The evangelical election audit: What of conscience?

Another observation regarding evangelical engagement in this presidential election should be obvious:

Some of us have not respected the freedom of conscience of each other.

Before I explain that comment and by way of clarification, the differences among evangelical Christians I am addressing in this series of posts are not about whether to vote for Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump. Evangelicals have been strongly pro-life for nearly 40 years. Hillary Clinton's support for both unfettered abortion rights and government funding of abortion eliminates her from consideration by the overwhelming majority of true evangelicals.

Instead, the debate among evangelicals in this election focuses on Donald Trump -- whether to vote for him, to vote for a third-party or write-in candidate, or not to vote. Regrettably, conscience has been ignored, even trampled, by some of us.

The #NeverTrump band has not been totally free of such behavior, but it is Trump supporters who especially have been guilty of this in recent weeks and months. The criticism by some Trump-supporting evangelicals of their brothers and sisters who are not committed to voting for the Republican nominee has been disappointing, even disheartening. Some have descended to snark and name-calling.

We are not talking about disagreements between evangelical camps over such critical matters as abortion, marriage and religious liberty. The division is over a problematic candidate, not defining issues. Those who refuse to vote for the GOP candidate are not less committed to the pro-life, pro-marriage and pro-religious freedom causes. Instead, they believe their consciences will not permit them to vote for Trump. For this, they have been scolded by some fellow evangelicals, who have, in essence, called on these dissenters to violate their consciences. This falls short of biblical teaching and Christian love.

The apostle Paul addresses matters of conscience in his letters to the Romans and Corinthians. While he disagrees with some of his brothers and sisters, he doesn't seek to coerce them to violate their consciences. He doesn't criticize his fellow saints. He calls for love and understanding on both sides. The conscience of a Christian may change over time, but no Christ-follower should criticize another in the meantime or force him or her to make that change.

Paul writes, "But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God" (Rom. 14:10).

Loving persuasion is good; judgmental coercion is not. May we be faithful to Scripture and to our Master's command to love one another. Let us prize conscience but -- even more -- one another.