With the presidential election barely a month away, Christians must engage the process prayerfully and purposefully to lessen evil while standing for Biblical values, said ministry leaders, theologians, politicians and public policy experts who spoke during the Family Research Council’s “Pray Vote Stand Summit” Oct. 3-6 at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C.  

Cissie Graham Lynch, senior advisor and ministry spokesperson for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan’s Purse, encouraged summit attendees from around the country to “fight against evil” and “stand for truth” during this election season and beyond.

“In 2024, I believe one of the most compelling reasons we have to vote, to encourage those in your inner circle, is the opportunity to lessen evil and stand with courage,” she said.

“Our battle, we have to remember, is not between political parties, but it is the epic spiritual battle between good versus evil, truth versus lies,” she continued. “When we have a political party who encourages children to question their God-given gender, and to take toxic hormones, and to promote surgical mutilation—that is evil. When you have a political party that has such a zeal for abortion and promoting abortion all the way up to birth, but then to sign laws that will not protect a child who survives a botched abortion—that is evil. When we have an open border that encourages human trafficking and putting migrants and even our citizens at risk—that is evil.”

Acknowledging that 40 million self-described evangelical Christians fail to vote in a typical presidential election, Mike Huckabee, a former Baptist pastor who served as governor of Arkansas for nine years, exhorted Christians to fulfill their civic and Biblical responsibility to vote. “If half of those people who sit in church … would pray, stand, and vote, we would change every election in this country from the school board all the way to the White House,” Huckabee said.

“What we’re facing today is not the traditional historical political spectrum that is horizontal: Left versus Right, liberal versus conservative, Democrat versus Republican,” said the former presidential candidate who now hosts a weekly TV show on TBN. “Our issues today are vertical: Heaven and Hell, righteous and unrighteous, good and evil. And we have to understand that the battle is spiritual. The consequences will be political, but the underpinning is spiritual.”

Gary Hamrick, senior pastor of Cornerstone Chapel in Leesburg, Virginia, emphasized God’s calling in 2 Corinthians 5:20 to be His ambassadors. “An ambassador is one who represents another official or dignitary. Our dignitary that we are representing is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and He calls us to represent Him in every facet and aspect of life.”

Hamrick defined “political engagement” as “advocating for policies that promote righteousness, voting for candidates that most closely align with our Biblical values and worldview, praying for our elected leaders and holding them accountable, and yes, even running for office if God calls you to run for elected office.”

Hamrick said that although politics seems like a dirty word to some Christians, “politics shape policies and policies shape a nation.”

“Christians can influence the politics that shape the policies that shape the nation,” Hamrick added. “Because we understand Psalm 33:12: ‘Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.’ That’s what we want.”

As ambassadors of Christ, Hamrick said, Christians can help stem the rising tide of evil through their political engagement. “We have to get over the personality contest,” he said. “This is about what policies will be advanced through this particular individual that will most closely reflect my Biblical values and worldview.”

Lynch pointed out that Americans have gone from debating gay marriage to debating sex change procedures for minors. “Satan is never satisfied,” she said. “He’s always coming for more.”

“In politics, Democrats have their truth and even Republicans have their truth,” she said. “But we know Jesus says, ‘I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, and no one comes to the Father but through Me.’ No matter who runs this country, God still sits on His throne.”

Photo: Courtesy of Family Research Council / Sean McDow