This month there will be two competitions: the General Election and the football European Championships – I'll leave you to decide which is the more important! One thing both competitions have in common is that the majority of people will be disappointed with the result. Obviously only one country's team can win the Euros, leading to heartbreak for the other finalist, and the other teams who don't even get that far. However it's easy to forget this truth with the General Election because we live in a democracy and so assume that the outcome of the election is the 'will of the people.' So it comes as a bit of a shock to realise that since the end of WWII no party has won the General Election with over 50% of the vote (and of course not everyone who's eligible to vote does vote). So although the question of who we vote for is really important, we might also want to ask ourselves how we will respond when statistically we are more likely to be disappointed with the result.
Christianity, unlike Islam and pre-exilic Judaism, has no codes for government as it is not meant to be a 'state religion': Jesus calls his followers into the Kingdom of God, which he says “is not of this world” (John 18:36). The New Testament gives no guidance on what a Christian government would look like, what laws it should enact, nor by what mechanism that government should get its power. Nor does it tell us, if we have a say in choosing the government, what questions or issues should take priority in our choice, nor what the character of those governing should be. However, it does tell us that we should pray for the coming of God's Kingdom where his will is done on earth (Matthew 6:9-10); and it does tell us the character traits of those who belong to the Kingdom (e.g. 1 Corinthians 13:1-7) and the sorts of values they should hold (e.g. Colossians 1:9-14.) But as it is very rare that candidates for election are members of God's Kingdom, and no political party fully reflects the values of the Kingdom - even if the candidate we vote for and their party wins, we are still likely to be disappointed!!
The realisation that we will be disappointed is a great corrective to the inflated sense of the importance of our own views that democracy gives us. We should always have freedom to hold and express our views, but we should also have the humility to listen to other people's views, being open to changing our minds and having the grace to let others change their minds too. Most importantly though we should read God's word in the Bible so that we are shaped by his thoughts and not “conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of [our] mind” (Romans 12:2) “then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming” (Ephesians 4:14).
The New Testament is also more concerned with our attitude towards those in power, however they got it. Paul and Peter tell us to submit to the governing authorities (Romans 13:1; 1 Peter 2:13), which is even more shocking since the Roman Emperor was the supreme governing authority, and Paul also calls us to pray for the authorities (1 Timothy 2:1-2). However, we shouldn't obey the authorities if they are telling us to do something that goes against God's commands (Acts 5:29). If Paul expects the churches to honour an Emperor who was clearly against God's Kingdom, “to slander no one [including the authorities], to be peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle toward everyone” (Titus 3:2), how much more should we honour all those who work in public office, regardless of whether we completely agree with them?
So let's not allow our inevitable disappointment (either with politics or football!) to express itself in cynicism, insults and derogatory comment, but instead let's pray for all in authority, that through them God's Kingdom may come and his will be done.
Left image by John Mounsey from Pixabay
Right image by Prawny from Pixabay
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