The UK General Election on 12 December 2019 now seems a long time ago. Much has been written by many different commentators, all with their own slant, to different audiences. And much more will be written in the coming weeks and months, not least as Labour seeks a new Leader. But the overall result was clear-cut: the Conservatives with 365 seats won with an overall majority of 80, while Labour suffered their worst defeat since 1935.

In recent decades, we have had various governments of different political leanings. Sometimes, God has given us the government we have needed and sometimes the government we have deserved. God, while not being ‘party political’ in any sense, wants to achieve his purposes, for his name’s sake. He uses fallen institutions – and fallen individuals. We need to discern what is closest to his heart, and labour with him in prayer, word and deed to do it - in politics but in all other areas too.

God’s Sovereign Mercy

God is sovereign – and we need to believe, whether or not we like certain individuals or policies, that God’s hand was unequivocally on the election result. We know that God is sovereign over everything: the nations, the Church, the environment, the universe.

Bible-believers will not struggle, for instance, with the view that the election result was part of God's (long-delayed) judgment on the Labour Party. While it is surely the case that anti-Semitism transcends party lines, the extent to which Corbyn’s Labour was (and still is) institutionally anti-Semitic, with its leader seemingly oblivious to the severity of the issue, was something new for a mainstream British political party.

Since Israel is the apple of God's eye, and Jerusalem the focal point of the lens through which he looks at the world, believers need to make sure their focus accords with his if we are to discern correctly how to approach the issues we face. A big part of the problem is that we don’t really think this way - and when we do, at a personal level, we largely fail to apply it strategically. This means that however operationally brilliant particular individuals or ministries may be, too often they are not pulling in the right direction.

Put slightly differently, this judgment on Labour and the overall election result are ultimately about God’s broader covenant purposes, and intimately tied to our treatment of Israel and the Jews. The result should not be seen as an unequivocal blessing, but rather as God’s mercy: giving the nation and the Church another opportunity.

The election result should not be seen as an unequivocal blessing, but rather as God’s mercy: giving the nation and the Church another opportunity.

Winning Minds

Having spent much time campaigning in the south-east of England ahead of the General Election, the big question that remains on my heart is ‘What is it going to take’ to bring many of those whom I leafletted, door-knocked and canvassed to become believers?

The areas in which I campaigned were essentially pro-Remain and socially liberal. Many were appalled at Boris Johnson as an individual. While some voted Labour, more voted Lib Dem or Conservative, albeit the latter through distinctly gritted teeth.

Some of these voters may have had a faith, but most (reflecting the country as a whole) were essentially humanistic in their spiritual perspective. For many in London and the south-east, the EU is akin to an article of faith, economically but also spiritually. Their attitude echoes that of ancient Israel, wanting to be a nation just like other nations. Many Remainers want Britain to be just like Europe, even at the cost of a loss of sovereignty and money.

In truth, it has always been easier to follow the crowd, to be just like all the others, to walk by sight rather than by faith. It will be costly for Britain to chart a different path once again, as we have done many times before in history, just as it will be costly for believers to labour for the fullness of God’s purposes to be outworked.

Changing Hearts

The question remains, however, what is it going to take to win many of those who believe passionately in the European Project to surrender this misplaced (but nonetheless real) belief and replace it with biblical faith?

This includes, although they are numerically only a minority, Jewish voters. Traditionally most Jews have voted Labour, something very few did this time, abandoning their long-held political positions for ABC, ‘Anyone But Corbyn’. My concern is not who they voted for – but what is it going to take for them to come to faith in their Messiah? The Bible makes it clear that most Jews will become believers in Jesus in Israel, rather than scattered abroad in the nations. What is it going to take for British Jews to make Aliyah soon – that they might emigrate to Israel as economic migrants with their wealth and possessions, rather than go as political refugees with little?

To move on to their protagonists, much has been written about the anti-Semitism in Momentum, the left-wing political organisation which has been highly supportive of Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of Labour. Their commitment to a hard-left, aggressively secularist agenda should not be doubted. What is it going to take to turn them from being disciples of Karl Marx to being disciples of Jesus?

Others would say the same, relatively speaking, about some Brexiteers, including the European Research Group. And while the Conservatives clearly won the election, most Conservative voters (and MPs) are not believers. What is it going to take for many of them to see that the key reason they won is God’s mercy, not their political campaigning prowess or Labour’s inadequacies?

As believers, however passionately we might hold our political views, our first concern must always be the Great Commission and the building of God’s Kingdom.

Our Commission

What I am trying to highlight is that as believers, however passionately we might hold our political views and however much we may love our nation, our first concern must always be the Great Commission and the building of God’s Kingdom (Matt 6:33) – which in turn should shape our priorities in everything else. God is far more concerned about our eternal destiny and our character than he is about our comfort, economic prosperity or even political independence.

In the election result, we have been given an opportunity which we must not squander. We need to seek God for his purposes (which are unlikely to be the same as the incoming Government’s) and labour with him to achieve them.

That means much prayer and intercession, and action too. It means many more of us seeking God’s face on a regular basis. It means all of the Body of the remnant Church seeking uncompromisingly to be holy, and keeping close to Jesus: getting clean spiritually, personally and corporately. It will mean having open hearts to whatever God may want to do in the future.

It will likely also mean looking outside our own lives and beyond the borders of our own nation, prioritising the needs of others in prayer – including governments other than our own, such as the 2020 US elections, or the unprecedented March election in Israel (their third election in less than a year).

Finally, it may mean being willing to engage with the battle of ideas raging across our culture in ways we have not yet done. Where the established Church and mainstream denominations are failing in their responsibility to speak biblically into the affairs of the nation, local fellowships and individuals are going to have to step into the gap, both as intercessors and as the prophetic voice that their titular leaders are not providing.

What will it take to see a harvest for the Kingdom? It will take the truth being declared. Perhaps the best question of all to ask, then, is: What will it take for believers to share the gospel?