This year we have the rare privilege of voting in both the NSW state and Federal elections. As good citizens, Christians should be deeply interested in the political process. So this week I want to look at who should Christians vote for in the upcoming elections.
The way political parties often operate is to declare that their policies are good for ‘you’ as an individual. Some may recall a recent election when one party tried to buy votes by promising each Australian adult a $900 cash bonus. Their opponents of course followed suit, thinking Aussies vote for who has the best policies for them.
However, recent research has suggested that people don’t actually vote for what is best for them, they vote for the party with the best policies for their tribe. To give an over-simplified example or two, teachers will vote for who has the best education policy, while small business owners will vote for who has the best tax or employment policies.
So should Christians vote for the party that is best for the church? The NT would say ‘not necessarily’. The parable of the Good Samaritan teaches that Jesus wants his followers to love their neighbour, even at great personal cost (time, money, energy, personal discomfort, etc). This includes politics. Christians are to vote for the party they feel will best look after the citizens of Australia, as well as the world. A particular focus should be on looking after those pockets of society that have trouble looking after themselves (cf. Deut 10:17-19).
The party whose policies will benefit the majority of Aussies, in particular the poor, the marginalised and the oppressed, may not be the party that will benefit the church. When choosing who to vote for in the upcoming elections, Christians may have to forego what is good for them or their tribe, to vote for the party that will best love our neighbour.
