Wednesday 29 April 2015

God, Government and the Big Issues

Last night saw the second of our series looking at politics and faith in light of the impending election, here are the notes and questions we used to stimulate discussion.  Due to time constraints we are only able to sketch out some outline biblical thinking on each of the issues, but hopefully it was, and will prove, helpful.

1. What is the purpose of government?

2. What are the issues you care most passionately about as you think about voting?

3. How is individualism driving the political parties and their promises? How does it influence your thinking?

4. How are Christians to be distinctive in the way we engage in politics and think about voting?

What is the purpose of government? That’s a great place to start. What should we be expecting whoever gets power on May 8th to do? What’s the goal we have in mind for whoever we vote for? Or maybe to turn the question on its head, how is the ultimate goal of government going to affect who we vote for? We’ll hopefully be better able to answer that at the end of this evening, as we explore who we are called to be and having looked at that look at 4 big issues; the economy, welfare, immigration and the environment, before we consider, briefly, how we live under government where we don't agree with everything that it does.

We are to be children who look just like our Father


We saw last time that God is sovereign, God institutes government, and therefore we should pray, find out about our candidates, be realistic, be thankful and vote. But with that in place how does the bible shape our thinking?

What matters most to us as Christians? Is it moral issues? The poor? The NHS? Immigration? The economy? The Bible starts with character not issues. God’s values are rooted in his character, in fact you could say God’s character is his values. And God’s people are to be just like their Father, bearing the family likeness in character and values.

So what is God like? We’ve only got time to scratch the surface. But let me highlight a few things:

God is holy. (Lev 19:2, 1 Peter 1:15-16) Holiness is part of God’s nature, it’s his otherness, his power, glory, splendour, uniqueness, purity, love, justice. And in Leviticus 19:2 God calls his people to be holy because he is holy, it occurs in the middle of the holiness codes of Leviticus 17-22, which shows the lives God’s people are to live in their Father’s image: holiness in worship, holiness in love for neighbour, holiness in seeking justice and rooting out injustice.

God is love. (I John 4v7-8) God has always been love, there’s never been a time when God wasn’t love. God the Father has always loved Son and Spirit, God the Son has always loved and delighted in the Father and the Spirit, and God the Spirit has always loved and delighted in the Son and Father. Love is at the very core of God’s being all that he is and does.

It’s love that causes God to create so others can share in this outgoing joy and love. It’s love that marks out God’s rule and reign, his judgement and his wrath against sin. God is love and so those who are born of God, who carry God’s DNA, who are his sons and daughters.

We see it demonstrated visibly in Jesus, God in love come, and God in love acting to alleviate suffering, and God in love making God known. And calling a people to himself who he teaches to love their neighbour, extending that term to mean everyone even traditional enemies, as well as brothers.

As children of our heavenly Father our character will be his character our values his values. We’ll seek to be holy and to love.

There are lots of other characteristics of God, Exodus 33 and 34 show us we’re just scratching the surface. But those two characteristics are helpful for us. Especially because as we know God is love and is holy, as we look to be likewise we find that his word is our guide to his character. What God speaks reveals his character for us, working out those two principles. So the moral code, God’s laws, aren’t a dictators barbed wire but a loving Father’s fences, not restricting freedom but enabling wellbeing for the world.

In Matthew 23:23 when Jesus confronts the Pharisees for their bad rule it is because they’ve neglected justice, mercy and faithfulness which are enshrined in and at the core of all of God’s law. So how does that help us as we think about some of the big issues at the election? We will seek justice, mercy and faithfulness, as we are holy and love, and we will find them in the Bible and what it teaches about life.

The Economy


This seems to be the biggest issue in 2015. Everything else seems to hang on this.

Answer this question: What’s the purpose of the economy?
Economic activity isn’t an end in itself. And chasing profitability, growing GDP as if that will answer all of societies needs is idolatry. In the bible economic activity wasn’t an end in itself but work was a good gift from God as were things to enjoy in their right place. In the law economic activity isn’t about consumption, individualism or capitalist one up man ship. Read Leviticus 25 and you see Israel’s economy was designed to foster love for neighbours, strong family relationships and a caring connected community. The question we have to answer is which parties economic policies best reflect God's values?

We can’t avoid the deficit when talking about the economy. The Bible is clear in it’s radical teaching on debt and default. Enormous levels of debt are unbiblical, both personally and nationally. Default isn’t an option. Rather it exhorts us to live within our mean and use our gifts productively. How we deal with the debt provides a challenge for us as Christians as we think about who to vote for.

Welfare


Welfare is another hot potato especially as the discussion becomes loaded with the rhetoric of ‘scroungers, skivers and shirkers’ used by the media. But reality is somewhat different, of the £256.6 billion spent on benefits £144.1 billion is pensions. And a significant chunk of the remaining £112.5 billion is paid not to the unemployed but those in work or raising children.

In the Bible poverty is viewed more holistically than in politics. It sees financial poverty as a symptom of relational poverty, and its solution doesn’t stop at financial handouts. The overriding aim is to draw the vulnerable into the community and back into relationship. Leviticus 25 puts in place – interest free loans, temporary sale of property, and indentured labour as means of provision, all the while setting an end point on such things. Then there are the laws on tithing and gleaning rights. These laws focused on provision within community and maintaining and developing existing supportive relationships.  A great case study of this is the story of Ruth, Naomi and Boaz where we see God's values, his holiness and love, enfleshed in Boaz as he provides for Ruth and Naomi abundantly, reconnecting with community, creating relationships of provision and secure their future place as active members of society.  This should't have been an exception in Israel but the norm.  When we look at welfare policies we should be looking for this relational focus.

How much have you bought into the rhetoric of scroungers, skivers and shirkers?

How can we better invest in relationships with those in need? What challenges does this pose for us individually and as a church?

Immigration


After the economy this seems to have become the biggest issue talked about at this election. Again the debate is unhelpfully polarised into two extremes with inaccurate language, and spun statistics making the real picture hard to see.

The bible has two categories of immigrants and Israel’s response was to be determined by their circumstances and attitudes.

The ger, sojourner or resident alien were dependent foreigners (e.g. Ruth, Rahab). They were to be treated with love and generosity because of their vulnerability. The other group was the nokri, a true foreigner whose loyalties lay with his country of birth, who visited temporarily and was economically independent. Their presence is allowed but the threat economically and to faith was recognised.

In Israel all immigrants were welcome, whether vulnerable and dependent or independent. They were invited to integrate, including in faith and were treated equally when they did so. But the reality that a nokri’s allegiance lay elsewhere meant measures were taken to protect Israel from exploitation by those who did not care for Israel and her people’s well being.  As we think about immigration as a policy we want to share God's values.

How has immigration affected you personally?

How does the Bibles teaching affect your thinking on immigration?

Environment


Sustainability and the environment are matters of justice. The creation mandate calls on us to care for God’s world, and the command to love our neighbours means doing so in a way that enables the welfare of all. Our use of the environment is indicative of how we think of God and others, God’s concern is our distant neighbour in countries far away and those generations as yet unborn who will live with the consequences of our consumption now.

How important are green issues to you? Are green issues playing a part in this election?

What will it mean to you personally to care for creation and pursue justice in the way you use the world’s resources?

Q&A time


God the Government and moral issues


1 Peter 2v11-17. (11-12)give us principles for us to live by as God’s people living for his kingdom but in the world. You can summarise them like this: Fight sin, do good, call sinners. Peter then fleshes those principles out in a number of areas one of which is our relationship with the government. The government is there to determine fair and just laws for the good and wellbeing of all its citizens. So believers are to obey the law. But we are to go further than simple obedience we are to (15)do good within society, the church and individual believers contribute positively to society.

But what about when there’s a conflict between obeying God and government? Peter describes believers as God’s slaves, we obey the government for the Lord’s sake, not theirs or ours. We respect everyone but fear only God. God is first and foremost who we serve. So when obeying the state conflicts with obeying God we will fight sin, do good and call sinners.

It doesn’t just mean keeping the law – we will – but it means actively doing good. We will be concerned not with our rights but with government being for the good of all, advancing the wellbeing of all, speaking out against undue influence by certain groups or unfair policies against others. We are not self-interested in our politics.

It also means when we disagree on an issue with government we will contact our MP, carefully and politely explaining our view and thanking them for their time and any response. It means when they stand on a moral issue we ought to take as much time to thank them.

You can track your MP’s record using the Christian Institute website. But a word of caution we can’t do the same with other candidates who are standing. The challenge is to find out what they stand for and against too.

But we mustn't just engage with politics for a month before the General election.  God's call for us to be holy and to love isn't limited in application to our crosses on a ballot paper.  We need to be praying regularly for our leaders.  We also need to be developing good relationships with our local MP over the next 5 years.  To be known as a church and a people that love and are different, that fight sin and do good, not who only stand for their own interests.

Q&A

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