Tim Keller, Russell Moore, and "Love Your Neighbor"
How Evangelicals Got Confused Over Politics
And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
—Matthew 22:39
What does “love your neighbor” mean?
As I argue in a brand-new eBook for the James Dobson Family Institute, Voting and the Church, evangelicals are confused over this commandment. This is especially true, I sense, regarding politics. This is because, in considerable part, for some time we have been told to show “love of neighbor” by supporting a number of unsound—or at best morally unclear—positions (and candidates who hold them).
In our day, love of neighbor has been tied to:
Being pro-abortion
Being for pagan sexuality
Being for open borders
Being for gender transitions for children
Being for vaccinations and masks (in the lockdown season)
Being for the use of gender pronouns based on “gender identity”
Being unconcerned with serious challenges to religious liberty
The arguments for supporting either these positions or candidates who hold them have often been grounded in the second greatest commandment. If you “love your neighbor as yourself,” we are told, you will vote for the body of morality listed above.
This political posture is often connected to being “neither left nor right” (NLNR), an approach to the public square that seeks to fly above the “culture wars.” NLNR represents what is called a “third way” approach to politics in which the American Christian does not align with either Republicans or Democrats. The “third way” model was informally developed over the last ten years by a loose band of thinkers and activists: Tim Keller, Russell Moore, David French, Michael Wear, Ed Stetzer, Rick Warren, and Francis Collins among them.
In listing out this group, I do not communicate that these men would each agree with all of the positions mapped in the bullet-pointed list above. Nor do I indicate that all of the men identified here are unsound in every way. For example, as one gifted writer captured some time ago (here and here), many of us have benefited from Keller’s gospel-centered approach to the Christian life. Keller had a big influence on a lot of folks, and I for one am thankful for a solid portion of what he taught.
But having appreciation for a Christian leader does not mean we are wrong to disagree with them in places. This is true with Keller and his formulation of NLNR and “third way” politics (see this widely-debated tweet-thread, for example.) Sadly, as I’ve written at some length elsewhere, the “neither left nor right” paradigm has opened the door both for a more leftist Christianity and for its inverse, an all-out bear-hugging of “Christian Nationalism.”
As a result, many Christians are confused today. They have been urged to embrace, or at least make room for, some unsound ideas under the “third way” banner. The following examples hail from Megan Basham’s insightful book Shepherds for Sale:
Francis Collins has decried “structural racism” and has labeled himself an “ally” and “advocate” of the LGBTQ movement
Before his death, Keller tied voting for Trump directly to the quest for “power” among Christians
Wear has argued that for Christians, abortion should be treated as a “second or third-tier issue,” but not one “around which their politics revolves”
French has openly called Drag Queen Story Hours a “blessing of liberty” and has urged Republican voters to vote for Joe Biden
Moore has argued that amnesty for illegal immigrants is part of being “pro life”
“Third way” advocacy has lately taken concrete pedagogical form in a curriculum called The After Party. Here is how the official website advertises this resource (developed by Russell Moore, David French, and Curtis Chang): “Christians have lost their way when it comes to the intersection of faith & politics. It’s time to reframe our political identity as we take the lead in healing what’s broken. Jesus’ call is clear: We are to be salt and light in this world. Come be equipped and encouraged as we prepare for the true party to come. We’ve saved a seat for you!”
This language could not be clearer. The ordinary American evangelical has “lost their way” in politics. In order to “be salt and light,” we must “reframe our political identity.” The context for The After Party’s commentary is unmissable. Evangelicals have backed Donald Trump in considerable numbers; this is how we have “lost our way.” To save ourselves, we need to shift, and disengage the political fray.
But I believe that the “third way” is just as subject to political cooptation as any other viewpoint is. It is no ideology-free perspective; it is not nearly as unpartisan as its cheerleaders make it out to be. In actual fact, it often ends up being just as partisan as other options, though it marches under the banner of idealistic neutrality.
A Biblical Framework for Loving Your Neighbor
Let me pause for a moment and say this: I am not going to tell you who to vote for in the 2024 presidential election. I am not going to tell you that there is a Bible verse that binds your conscience on this matter. I will tell you that I believe that voting for Trump is not only permissible, but an eminently viable option.
But the point of this essay (and the eBook it announces) is this: the political concept of “loving your neighbor” has been hijacked. Tragically, it has been taken from its biblical moorings and embedded within a leftist paradigm. In what follows, I want to give a brief overview of nine elements of biblical morality that I believe inform political action aimed at “loving your neighbor.”
First, we vote because God loves life.
Our tiniest, most helpless neighbors are preborn babies. The preborn cannot speak for themselves. They need advocates in action as their voices. Psalm 139 teaches us that God weaves together every child in his or her mother’s womb—a truth Satan hates, opposes, and takes action against through abortion. We cannot stand quietly still as preborn babies are aborted. Killing babies is the chief moral evil of our age.
Second, we vote because God’s Word supports secure nations.
The book of Nehemiah helps us understand how vital security is to a people. Without walls, borders, and defenses, the entire populace is in danger (Nehemiah 2:17–20). Christians can use their vote to support national security and stability. We know that God is the One who sets up nations and borders, after all (Acts 17:26).
Third, we vote because God made every person male or female.
The LGBTQ lobby seeks to remake American culture and society in its image. We must oppose these efforts with convictional, actionable love. The Lord of Creation alone defined manhood and womanhood, marriage, and the family (Genesis 2:17–25; Matthew 19:3–6; Ephesians 5:22–33).
Fourth, we vote because every person has God-given dignity.
Woke ideology has poisoned the well, indoctrinating the rising generation to believe that having “white” skin means being a “white supremacist.” Where we can, Christians should vote against wokeness, opposing it without hesitation. We know from the Bible that every person is an image-bearer of God, and every person is a sinner. God shows no partiality (Acts 10:34).
Fifth, we vote because God honors the conscience.
No form of freedom is more imperiled today than religious liberty—a precious, priceless good. Religious freedom was developed in America due, in part, to the Scripture’s teaching on the conscience (Romans 2:14–16). This conviction fuels our commitment to free speech and should lead us to support candidates and policies that honor religious liberty and the rights of the conscience.
Sixth, we vote because God gave us economic agency.
The Bible is no handbook for Marxism. The Word of God teaches the importance of hard work (Proverbs 6:6–8), personal property (Exodus 20:15), wise investment (Matthew 25:14–30), and fair market exchange (1 Timothy 5:18). Against creeping socialism, Christians should support candidates and policies that promote economic flourishing, personal responsibility, and wise stewardship.
Seventh, we vote because God has imposed limited government.
Caesar is not our Savior; Jesus is. Caesar is not our Lord; Jesus is. Jesus, as Lord of heaven and earth, placed clear limits on the authority of government when he told His disciples to “render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22:21).
Eighth, we vote because terrorists menace free nations, including Israel.
Our neighbors include people around the world—the broader entailment of the command to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39). Over the years, Christians have urged America to support free nations in meaningful ways. One prominent example is Israel, a Middle Eastern democracy that is opposed and attacked by Islamic agents of terror, whether Hamas or other groups.
Ninth, we vote because God loves good and hates evil.
By God’s power, Christians should be a force for righteousness and against evil. Such powerful activity honors the very character of our Creator and Ruler (Psalm 5:4–5; 97:10). While we cannot vanquish darkness in one fell swoop, we can lend our voices and votes to efforts that promote goodness and stand against darkness.
A Friendly Case for Voting for the Best Possible Candidate
All the above positions are biblical as I read Scripture. Backing them, and backing candidates who hold them (in some imperfect form), is a key way that I believe we can obey Christ’s call to love our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22:39). Let me say this in a direct way to my fellow Christians: love your neighbor by opposing lies, and by standing for what is good.
Remember as you do so: you will have no utopian options in doing this. They are not available to you. In engaging politics, and in making decisions about voting, you will have only imperfect candidates and imperfect political parties before you. But as I argue in the eBook, I believe that it is loving to do what is best for your neighbor, whether they would see your political action as loving or not.
The standard of love for Christians is not what unbelievers think is loving. It is not what makes people feel loved (alone). The standard of love for Christians is the biblical conception of love. The biblical conception of love involves doing what is best for someone based on what is true. Applied to the public square, this means—as I said above—opposing lies and standing for what is good.
In a sound biblical analysis, it is not loving our neighbor to participate in the disappearance of a pro-life ethic, in the promotion of an unsecure nation and open borders, and in the advancement of gender ideology that is ravaging our youth. Nor is it loving, I would argue, to opt out of politics in pursuit of a sinless and utopian model. Don’t get trapped by unrealistic idealism; Jesus is not on the ballot, and never will be. Until he returns, we will only have imperfect leadership options before us.
Here is the takeaway of all of this material: as your conscience allows, I encourage you to vote for the best possible (viable) candidate. I do not say this out of a red-hot evangelical thirst for power; I do not urge it because I yearn as a foaming-at-the-mouth conservative to win a big bad culture war. I say this because I believe that the church is the moral conscience of the nation, and because we are appointed to be “salt and light” in this place and time (Matthew 5:13-16).
Along these lines, hear this principled call from theologian Steve Wellum:
The easiest way to stand up for our freedoms is to vote your Christian conscience, and to vote for those candidates who will best reflect what is good, right, and just. If we don’t vote, we are taking our freedoms for granted, and what we take for granted will soon disappear. Christians must resist a kind of fatalism that says “This world’s not my home. I’m just passing on through.” We are Christians and citizens, and as such, we have responsibilities to speak and act, ultimately for God’s glory and the good of our society. If we don’t stand up for what is right, who will?
In general terms, this is sound counsel. In thoroughly fallen conditions, with only sinful candidates on the ballot before us, I believe that voting to promote good and restrain evil is honoring to God.
Conclusion
On the matters discussed above, I do not seek to bind anyone’s conscience. I am not the moral authority of the church; God is. Having said that, the words of James echo in my mind as I consider all this:
So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin (James 4:17).
This word of James, like the second greatest commandment, is not oriented to quietism. These texts, and the broader witness of Scripture, are oriented to moral action. As we consider politics, and the many hard questions and gray areas before us, let us not be quick to shake off the weight of this witness.
By the power of God’s grace, let us love our neighbor, and let us do all the good we can.