The tension surrounding the 2024 election is certainly palpable. It’s tense to the point that a group of evangelical Christians has released a guideline for other believers on how Christians should approach the voting booth this year.
Under an initiative titled ” A Call to Revival,” a group of hundreds have come together to issue an “evangelical conviction.” This list is proposed as a sort of guidance during a “moment of social conflict and political division.”
Its goal is to “uphold the truth of the Gospel in the face of political pressure and cultural shifts,” as well as to pray for “Christ’s people to be agents of his presence and blessing in this turbulent age.”
The list consists of seven main pillars, which are as follows:
ONE: We give our allegiance to Jesus Christ alone.
TWO: We will lead with love not fear.
THREE: We submit to the truth of Scripture.
FOUR: We believe the Gospel heals every worldly division.
FIVE: We are committed to the prophetic mission of the Church.
SIX: We value every person as created in God’s image.
SEVEN: We recognize godly leaders by their character.
Each of these pillars refers to recent events or themes from this year’s election.
For example, the second pillar rejects “the stoking of fears and the use of threats as an illegitimate form of godly motivation” as well as the rejection of “violence to achieve political goals.” The fourth pillar rejects attempts to divide the Church “along partisan, ethnic, or national boundaries.”
The fifth pillar specifically calls on the Church to continue its work as a moral guide for societal issues while rejecting attempts to turn the Church “into a mere vehicle of political or social power.”
Some of the signatories on this list include prominent Christian officials, educators and figures. Among the massive list is rapper Lecrae, Christianity Today editor-in-chief Russell Moore and VeggieTales creator Phil Vischer. Among the project’s resources is a cartoon made by Vischer explaining the gist of this list.
While there are no overt references to either political party or party candidate, some aspects of the campaign appear to be aimed at Donald Trump. One of the signatories is Ekemini Uwan, who hosted the controversial “Evangelicals for Harris” meeting.
Other signatories have previously been critical of Trump and his campaign, including Christianity Today’s Moore. And others still say they want to avoid being pigeonholed as politically conservative just because they are also evangelical Christians.