When I was asked by a group of Virginia pastors whether I’d be one of the initial signatories on an open letter urging my fellow Virginians to reject Amendments 1 and 2 on the ballot this election cycle, I didn’t need long to think about it. I said yes, and I’d say it again.

By God’s grace, there are now over 400 signatories to the Open Letter.

Some pastors may decide not to sign. They may worry that saying something this specific, this close to an election, will cost them a hearing. They’d rather be liked. I understand the temptation.

But I don’t think Scripture gives pastors the option of staying quiet when our state is being asked to write the killing of children and the redefinition of marriage into its founding document. Silence at a moment like this isn’t neutrality. It’s a vote for the other side.

Here’s why I signed the open letter denouncing these evil ballot initiatives and why I hope every faithful pastor and Christian in Virginia will vote against them next week on November 3, 2026.

What Virginians Are Being Asked to Do

Early voting is already underway, and on November 3 every Virginia voter will be handed two questions that would permanently change the Constitution of Virginia.

Question 1 would add a new section to our Bill of Rights declaring that “every individual has the fundamental right to reproductive freedom,” explicitly including “abortion care.” Under its terms, the state could prohibit abortion only in the third trimester, and even then with exceptions for the mother’s health or a pregnancy that “cannot survive.” That is not a modest safeguard. It is abortion enshrined as a fundamental right in the same document that protects our freedom of speech and religion.

Question 2 would strike the marriage amendment Virginians adopted in 2006 and replace it with language requiring the state to license and “treat equally” any marriage between “two adult persons,” regardless of sex. In 2006, 57 percent of Virginia voters, more than 1.3 million people, affirmed that marriage is “only a union between one man and one woman.” Twenty years later, we’re being asked to write the opposite into the Constitution.

These amendments didn’t fall from the sky. Politics happens slowly. One election begets another, and a culture that once knew what a mother, a baby, a husband, and a wife were is now being asked to forget. These amendments are on the ballot because Democrats gained control of Virginia; elections have consequences. That happened while too many Christians stayed quiet because we’d rather be liked than have an argument to conserve God’s created order.

Jesus Is Lord of the Commonwealth, Too

The first reason I signed, and why I am calling on all Virginians to reject these changes, is that Jesus Christ is not only Lord of the church. He is Lord of Virginia.

Paul doesn’t leave any room on this. “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him” (Colossians 1:16). Thrones, dominions, rulers, authorities: that’s the General Assembly, the Governor’s Mansion, and the Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors where I live. Jesus made it all, so Jesus claims it all.

Too many Christians start their political thinking with their duty to submit to whoever is in charge. The Bible starts on the other end: with the ruler’s duty to God. Romans 13 says “there is no authority except from God.” That means every governing authority in Virginia answers to someone. Psalm 2 tells the kings of the earth to “serve the LORD with fear” and “kiss the Son.” When rulers write law that defies their Maker, somebody has to say so. That job belongs to the church of Jesus Christ. There is no one else to represent Him.

We’re also blessed to live in a representative republic. On this question, we don’t just obey the law; we help write it. A Christian who opts out of that responsibility isn’t staying above politics. He’s handing his vote to whoever shows up.

One Truth, Good for Everyone

The second reason is that God’s truth isn’t a private preference for Christians. It’s the way the world actually is.

Romans 1:20 tells us that God’s “eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.” People don’t have to be taught that a baby in the womb is a baby, or that a man and a woman are different. They have to be taught to suppress it. That’s exactly what these amendments ask Virginians to do.

From the first page of Scripture, God tells us what a human being is: “God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27). Life is sacred because it bears His image. Marriage is the union of one man and one woman because He made it that way in Eden. And because the God who made the world loves the people in it, living by His design is good for everyone, believer and unbeliever alike. “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people” (Proverbs 14:34).

So, when I say these amendments are evil, I don’t say it to win an argument. Isaiah warned, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil” (Isaiah 5:20). Calling the killing of a child “healthcare” and calling a counterfeit “marriage” is exactly that. Public policy that defies God’s design hurts real people: children who are never born, and children who grow up without a mother or a father by design. Opposing it is how we love our neighbors.

Restrain Evil with One Hand, Evangelize with the Other

The third reason is the one I most want my fellow conservatives to hear. I signed because I want the people pushing these amendments to repent and trust Christ.

There is such a thing as Christless conservatism. It can be right about marriage and dead about God at the same time. A movement like that holds its shape for about a generation, then drifts, because nothing is anchoring it.

The letter I signed doesn’t make that mistake, and it’s one of the reasons I was glad to put my name on it. It tells those who support these amendments, “we disagree with you for your good.” It “repudiate[s] hateful and harassing behavior.” It points every reader to the cross, quotes John 3:16, and invites them to read the Gospel of John and visit one of our churches on a Sunday morning.

That’s the right posture. When Nicodemus, a ruler on the Sanhedrin, came to Jesus at night, Jesus didn’t start with his policy positions. He said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). A ballot measure can restrain an outcome, but it can’t reach the heart that produced it. Only the gospel reaches that far.

So we restrain evil with one hand and evangelize the evildoer with the other, and we never put down either hand. The moment you stop wanting your political opponents to come to Christ, you’ve stopped doing Christian politics. And the moment you stop caring what the law does to children and families, you’ve stopped loving your neighbor.

Pastor, Add Your Name. Christians, Prepare to Vote

If you pastor a church in Virginia, I’d urge you to do three things before November 3.

1. Sign the letter. It’s open to Virginia pastors who affirm the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the five solas of the Reformation, at virginiapastors.org. Baptists, Presbyterians, and independents have already signed.
2. Preach the whole counsel of God. Your people need to hear what the Bible says about life, marriage, and the authority of civil government from you, not from their news feed. It is not sola gospel. It is sola Scriptura.
3. Pray for revival. Real change in the culture starts in the church. “If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).

The question in front of the church isn’t whether we’re political. We are, whether we mean to be or not. The question is whether we’re faithful. Opting out is still a vote. It’s just a foolish one.

And if you’re a regular faithful Christian in Virginia, you need make sure you have a plan to get to the polls and vote no on Amendments 1 and 2.

Life and death are literally on the ballot. Will you do your duty, before God, and stand for life and marriage in our Commonwealth? I pray we all make the right choice next week.

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An Open Letter from Virginia Pastors to the Commonwealth

Dear Virginia,

We write to you with prayer and concern for the ongoing vote (Sept 18–Nov 3) on the abortion and marriage amendments to the Virginia Constitution. We believe these two amendments must be rejected for the Commonwealth of Virginia because they will harm our state as they are opposed to human flourishing and contrary to the Word of God.

As citizens of Virginia, we are under moral obligation to vote for the good of our Commonwealth. Truly, this is what commonwealth means, for we are bound together here for one another’s common good. Let us seek one another’s true good and not mark our identity with the deprivations that these amendments would bring to the Constitution of Virginia.

Reject Amendment 1 because it will bring about more destruction of human life in the womb.

All human life is sacred and created by God in His image. We see this in the beginning in Genesis 1:27, “God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” Human life is of inestimable worth in all its dimensions, including pre-born babies, the aged, the physically or mentally challenged, and every other stage or condition from conception through natural death. We are therefore called to defend, protect, and value all human life. Our children’s fundamental right to live should be protected, and all children, born and pre-born should be loved and cherished.

Abortion is the killing of a pre-born child in the womb. It is moral distortion to present this violation of the sixth commandment as a moral good or as a fundamental right, and it is deceptive framing to present abortion’s destruction of life as healthcare. Mothers should not destroy the life in their wombs, and medical professionals should care for every human life, especially the lives of the most vulnerable. Human life must not be defined, devalued, or destroyed because of size, level of development, environment, or degree of dependency.

To the mother considering abortion, we implore you, let your baby live. Love and sacrifice for one’s child is part of the essential beauty of motherhood. The fundamental right of pre-born children to be born, to live, and to breathe is an inalienable right that must not be taken away nor usurped by the horrific idea that a parent has the right to take the life of a child. There is never a parental right to take the life of a child. No society should deny this fundamental right to its most vulnerable members. We must not dehumanize an entire class of the most vulnerable persons and enshrine a “right” to destroy innocent life in the Virginia Constitution. It is essential that we vote no and reject Amendment 1.

Reject Amendment 2 because it discards the truth of marriage and gender.

We believe that God wonderfully and immutably creates each person as male or female. These two, distinct, complementary genders together reflect the image and nature of God. Gender is determined by God, and it is one and the same with one’s biological sex (male or female), being irrevocably tied to human biology. As Creator, God alone determines the gender of each person and gives definition to all of his creatures. Rejection of one’s God-given gender is to rebel against God’s good design and is a futile attempt to usurp the authority of God.

The term “marriage” has only one meaning: the uniting of one man and one woman into a single, exclusive union, as delineated in Scripture. God created the institution of marriage in Eden, and he is the one who joins husband and wife together. Marriage is created to point us to Christ and the church. When Jesus taught on God’s design for marriage, he declared, “What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate” (Matthew 19:6). It is likewise true to say what God has defined, let not man seek to redefine.

We live in a world created by God. The institution of marriage is part of the bedrock of human civilization. It is presumptuous to imagine it can be redefined, and it is modern arrogance to believe this generation knows better than all past generations. Similarly, every human is immutably male or female, and this self-evident truth is likewise embedded in our DNA. Denying reality only brings a ripple effect of harm to society that is acutely felt by individuals, families, schools, and sports teams. Ontology is not rooted in self, but in an objective reality that is immutably created by God. It is self-deceptive to imagine that one can redefine the institution of marriage or remake oneself in regard to gender. Let us not discard these fundamental truths of creation. Instead, we urge all Virginia voters to vote no and reject Amendment 2.

May Virginia be for love and truth.

If you support these amendments, know that we disagree with you for your good, and for the good of Virginia. The truth about life in the womb and the truth about marriage and gender does not originate within us, but it comes to us from God. Love will communicate truth and speak for the good of others, and it does not go silent when the need is great. We are to love with truth, for love without truth is not love at all. Truth exists outside of the individual, and we can only love one another when we serve the truth.

And as we hold the truth, we also affirm that every person should be afforded love, kindness, respect, dignity, and compassion. Jesus has taught us to “love our neighbor” (Mark 12:31) and so we repudiate hateful and harassing behavior or attitudes directed toward any individual, for this is contrary to Scripture and the doctrines of the church.

We write this letter for your good and with love for the Commonwealth of Virginia. And as we say this, we recognize that none of us are truly good, and this calls for humility. We are all guilty of sin, and we have no hope in our own merit, but only in the grace of God as seen in Christ’s cross and resurrection. There is redemption and restoration to all who confess and forsake their sin, seeking God’s mercy and forgiveness through Jesus Christ. Christ’s death for our sins and his resurrection from the grave is the hope of the world. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

We invite you to seek to know the Lord, to turn from your sin, and to set your hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. If you don’t have a Bible, we encourage you to pick one up and read the Gospel of John. If you don’t go to church, we invite to you begin, and to visit one of the churches listed below on a Sunday morning as we gather to worship our Lord.

Let us pray for and seek the good of Virginia together, and let us vote no on Amendments 1 and 2.

May God give grace to the Commonwealth.