…Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom
for such a time
as this.
The one issue every political candidate is most concerned about is winning their seat. They are naturally motivated to do what will get them the best chance of election and then re-election. Our silent approval doesn’t motivate them. Our loyal support doesn’t help them do what is right, but our conditional support does.
What Do You Pray For?
Election day is always a Saturday, and so the day after is always a Sunday. Many Christians around Australia pray for the election the day after, and so we should with so many neighbours potentially affected by the results.
But what about the day the before?
At the 2016 federal election my thirteen year old daughter, short, shy and obviously not able to vote, helped me hand out “how to vote” cards for the local candidate we thought best represented traditional, Australian, Judeo-Christian values – especially life and marriage.
I noticed how many other people were there with a conviction in their beliefs and values that prompted action. There were heaps of people who believed saving trees was critical to Australian society and future generations. There were heaps more people who believed being paid double on weekends was the most important justice issue facing our nation. But where were the crowds of people who the next day would raise their hand in church to ask God to help with the election outcome?
They were mowing their lawns.
24 million neighbours
Jesus taught that the second greatest commandment was to love our neighbour. When asked who exactly that was, He illustrated with the parable of The Good Samaritan. In brief, a citizen gets assaulted and robbed as he travels along the road, and the “religious” folks who saw him naked, wounded and half dead steered clear. They were too busy. But someone this citizen normally would’ve despised was the only one to step in and practically help. [1]
And that practical help for a total stranger was Jesus’ point. No matter what valid reasons we’ve got for being “busy”, Jesus’ challenge to people who want to love God and their neighbours and so fulfill the law is to insert ourselves practically into the solutions they need. We should never be too busy to invest our time, effort and resources, and take a long term interest.
Practical solutions you can be part of
There’s no easier opportunity to practically help 24 million neighbours at once than with politics. On average we only have one election a year. So that’s generally only one day a year we need to be so inconvenienced to find a few hours to practically insert ourselves into the solution for helping lots of total strangers.
What if the day after the next federal election, everybody who would then pray for God to help the nation elect wise and just people to govern us had also volunteered the day before to practically help the best candidate in their electorate do just that?
What if every church-going Christian, also once a year, wrote a letter on paper to every candidate in their electorate asking how they would vote on “deal-breaker” issues in order to win their vote? This may be just 3 or 4 similar letters per person, but are such a rarity in this digital, disengaged era that they are each notable and worth a thousand emails in influence.
This could not not change Australia for the better. This would give good men (& women) courage to fight for justice and Truth. This would practically bless and prosper 24 million neighbours.
“Yet who knows whether you have come to the Kingdom for such a time as this?”
So here’s the invitation and the challenge.
BE the good neighbour, even if probably despised by those we’re trying to love. Practically insert yourself into the solution for 24 million neighbours by pledging to at least write a few letters and spare a few hours to fight for the kind of government you’ll pray for the day after the election.
Join the ranks of believers like yourself who are no longer content to sit silently on the sidelines, leaving Australian society and future generations to people who don’t have the Word of God as their moral compass. It’s this easy:
ONE – Add your name to the list on this page, and include your contact and address details. (Each family member should add their own details please.)
TWO – When an election’s called, I’ll help you write a letter to your candidates asking them where they stand and, more importantly, how they would personally vote on “deal breaker” issues.
THREE – You choose for yourself which candidate best represents your values as you represent Jesus Christ – no matter which party they’re from or how you normally vote, and contact them to volunteer to help them for a few hours on election day (or at pre-polling).
We can do this. We must do this. Our neighbours are depending on us.
We’ll let everyone in each electorate know how each candidate responded, and this will help others in your electorate to also choose wise and just representatives.
Enlist today!
“After him Benjamin and Hasshub made repairs opposite their house. After them Azariah the son of Maaseiah, the son of Ananiah, made repairs by his house.” – Nehemiah 3:23
