With only days to go to the General Election many Christians are still undecided voters. Clifford Denton offers some biblical thoughts on choosing where to place your vote.

There is no such thing as democracy in the Bible. What the Bible offers is theocracy, where God guides the affairs of the nation. Democracy is rooted in Greek philosophy. At best it involves an entire nation deciding who will govern. At worst it appears to give choice, but the choice is limited by what’s on offer, and often leads to weak leaders – puppets of the system.

Democracy in our day is far from a seeking after biblical truth and is usually rooted in humanism, with multi-faith overtones- as when political leaders visit Sikh or Hindu temples, taking off their shoes and bowing to their altars in an attempt to win votes. But which god are they serving?

There is no such thing as democracy in the Bible. What the Bible offers is a THEOCRACY."

Nigel Farage claims, “Sadly, I think UKIP is the only major political party left in Britain that still cherishes our Judaeo-Christian heritage. I believe other parties have deliberately marginalised our nation’s faith, whereas we take Christian values and traditions into consideration when making policy.”¹ But is this simply an election ploy?

What Does the Word ‘Election’ Mean?

The word election has a special meaning in the Bible. It means ‘choice’– God’s choice of a person or a nation who can fulfil a special role in working out God’s purposes. King David was elected by God as an ideal leader. He was a man of prayer who sought guidance from God before making decisions. The Hebrew word for election is bahar and the Greek is eklegomai. Both of them have the basic biblical meaning of choosing. In an election we should be seeking men or women of God’s choosing.

Choices

When Almighty God created mankind He gave us the ability to choose. How do we exercise choice and on what principles? He chooses us and we choose him through an interactive process beginning with God. This is the bottom line for all that God intends in the world today and the world to come.

Choice, in God's terms, is focussed and clear. He invites people of all nations to choose him as Lord and King"

This should be top of the agenda for our national elections, but is far from being so. Choice, in God’s terms, is focussed and clear. He invites people of all nations to choose him as Lord and King and to ask him how to best live as individuals, communities and nations.

How precise is this? It took the Lord Jesus a whole night of prayer before he chose his first 12 disciples. This was not a vague choice on vague, ill-defined democratic principles. This was a personal and careful choice for an eternal purpose.

Serving a Kingdom not of this World

Christians look for biblical principles in the potential leaders of our country. Our choices should reflect Kingdom principles. We sometimes feel alien in trying to do this. What will our nation choose from the selection on offer? Does the choice meet the deep principles and deep needs of the nation?

Even nations like the UK and the USA, once chosen for blessing by Almighty God, are far from seeking to follow him today. The result is weak and unblessed leadership in a world that is “doing what is right in its own eyes”, as Israel did in the times of the Judges when there was no godly national leadership.

Choose this Day Whom You Will Serve

God’s priority for our national election is that we choose to return to him. This is a day as significant for Britain as when Joshua led the Children of Israel over the Jordan (Josh 24:14-15), saying:

Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshipped beyond the River in Egypt, and serve the Lord. But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve...as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord."

Where is the leader today with the rallying cry to turn our nation to the Lord – not just to be seen on public election platforms? That cry should be heard coming from prominent leaders in the Church giving guidance to our political leaders who are weak and confused, falling over each other to make promises that they know they cannot fulfil – anything to attract votes.

It is Not Too Late to Seek God

It is not too late, even now, to seek the Lord for what he is asking of our nation. If we desire that God chooses us for blessing then we must choose him – to serve him wholeheartedly as our King.

If we desire that God chooses us for blessing, then we must choose to serve him as our King!"

Where is the politician who will stand up for God’s ways above all else? Let him stand up, let us hear a rallying cry across our nation and let us choose the ways of God once more. Then we will find the path of recovery that we all desire in our hearts. That must be our priority or we will suffer the consequences of the current more superficial priorities with which we are presented.

In elections throughout the Western nations, the trend is to move away from the ways of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob into religious and political compromise. The call on believers is always to choose to follow God rather than man. How will we do this on 7 May?

References

1 Valuing our Christian heritage, UKIP, 2015.