Hello and good afternoon. With Neil on LSL I’m bringing a pastors update today, and with the Federal election on Saturday week, I thought it’d be helpful to comment on that.
What should we be thinking and praying about? Who should we be voting for as Christians? How should we be responding to God in the uncertainty? I want to touch briefly on these questions.
Differences in our thinking
I understand there will be a big range of opinions in our congregation about our present Australian government and Prime Minister, a diverse range of opinions about whether it’s best for the Liberal-National Party to stay in power, for Albanese and the Labor Party to take their place, or whether a minor party would do a better job. Or maybe you’re indifferent and don’t care at all, or are feeling cynical and that your vote is useless – if that’s you, I commend to you at the document link in the transcript, prepared by the Church and Nation Committee of the Presbyterian Church of Victoria, which explains the process and helps us to know how to make our vote be most effective
(https://www.dropbox.com/s/xpktknsxah9bbq7/2022%20Federal%20Election%20Update.pdf?dl=0).
I understand that we have varied political issues at the top of our priority list, which will influence our vote. I understand that some are feeling anxious about what will happen if the Liberal’s stay in government, or if Labor wins the election. The change and the uncertainty about the future can raise anxieties in many. So it is important at this time, and in the days and weeks ahead, to be clear on what God does and doesn’t say. But one thing we can be certain of, is that we don’t have to be anxious. The Lord is sovereign. He’s in charge of the rise and fall of governments, he cares for us, and promises to work all things for our good. So pray and trust him. God says ‘Be still and know that I am God’ (Ps 46.10). I recommend reading Akos Balogh’s 13 thoughts on politics (again the link is in the transcript - www.akosbalogh.com/blog/14-brief-thoughts-on-politics-for-australian-christians-to-help-avoid-cynicism)
One thing we can be certain of, is that we don’t have to be anxious. The Lord is sovereign. He’s in charge of the rise and fall of governments, he cares for us, and promises to work all things for our good
Even where we differ from one another politically, don’t let it be something that divides us as a church, or causes divisions between you and your brothers and sisters. The growth group I co-lead was looking at Galatians 3 and 4 recently. There we’re taught in Gal 3.28, ‘There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.'
Even where we differ from one another politically, don’t let it be something that divides us as a church, or causes divisions between you and your brothers and sisters.
Whatever differences we have between us, we are all one in Christ. Why? Because v26 says, in Christ Jesus we are all children of God through faith. Our faith and trust in Jesus Christ has meant that we’ve become children of God. Chapter 4 goes onto explain that this happened because Jesus redeemed us and enabled us to be adopted as sons (that includes the daughters too). And because we’re all sons of God, we have the Spirit, who enables us to know and call out to God as ‘Abba’ Father’. We are all adopted children of God, we all have the one Father, have the one Spirit dwelling in our hearts, and are heading to a heavenly inheritance together. So even in the midst of serious political differences, let’s keep focused on the Gospel, and remember who we are in Christ, and treat one another accordingly.----
Pray for our government
And God wants us to be praying, individually and together, for those who rule over us. 1 Timothy 2 begins with these words:
I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— 2 for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all people.
From this passage it’s clear that God wants us to be praying for the salvation of all people, including our Parliamentarians and government leaders who rule over us.
It’s clear that we should pray that they will rule in such a way that enables we Christians to ‘live peace and quiet lives’ which are focused on ‘godliness and holiness’. I encourage you, if it’s not already, to make that a regular prayer point in your life, even each week.
And flowing on from that teaching, an outworking of it is, that it means religious freedom is an important thing and blessing from God. No doubt the Lord is sovereign over all events and all history, and the Lord can, and has (and we trust will) grow his church in times of persecution and suffering. But Scripture also says it’s good to be able to live a peaceful and quiet life, so we’re not having to run for our lives, or scrounge for food (as the suffering people of eastern Ukraine are). Rather we can keep focused on living lives that please God and sharing the Gospel to make disciples of the Lord Jesus. So do consider which government or party might allow greater religious freedom.
The difficulty of the decision
There are so many issues that are important and varying issues will matter more to each of us, and influence our vote – matters like the economy, the environment, costs of living pressures, health care, refugees, abortion, euthanasia, people’s rights and freedoms, and more. As Christians all of these are important issues which the Bible speaks to. For me the matters of life and death (for example, a political party’s position on abortion), and a party’s policy and previous track record of caring for the poor and the vulnerable, are among the extremely important (because they’re important to God too). I personally have found the Christian Values check-list at Christianvalues.org.au helpful and informative, even when I don’t agree with everything they say (https://christianvalues.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/acvi_checklist_2022_Fed_PDF_e2.pdf)
The difficulty is, no political party is or will be perfect. No party has policies that perfectly align to the things that I am convicted matter most. So instead of trying to find and vote for the perfect (even “God-approved”) party, and instead of feeling it’s hopeless, not caring, or not bothering to vote, let’s prayerfully consider who we should vote for. I’m not going to tell you who to vote for (nor is it right for me to do so), but I do ask you to pray about it, think about it, look into the party’s policies, and vote for a party which you believe will do the most good, promote justice, and enable us who’ve been saved by Christ, to keep on with living lives that please him.
The difficulty is, no political party is or will be perfect. No party has policies that perfectly align to the things that I am convicted matter most. So instead of trying to find and vote for the perfect (even “God-approved”) party, and instead of feeling it’s hopeless, not caring, or not bothering to vote, let’s prayerfully consider who we should vote for.
Thank you
