also their policies. American theologian Wayne Gruden (no fan of Trump’s character) argued in 2020 before the last election:

The question now facing the nation is not, “Does Donald Trump have an exemplary moral character?” or, “Does Donald Trump have flaws?” or even, “Do I like Donald Trump?” The question is, “Which of two package deals is better for the nation?”

(a) Donald Trump and Republican policies or

(b) Joe Biden and Democratic policies?

There are no other choices. The nation will either have the option (a) or option (b) as a whole package for the next four years. If I withhold support from Trump, that makes it easier for Biden to win, and thereby for Democratic policies to bring (in my opinion) great destructiveness to the nation…

In other words, according to Grudem, although Trump’s character is less than stellar, given the alternative ‘package’ of Biden, Trump is the better choice.

Others argue neither candidate is suitably qualified, so Christians should vote for a third party.

Now, chances are one of these views resonates with you more than another. Perhaps you’re with Costello. Maybe you’re sympathetic to Grudem’s view. Or voting for the third party is where you land.

But I’m not here to push one view or the other. Rather, I’m here to ask a more basic question:

Which of the above views on decision-making – the ‘character’ view,  the ‘whole package’ view or the third-party view – does the Bible affirm as godly?

Which view does it condemn as ungodly?

Which is the ‘biblical’ way of deciding who to vote for?

The Bible doesn’t come close to answering these questions.

Deciding who to vote for requires Christians to understand and weigh different (and often competing) factors: how much do you weigh a person’s speech and character versus their policies? Which policies matter more than others? What about their beliefs and their party’s ideology? How exactly should you weigh these factors and come to a decision?

Yes, biblical principles – such as the importance of character,  policies, and political ideology should all be considered by Christians, but in the end, different Christians (like Grudem and Costello) will weigh these factors differently.

Deciding how to vote is complex. It’s arguable. And thus disputable:

2) Christians must be free to come to different conclusions about issues the Bible doesn’t address directly.

The Bible doesn’t give us a clear command on how to vote, let alone whether it’s acceptable or not to vote for Trump.

In other words, there’s no “straight line” from the biblical text to the voting decision; rather, there’s a “jagged line” from the Biblical text to the decision, which makes any decision contestable. And that’s ok: it’s what the Bible would describe as a ‘disputable matter’ (Rom 14:1), over which Christians can and should be free to disagree (agreeably!).

Pastor and theologian Kevin DeYoung sums this up well:

‘While our church might discipline a member for holding the positions [Biden] holds or for behaving the way Trump has behaved, this does not mean we have biblical grounds for disciplining a church member who, for any number of reasons and calculations, may decide that voting for either candidate (or neither) makes the most sense. And if we wouldn’t discipline someone for a presidential vote, we should stop short of saying such a vote is sinful and shameful.’ [1]

And therein lies the crux of my concern with Costello’s article: he condemns Christians for something the Bible doesn’t. Costello condemns people for voting for Trump, rather than seeing the issue the way the Bible does — a matter of individual conscience (cf. Romans 14).

Who to vote for in 2024 is not something Christians should divide over. Instead, to paraphrase the apostle Paul in Romans 14:3-4:

“Let not the anti-Trumper despise the pro-Trumper and let not the pro-Trumper pass judgment on the anti-Trumper, for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgement on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.”

Yes, politics brings out strong emotions. Christians will disagree over politics and disagree passionately. But regardless, let’s welcome each other despite our political differences.

Even when it’s over polarising politicians like Donald Trump.

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[1] Emphasis added. DeYoung wrote this article in 2016 and applied it to Clinton vs. Trump. I consider it applicable to the current US election.