UK Election: What Do We Christians Do?
By J. John
In my previous article I talked about the uneasy mood in Britain in the run-up to the General Election and made some general suggestions how we might respond. Here, let me focus specifically on the election itself. In advance I should say that if you are expecting me to tell you who to vote for then you will be disappointed.
My intention is to give you some basics for a decision, not to make it for you. So let me sketch out four guidelines for Christians that, while simple, are, I hope, wise.
First, we are to be a perceptive people who see.
Elections are a time when empty promises, naïve criticism and fantasy assurances proliferate like flies in a hot summer. As Christians, we mustn’t be so naïve as to take all political words at face value. The devil is a liar (John 8:44) and, be assured, he and his helpers will be working overtime for the next few weeks.
We need to look carefully behind the manicured presentations, the shiny leaflets and the edited graphs. We need to bear in mind the great New Testament wisdom on politics: that we live with two kingdoms, that of this world and that of the kingdom of God (Matthew 22:21, John 18:36, Romans 13:1-7).
At election times, it is the kingdom of this world – loud, visible and domineering – that seeks to preoccupy us, even offering us its own would-be messiahs. Yet, we must remind ourselves that, for all its extravagant claims, the kingdom of this world is flimsy, flawed and temporary. Behind it, and indeed underlying it (John 19:11), is the unshakeable and eternal authority of the kingdom of God. While we respect the kingdom of this world, we recognise its limits and are wary of its claims.
At election time we need to see through emotive appeals to nostalgia, self-interest and fear to the genuine issues that need addressing. We are those who, through our church communities, prayers and Bible reading, fix our eyes beyond the powers and authorities of this world on the coming kingdom of Christ in its endless glory.
Second, we are to be a principled people who stand.
One problem in the post-Christian culture of Britain is that the political arena is frequently a place where those who have no principles to guide them, appeal to those who have no principles to guard them. Christians need to take a stand here. The biblical view of human beings is a vital, double-edged analysis: we are noble because we are made in God’s image, but also flawed because we are fallen in sin. So, because men and women bear echoes of whom God is, politicians should seek to enable them to do what they see as good and best for them. Yet, because human beings are flawed by sin, politicians should do their best to protect people from the suffering and threats of this world, and sometimes from themselves.
We have been told that there are two great commandments: to love God with all our might and our neighbor as ourselves. We cannot insist on the first, but we should certainly appeal for the second. In doing so we should be those who seek the creation of bridges and ladders, not the construction of ditches. God’s people are to be those who can stand firm against the powerful, swirling torrents of political claims because we are firmly fixed on that unshakeable rock that is Christ.
Third, we are to be prophetic people who speak.
Amid the furore of elections it’s very tempting for God’s people to tiptoe quietly away to the nearest monastery or convent. The price for being isolated is to be ignored. Can I urge you thoughtfully, tactfully and gracefully to play your part? Be present at election hustings, ask difficult questions, condemn slander and challenge lies. Many of the issues that trouble us as Christians in Britain today have been promoted or legitimised, not by the wish of the majority, but by the efforts of energetic and noisy minorities. It’s no good complaining about the world that politics gives us if we have absented ourselves from it. We are to speak out boldly for Christ.
Finally, we are to be praying people who seek.
We should seek God in prayer that we, and the church, respond to this election in a way that honors him. We should pray for the success of those who seek God’s righteousness and pray – with grace – against those whose agenda is hostile to his values. And if I may speak as an evangelist, can we pray that this challenging time of choosing those who lead us would encourage many to think about the very foundations on which our country has been built?
There is a perilous belief that a tolerable political system can somehow exist in a religious or moral vacuum. It can’t. Democracy depends on the view that every individual – of whatever race, education or wealth – has worth, and the only firm basis for that view comes from the Bible. And it’s not a great step from realising that God’s word can give the foundations of a sound society to seeing it as trustable as the basis for our own lives. We need to pray that both good and the gospel triumph at this election.
You may be someone who dislikes politics and consider it too polluted and toxic an arena to touch. I sympathise. True, politics is not our ultimate hope; that, thankfully, is safely elsewhere. But as citizens of the kingdom of heaven I believe we have a responsibility for the kingdom of this world.
J.John is a contributing writer for Think Eternity News. He is an evangelist, minister, speaker, broadcaster and writer. He has been in ministry for four decades. He has spoken in towns, cities and universities in 69 countries.
J.John lives near London in England. He is married to Killy and is a father and grandfather.
For more info, go to J.John | Evangelist, Speaker & Author: Equip and Resource the Church (canonjjohn.com)