How influential could Christian voters be in the next election? Their participation could be significant if they are registered to vote and then go out and vote their values in an intelligent way. Recently, Gary Frazier and George Barna were on my radio program to talk about their work through the organization, United in Purpose.

Let’s look at Christian voter participation in 2012. There were 90 million born again Christians of voting age. About 77 million of them were registered to vote. And 51 million of them voted in that election.

That means there were 39 million eligible Christian voters who did not vote or were not registered to vote in 2012. The 39 million break down this way: 13 million were not registered and 26 million were registered but did not go to the polls.

Perhaps you can see the problem. When you have 39 million Christians who did not vote, it is like a high school football team where many of the players aren’t even wearing the uniform. And then there are others who are wearing the uniform but never get into the game.

In previous elections, United in Purpose has worked to identify Christians who did not vote but have biblical values. They understand that many Christians do not have a biblical worldview. Using massive databases that cross-reference, they are able to identify nonvoters with a pro-life, pro-family perspective and then encourage them to pledge to vote in the next election.

They are also encouraging pastors to address the moral and social issues of the day. Surveys of born again Christians show that members of their congregations want biblical instruction on contemporary issues, but pastors are often afraid or ill equipped to address those issues.

It will be interesting to watch how these various programs of voter registration, get out the vote, and pastor support affect the 2016 election. We should see greater impact on the nation and our culture because of Christian involvement.