In the heat of a recent election, I reached the point of no return with Christian nationalists. You know the type – those that believe America The Beautiful is a worship song, they worship more during the Star-Spangled Banner than What A Beautiful Name, their president is their savior, and the “land they love” is their kingdom.

To be clear, I believe in and vote for Biblical values, but there is a line between Christian morality and political idolatry, and the line had been crossed for me. After letting a couple of people have it (one told me I was a "liberal" because I wore a mask, and the other told me they’d never set foot in our church again if I didn’t tell the college kids to vote for a particular candidate), I asked this question, “What is most important?” Is the most important thing that America is governed by the GOP, or that Jesus Christ died, was buried and rose from the dead to save us, reconcile us to God, and give us new life despite what we may have to endure here on earth?

As I said, I’m what most would classify as a “conservative.” But we’ve reached a point in the political climate of the country where Christians need to be asking a different question. That question isn’t, “Who are you voting for?” It’s, “What’s most important?”

Paul drives this home in 1 Corinthians 15:3-10 with Paul beginning by declaring the supreme importance of his coming statement and ending with his complete dependence and allegiance to the truth that Jesus died, was buried, and rose again. One of my favorite theologians, John Stot, calls this the Jesus Creed. He says this passage, “Is the clearest alignment for the Christian of what must be of most importance in their life.”

Love it. Listen, I’m going to vote for the candidate that most fulfills the Biblical values I hold dear, but at the end of the day, if they don’t win, I’m not going to be declaring the end of the world. Far from it. I’ll be declaring the most important thing and continue living in a way that brings Paul’s declaration to life in my everyday life. In this world, we may have trouble, but take heart, Jesus has conquered the world. (John 16:33)