As the Election Day countdown begins, theologian John Piper has issued a stunning message to Christians: You are not biblically required to vote.
In a message delivered at Bethel College and Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota Wednesday, the Desiring God founder lamented the "flagrant wickedness of both party candidates" and said followers of Jesus Christ must first show their allegiance to another world.
"The right to vote in America...is not a binding duty for Christians in every election without regard to other factors," he said. "[God's] children are free! Free from human institutions. As citizens of heaven, we are not bound in every situation to participate in the processes of human government. We are not bound! This is not our homeland! We vote - if we vote - because the Lord of our homeland commissions us to vote, and he does not absolutize this act above all other considerations of Christian witness!" Piper said.
The pastor went on to say that he will vote on November 8th - but not for either major party candidate "unless a supernatural intervention of cataclysmic intervention happens...with profound transformation."
Piper earlier voiced his disgust over the current presidential election and called on both Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and Republican nominee Donald Trump should step down from their respective campaigns.
ABC News points out that evangelical voters have been "reliable Republican voters for decades," but many feel they are at an impasse this election due to the moral failings of both major party candidates.
Nevertheless, other evangelical leaders, while acknowledging neither major party candidate is a good option, have underscored the importance of voting this Tuesday, pointing to a pressing need to prevent Clinton from winning the presidency, reshaping the Supreme Court and implementing liberal policies regarding abortion and other issues.
"There are so many Christians who said to me, 'I'm not going to vote, I don't want to vote for either candidate for president,'" speaker and author John Bevere told The Gospel Herald. "My response is, 'If you don't vote, then you give your voice up and give it to someone who doesn't know God who may elect the worse of two evils.'"
He continued: "And so here's the thing I would say to every Christian: You may not like either candidate, but you're responsible to pick the better of the two that will lead our nation into a place that the church can continue to do its work of building the kingdom. On a national level, on a state level, and on a local level, all we have to do is pick out the candidate that is the better of the two - not the candidate we wanted to be in there."
The pastor concluded: "Every one of us has a responsibility as a citizen of the US to vote and be a voice for who we think is the best candidate to lead our nation. That is something that has been given to us as a gift from our forefathers who loved and feared God. We have a responsibility to pray and to vote."
