Most Christians who take an interest in the affairs of the nation know that Britain is in a mess! This has been increasingly evident over the past 10 years as we have stumbled from one crisis to another.

7 July this year will be the 10th anniversary of the London bombings when 55 people lost their lives and hundreds were wounded. This showed that God’s protection had been removed from over the nation.

God Speaks

God always gives us forewarnings. The Prophet Amos said “Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plans to his servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7). But we have to be looking and listening, and able to interpret the signs that God sends.

The great hurricane in October 1987 was a dramatic warning that God sent. 15 million trees were felled, disrupting road and rail transport around the rich commuter area of London. It was followed 3 days later by a dramatic fall on the stock market. Both of these signs were rightly interpreted in the magazine Prophecy Today, but the warnings were not heeded.

When warning signs are ignored God says, “I called but you did not answer, I spoke but you did not listen” (Isa 65:12). There are inevitable consequences when we do not listen. Some more recent ones are listed in the article “What Is God Doing?”.

Consequences

The history of Israel recorded in the Bible shows the consequences when a nation refuses to heed the warnings that God sends to them: things start to fall apart in the life of the nation. It was at one of these times that the Psalmist cried out “Help, Lord, for the godly are no more; the faithful have vanished from among men. Everyone lies to his neighbour; their flattering lips speak with deception” (Ps 12:1). In another of David’s Psalms he asked “When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (Ps 11:3).

The response of Christians should be, “Is there any word from the Lord?” (Jer 37:17) This was the question King Zedekiah asked the Prophet Jeremiah when the Babylonian army was surrounding Jerusalem. But it was too late then. He should have asked this question much earlier.

Is it too late for us? Is Britain already in a time of judgement?

Foundations Crumbling

Certainly, the Judaeo-Christian foundations of our nation have been steadily eroded over the past 40 years! We have passed one law after another that has undermined the biblical values of the nation:

• the Abortion Law has killed millions of unborn babies,
• the Sunday Trading Act has turned every day into a day of commerce with no time for the family, for quiet reflection and worshipping God,
• the Divorce Laws that the Bible says God hates have devastated family life (Mal 2:16), and most heinous of all political crimes:
• the Same-Sex Marriage Act, which actually dares to 'redefine' marriage, part of God’s act of creation!

So what can Christians do? The General Election gives an opportunity to eject ungodly MPs. But where are the godly men and women to replace them?

Here are a few things we can do.

1. Use your vote. Be determined to use your vote. And use it wisely.
2. Find out who your local candidates are and find all you can about them. If you have a sitting candidate discover how he or she voted on key questions such as the Same-Sex Marriage Act. Information on this is available on the Marriage Foundation’s website. Ask the candidates questions – for help look at the special election websites provided by Christian Concern and CARE.
3. Meet with other Christians and discuss the local situation and arrange to meet candidates. If there is no local meeting – organise one!
4. Read the Bible; study the word of God with other believers, especially the prophets.
5. Pray together: ask the Lord what should be done and decide on a plan of action. Agree to meet both before and after the election to pray for candidates and pray for the new MPs.
6. Get involved in local action instead of leaving it to the secular humanists. Paul says the whole “creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed” (Rom 8:19).

Time for Action

Surely it’s time for Christians to make the word of the Lord heard in this land! With Paul, we should be saying, “I’m not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes” (Rom 1:16). If we remain silent at such a time as this we will be accountable to the Lord for the mess in our nation.

Now is the time to awake from sleep; to rise up in the power of the Lord and declare the truth to a corrupt generation!

We need to pray for boldness and the power of God’s Spirit and he will certainly respond with the promise “Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord Almighty” (Zech 4:6).

The current election promises to be one of the closest – and most important – in a generation. Polls have been remarkably consistent for a long time, all predicting a ‘Hung Parliament’. How have we got here?

Why No Clear Winner?

Surely the Conservatives ought to have won an overall majority in 2010 against a weak and ineffective Labour administration that had run out of steam – and thus ought to be able now to win a second term outright. Conversely, why have Labour been unable to position themselves as a Government-in-waiting, as in 1995-7, given the Coalition’s rather modest achievements?

Motivating Voters

An important factor in winning an election is the degree to which voters can be motivated and engaged. Reviewing the key achievements of the last five years of the Conservative/LibDem Coalition, it is hard to see much to praise from a biblical standpoint. Modest progress has been made to reduce the deficit, and although many more people have a job than five years ago, we should not ignore the reality that Chancellor Osborne has been as addicted to debt as was Chancellor Brown.

Coalition’s Record

The deficit is less than it was five years ago, but the National Debt is vastly higher. Some disincentives to work and bureaucratic control over education have been reduced. However, from a biblical perspective, the Marriage (Same-Sex Couples) Act 2013 and the non-binding vote on recognising Palestine are of great concern. Both are symptomatic of the change in values that characterise 'modern' Britain today: the abandonment of traditional Judaeo-Christian understandings of sexuality and personal behaviour, and the rejection of Israel, both in favour of humanistic values and worldview.

A Good Manifesto

Political manifestoes are intended to set out what a party will do in office. A good manifesto will state the sort of policies that the party will seek to implement. Some party manifestoes reflect timeless values; others seek to reflect changes in society. Given the huge changes in the past decade we should not be surprised that the main party manifestoes are quite similar and reflect humanism rather than traditional Judaeo-Christian values.

The Present Manifestoes

Of the major parties, the Liberal Democrats have the most humanistic manifesto, but the Conservatives’ and Labour’s are also essentially humanistic. The Green Party’s values are a mixture of humanism and paganism. The SNP’s values combine humanism with nationalism; whereas UKIP’s combine nationalism with traditionalism. None of the major parties show any concern for biblical values.

Political Chaos

The key reason for the present political impasse is that our politicians have pursued a humanistic agenda, while neglecting the biblical values that were at least acknowledged by former generations of politicians. A measure of God’s judgement on us as a nation will be a change from the two-party stability that 'first past the post' gives to us, to a chaotic situation after 7 May in which the only two parties that can form a coalition together will be the Conservatives and Labour. In such a scenario government will be very difficult indeed, with each vote potentially requiring its own coalition to enable it to be passed.

Judgement

While such a scenario might be the natural end for a campaign without a clear winner, it should also be seen as judgement by God on a country and in particular on a parliament that has been greatly blessed by him in times past but which has rejected him, his word, and his values.

Such a scenario does not take into account the wider global situation and the likelihood of a multi-dimensional crisis affecting us all and requiring an urgent Government response. What will it be? Will it be humanistic, or can it be more in line with biblical values? The challenge will be for Christians both to pray and to witness actively in the public square, before the election and beyond.