The Christian Influencer

In recent days there seems to be a heightened focus on the politics of this country. It may be the result of a change in the balance of power in Canberra and a knee jerk reaction to that change. However it seems that this is something that we as believers really should give reasoned thought to. I know that there are professing Christians currently in most parts of the political environment and most political parties. The limitation placed on these believers is that there is an expectation that they will follow the party line once a decision is made. Conscience votes are usually a rarity in the political chambers and often are only related to issues of limited impact. Much of the talk that I have been coming across is related to Christian Leadership of the country, as a sort of need to get Christian policies brought forward to defend areas of our life that are being allegedly attacked by the current politicians. But the thing that I am asking is this. What are the aspects of life that we should be concerned about as believers? I would like to suggest that there are two levels that we should consider this question. First level is the point that the majority of us realistically inhabit, that of consumers of the political machines output. Basically we have the power of the poll every few years and that is it most of us think. This is only true in an organizational sense. We also have two politicians who are meant to be representing us personally. If we want to extend that we have one member or the House and a team of people in the Senate who represent us by representing our State. These people know that they are there by our good graces and are available to us via the postal system. If we are concerned about some impending legislation we are entirely entitled to make our position known to our political servants. I am told that they take letters seriously when they are personal and polite. The next level is that of the political solution. The people who are prepared to take up the role of standing for Jesus as a politician. Politics from a Christian perspective is about making things better for those who are powerless or need to be protected from harm. This sort of servant politics seeks no acclamation and is not interested in self glorification. It is very much a voice crying in the wilderness situation because others in your particular party do not have the same perspective and will try to shout down the message of Christian influence presented in the party room. But the thing is that as more Christian members get elected and the whispers gain volume then we can start to see the impact of a band of brothers and sisters united in Christ. While all this has been interesting to see how it might pan out, we should also remain aware that the position we now find ourselves in is that God tells us to pray for our leaders. We are the ones who enabled the incumbent politicians to be elected so we need to ask that they will see the God Way in the decisions that they make about laws they are about to vote on. Father is our defence and He will call us into action individually. We need to submit to His will and do that which he asks us to do ... Pray for our leaders.