"A Voice of Experience" from one of our readers
Whatever things are true, whatever things are honourable, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are pleasant and whatever things earn a good report – think about these things. Philippians 4.
Tomorrow's General Election will be a tricky one for us Christians. The general public will probably do what it seems to have done most often in modern times – vote for change, without knowing precisely where change will lead them, either as individuals or as a society. Our British electorates do not major on reading party manifestos, probably because manifesto promises soon evaporate and can be taken largely with a pinch of salt. This probably explains why electoral turnouts have been steadily declining over recent years. The average turnout in the recent council elections just about managed to reach a third of all those eligible to vote, a depressing percentage that should give us all cause for thought.
For Christians the choice will be much more complicated than merely opting for change. St. Paul reminds us that we have a duty to pray for those in authority over us – and that presumably involves us in praying for the Lord’s guidance in the way we cast our votes through the democratic system in which we are lucky to find ourselves.
Now that society has largely turned its back upon God’s laws, we can hardly expect the political parties to offer us much hope. They will set their sights upon pandering to the majority, whose moral compass is now largely delineated, not by God’s Ten Commandments, but by the demands of their own desires, which hinge in the main around getting hold of lots of money and thereby being able to relax and enjoy an easy life. Neither of these aims accord with God’s intentions in the Old Testament, let alone in the New. Jesus tells us it is more blessed to give than to receive and St. Paul tells us to cultivate the great Christian virtues, which he itemises in great detail in Galatians 5. And of course, Jesus calls us to work while it is day because the night is coming when nobody is able to work. That may indeed apply principally to our need to roll up our sleeves in proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus’s amazing salvation, but it must surely also apply to how we conduct our normal secular working lives. Our daily work, whatever it may be, has dignity and value in itself and is meant both to bring glory to God and to benefit our neighbour.
Thus the time has come for us to forget the election publicity of the political parties and instead concentrate our minds and our voices on the actual opinions of the candidates standing in our own constituencies. How would they vote upon the relaxation of abortion laws and the decriminalisation of assisted suicide and the likely consequences of doing so? Would they wish to limit Christians’ ability to speak out honestly for the Lord and His truth, or would they want to restrict our freedom of speech to satisfy the rowdy voices who are doing their best to turn the message of the Gospel into “hate speech”?
In the conversations that will take place over the next few days, we need to be on the front foot, proclaiming the value of those Christian virtues that St. Paul urges us to demonstrate in his letter to the Galatians.
We need to make crystal clear to the succesful candidates and to the public at large that these virtues can only lead to a better and happier society for all. They should also be made aware that continuing in the same godless fashion as we are doing today will only lead to more family breakdowns, mental health problems, suicides, violence, poverty and all the other sad things we see happening on our screens every single day - problems that will take so much of our shrinking national income to try and solve that we will soon find ourselves in complete bankruptcy and economic collapse.
There is, however, a paradox here which perplexes many. Jesus Christ Himself, as well as some of the Old Testament prophets like Daniel, and the writer of the Revelation to St. John the Divine forecast that the end times, leading up to the triumphal return of our Saviour, will become increasingly terrifying for the human race. Wars, famine, crime and natural disasters will steadily increase, culminating in one final effort to exterminate Christians altogether. These prophecies may be very rarely mentioned in sermons these days, but, like all of God’s word, they are nonetheless entirely true.
So how should we react at General Election time, knowing as we do, that all these calamities will inevitably happen in due course and that however we vote and whatever government we get, the time of Jesus’s return is drawing closer and will be preceded by one disaster after another? We simply go on obeying the Lord’s parting command as recorded in St. Matthew’s Gospel chapter 24: “Go and make disciples in every nation, baptising them in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you – and remember – I am with you till the end of the age.”
Although we may indeed be moving towards the end of the age, the Father alone will decide all its finer details. Because the time is getting shorter, the need for us to take the Gospel out to the unbelieving world is all the more urgent. As we remind ourselves each year at Harvest time, the Lord wishes to see all His people safely gathered in “ere the winter storms begin”.
A vital part of our Christian witness is to cultivate the Christian virtues and follow the Christian life ourselves. This will undoubtedly commend the Christian faith we espouse to our friends and neighbours. We will therefore vote for the candidate who most nearly supports this Christian way of life and will vote in Parliament to maintain it. By putting the cross on our ballot paper conscientiously in this fashion we actually provide part of the answer to the prayer for the government and those in authority that St. Paul urges us to make. We also thereby obey the words of the Lord’s Prayer, where Jesus tells us to ask - and work - for the coming of His Kingdom and the performance of His will “here on earth, as it is in heaven.”
Lord, give us wisdom in deciding where to place our cross on polling day!
Anglican Futures provides insight and support for faithful Anglicans.
Please consider making a donation to help us meet our costs
as we head to General Synod.
Thank you - although I read this a day late I needed this encouragement. Let's pray for Christians in politics, its going to get considerably harder in the next few years