Live
as children of the light (for the fruit of the light consists of all goodness,
righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Ephesians 5:
8 – 10
On the eve of what we are promised will be the closest General Election result in years, I woke with the song I’d like to
teach the world to sing on my mind. I have had this experience before when
I awake with a random song going round my head. It usually means God wants to
draw my attention to something.
I duly
looked up the song on YouTube and was reminded it was by the New Seekers from
1972. I can only say I was shocked by the naivety and innocence of the song and
singers. I was then even more shocked by my cynical reaction to it. I thought that if this was
shown on any media other than an historical / retro / do you remember? item it
would be laughed off the screen.
Cynicism
is most definitely not a fruit of the Holy Spirit nor is its mate scepticism yet these
attitudes are so prevalent in society, especially British society, today. Cynicism is ‘an inclination to question whether something will happen or whether it is worthwhile.’ Scepticism doubts the truth of something. Nowhere is this more prevalent than with attitudes to politics and politicians.
Cynicism and scepticism say there is no point in voting; all politicians are untrustworthy and only in it for themselves. This is first of all unfair to many hard working men and women and secondly, washing our hands of the political system is a huge abdication of responsibility.
As Christians we need to be doing all we can to influence that system and make our voice heard in Westminster. That starts with voting. We need to vote into parliament men and women of integrity who will be doing God's will in this nation, even if they do not realise it. I am not sure Cyrus, king of the Persians, realised he was God's anointed but he certainly did God's will in expediting the Jews return from exile (Isaiah 45:1).
Prayer, letter writing, lobbying, marching or even standing for local or national elections are all vital roles for the Christian today. However, on the eve of the election, our most important role today is not to let cynicism and scepticism of the political system silence us but to get out and vote. Authorities are placed over us by God himself (Romans 13: 1) but we can and should have a say in who they are.
Our vote may seem small and insignificant but it does count. It may make all the difference.
Cynicism and scepticism say there is no point in voting; all politicians are untrustworthy and only in it for themselves. This is first of all unfair to many hard working men and women and secondly, washing our hands of the political system is a huge abdication of responsibility.
As Christians we need to be doing all we can to influence that system and make our voice heard in Westminster. That starts with voting. We need to vote into parliament men and women of integrity who will be doing God's will in this nation, even if they do not realise it. I am not sure Cyrus, king of the Persians, realised he was God's anointed but he certainly did God's will in expediting the Jews return from exile (Isaiah 45:1).
Prayer, letter writing, lobbying, marching or even standing for local or national elections are all vital roles for the Christian today. However, on the eve of the election, our most important role today is not to let cynicism and scepticism of the political system silence us but to get out and vote. Authorities are placed over us by God himself (Romans 13: 1) but we can and should have a say in who they are.
Our vote may seem small and insignificant but it does count. It may make all the difference.
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