Considering the current chaotic political environment, how do Christians decide who to
vote for? It’s not as simple as voting for the candidate who wraps themselves in scriptures
and shows up at the most churches. Nor is it as simple as judging an authentic Christian on
whether they vote on issues like abortion, same sex marriage or support for Israel. One way to
determine who to vote for is to look at the truth of Matthew 7:17-20 which says, “You will
know them by their fruits…Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad
fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does
not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know
them.” In other words, we must become fruit inspectors.

Think about the fruit of the seeds planted recently by politicians: Racial strife, economic
uncertainty, and bigoted culture wars. Some could argue that the recent chaos is a result of
the Republicans 8-year strategy of negative rhetoric and obstruction against the Obama
Presidency. Republicans are now faced with a very unpopular Presidential candidate who lies
repeatedly, bullies relentlessly and whines about being mistreated all while promoting racial
division and violence. The truly sad part is that he maintains record high support among white
evangelicals. The bizarre thing is that the worse his behavior becomes, the stronger their
support becomes.


It saddens me that Christianity has been hijacked and as a result, is perceived as a
religion that ridicules and not reconciles. Instead of showing love and compassion, those who
need grace the most (children locked in cages after being separated from their parents or
victims of police violence) are treated with cruel disdain and bigoted judgement. It seems the
words of 1 Corinthians 5:18-19 have been forgotten: “All this is from God, who reconciled us
to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling
the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to
us the message of reconciliation….”

The growing public backlash against the negativity of the Republican Presidential candidate indicates that the fruit of this behavior is not a unified country. The most recent reports of violent campaign rallies, bullying behavior, and racist language have led to a loss of support of Republicans among likely voters. This makes me wonder if these shocking behaviors being brought up are really a “fake news” or merely an example of harvesting bad fruit.

Christians should not vote based on an outward display of religiosity or promises of a renewal of moral values. Instead, we should vote for those who pass the “fruit inspection.”
Before we vote, we should ask which candidates best exemplify the words of Galatians 5:22:
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
meekness, temperance.” Then we should pray!

Shewanda Riley is a Fort Worth-based author of “Love Hangover: Moving From Pain to
Purpose After a Relationship Ends” and “Writing to the Beat of God’s Heart: A Book of
Prayers for Writers.” Email her at preservedbypurpose@gmail.com or follow her on Twitter
@shewanda.