Election season is well and truly upon us! So it is with some degree of trepidation that I gingerly dip my toe in the water and hope to offer some pointers on how to think about elections as followers of Jesus.
Here are some brief thoughts:
1. Do vote - it’s an act of love! God has blessed us with a nation that allows us to exercise the right to vote (to have a say in who will govern us). It is a loving act to exercise that right (mindful of those around the world who don't enjoy this privilege) and to do it for the sake of others, especially those in our society who don't get a vote or are often overlooked by those in leadership.
2. Don’t vote for your own interests but for the good of all. We ought not just vote for the party that will be most personally beneficial for us as individuals, nor even the one which will be best for Christians. We’re not just another special interest group but instead we seek the interests of others not ourselves (Philippians 2:4).
3. Christian faith must not be disengaged from politics OR domesticated by politics. Disengaging our faith from politics says that following Jesus doesn’t affect all of life. When we cast our vote, we do it as a follower of Jesus not as some sort of areligious citizen. Domestication our faith is where we bring it under a particular party or an ideology or even a single social issue. Our loyalty to Jesus, living his way and seeking to love others out to trump any party or idealogical loyalty. To disengage from politics or to domesticate our faith to politics is to deny Jesus’ lordship in different ways.
4. Followers of Jesus ought to agree on the goal of politics (honouring God, loving your neighbour, the ability to live our our faith free from persecution - in particular the ability to share the good news of Jesus) and it’s ok to disagree on the means (the best strategy is a wisdom issue, not a right/wrong issue). When we disagree let’s make space for each other in church (Romans 14).
If you want to read some more on voting as a follower of Jesus, John Dickson (an Australian author, historian and evangelist) has this helpful post.
Let’s be earnest in prayer for this election and for the leaders that God places over us.
Grace & peace,
Andrew
eNews - 6th October 2023