It’s your vote – use it with faith

Which way to turn? The dilemma of voting

The comedian and social activist Russell Brand has described western democracy as a “flimsy paddock…which so evidently isn’t functioning or representing anybody.” He came close to discouraging his many followers on social media and beyond from voting in the May 2015 UK elections, by calling it a “greetings card to nowhere with an X on it.” He said in an interview “Who are you voting for and for what reason? What is it about that person and their policies that are going to affect your life – this emptiness, this malaise, this disconnection, loneliness and inequality?”¹ A short while later he gave Labour leader Ed Miliband a video grilling in what for the politician was a calculated gamble to turn youthful apathy into energetic action.

Brand isn’t the first, and won’t be the last, to suggest that voting is a waste of time. Even faith leaders have spoken against it. Some Moslems have said that voting is un-Islamic. And some Christians regard politics and social involvement as needless compromise with or distraction from the allegedly primary task of Christians to “preach the Gospel”. However, biblically “the Gospel” is not only about personal salvation; it is also about building the Kingdom of God and bringing God’s concerns and values for all aspects of human life into the world.

Democracy does not of course have any biblical (Old or New Testament) roots; it was the Greeks who introduced it some 400 years before Christ. But every vote does count, for two reasons. First, the society we live in is organised through the ballot box and when we are given the chance to participate in it we should; not to do so is to say we don’t care about our world. Secondly, there is no such thing as a wasted vote even if the person you vote for is not elected. The number of votes sends a signal about the relative support for people, parties and policies. It warns elected MPs that there is a significant proportion of their constituents who do not share their views; some may even be elected by a minority of the total votes cast, such is the downside of a first-past-the-post system. It may be important to remind them of that when they support measures we disagree with; letters and emails are another way of engaging democratically in the system.

Reasons to vote

1.  Apathy is the seed from which anarchy may grow. If we don’t exercise privilege, power may be misused.

2.  People (especially women) have suffered or died to give us the opportunity to have a say in the way we are governed. Their sacrifice should not be overlooked; using our vote is a way of thanking previous generations.

3.  God is concerned with communities, not just with individuals. The Old Testament story is of the development of a community of faith with its customs and laws; the New Testament sees the inauguration of a new community, the church, which is meant to be a model for all and as such an influence on the wider community: “salt and light” to preserve goodness and illuminate righteousness (Matthew 5:13-16).

4.  Jesus promoted compliant citizenship exemplified by paying taxes whether or not people agreed with the authority to raise them or the purpose for them (Matthew 17:24-27, 22:15-22).

5.  He was also unafraid to stand up to secular leaders and question their actions (Luke 13:31-33).

6.  Jesus taught that his followers are “not of the world” (that is, they have a different set of values and aims) but he also sent them into the world with a mission to change hearts and minds, attitudes and therefore actions (John 17:14-19; cf. Matthew 28:19-20).  

7. The apostle Paul likewise did not advocate withdrawal from “the world”, but rather continuing to rub shoulders with people whose lifestyles Christians might disapprove of (1 Corinthians 9-11).

8.  In his famous comments about the state which at the time was increasingly hostile to Christians, Paul recognised that secular authority has been delegated to human communities by God for the well-being of all. That such authority was misused was not a reason for withdrawing from it (Romans13:1-7).

Who to vote for

In British politics no one party can claim to be authentically Christian. Generally (and thankfully) we are spared the highly selective reasoning of some in the USA who claim that only one party can be supported by Christians and that not to do so is to compromise or deny one’s faith. (That such advocacy also may include a commitment to the right of individuals to hold firearms seems to many of us this side of the Atlantic to be a glaring blind spot for followers of a non-violent Messiah.)

In Britain, there are committed Christians in all the main parties and each one passionately believes that the party they stand for best represents the values they espouse. They disagree on where the emphasis should be placed and what practical steps should be taken to deal with important issues. Out of the public eye, they can and do enjoy Christian fellowship together in parliamentary and other Christian groups.

Because the 2015 campaign is closely run, there has been an avalanche of possibly wild promises from all sides. Tax freezes or cuts, spending on health and education – such promises appeal brazenly to our self-interest: Russell Brand’s question echoed that of millions: “What’s in it for me?” Christians have to step back from that. The two basic commandments are to love and serve God and to love and serve our neighbour. So each voter has to ask, which party is closest to my understanding of what is involved in building the Kingdom of God and which is most likely to be helpful to my “neighbour” (who, by definition in scripture, is usually someone less fortunate than myself).

The likelihood of course is that party A has some things in its favour and party B has other things in its favour. It makes the case for some form of proportional representation (such as the single transferable vote) stronger, as does the probability that we will have hung parliaments for the foreseeable future. But we don’t have that system yet, so here are some issues to be thinking about and they are not in any particular order of priority.

1.  What is the long-term vision, rather than short term quick fixes, on offer?

2.  Peace and security: the purpose of government is to enable us to live quiet lives without fear.  

3.  Wholeness and wellbeing: these have become fashionable words among the generally well-off parts of society but are relevant to all. Materialism alone doesn’t create a rounded humanity. Culture, work-life balance, living wages – these are important factors in human welfare. As of course are ready access to healthcare and a rounded education-for-life rather than just for exams.

4.  Co-operation and harmony: One of the worst aspects of current UK politics is the ceaseless personal attacks on opponents and shrill rubbishing of their policies that is reminiscent of playground barracking and teenage bitching. A willingness to give credit to others, to work together for the common good, should be an open desire, not a last resort of compromise to stay in power.

5.  Care for the less fortunate. This is fundamental to the biblical concept of human society and is a priority for Christian concern. From the charge in Deuteronomy 10:16-20 to care for the poor and refugees to the parable of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) there is no escaping this responsibility. The assumption that growing prosperity in one sector of society will trickle down to others simply hasn’t worked; even if it did, the trickle is so slow that people suffer while they wait. The same principle applies to overseas aid: the richer nations are their brothers’ keepers and should help both in crises and longer-term development needs.

6.  Care for the environment. God put us in this world to care for it (Genesis 2:15). Care is not the same as exploitation without thought for the actual or possible consequences for people and the future well-being of the planet. Being careful, cleaning up the mess we may make, is a creation mandate, not a side interest for a few keen conservationists.

7.  Sensitivity to people’s beliefs. Freedom of expression is rightly valued in western society. I don’t mind people questioning my faith or making jokes about it so long as they do so from knowledge rather than ignorance. But at the same time elected governments and public officials as well as entertainers need to treat people of faith with respect. Notice how Paul remained sensitive to people’s consciences and was prepared to modify his own behaviour even though he did not share their views in 1 Corinthians 8:1-13, 10:23-33.

Five-point checklist

Finally, here’s five broad Christian principles with which to gauge party promises.

1.  Justice. No party should discriminate in favour of one section of society.

2.  Righteousness. A party should be putting what is good ahead of what is popular.

3.  Truth. Do candidates really mean what they say and acre about the people they represent or are they cynically trying to seize power?

4.  Charity, in the former sense: graciously dealing with people and their needs, a genuine care for human beings everywhere.

5.  Humility. Biblically, leaders are to be servants. The concept of public service is fast fading from commercial “service industries”. May it not disappear from politics and national leadership.

Think and talk

1.  About all the above!

2.  Take the opportunity to vote, not only in local and national government elections, but also in the clubs and societies, the unions and trade associations. Become an active participant in your world.

Reference

1. The Times, 11 April 2015.

 © Derek Williams 2015

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The creed in plain words: (2) Jesus is who he said he was

The ascension of Jesus depicted in a church window
in Edith Weston, Rutland

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father; through him all things were made.

If you want to know what God is like, look at Jesus. That is really what this huge mouthful of theological shorthand is saying, although historically it was crafted for a different reason.

The early church struggled to define the nature of Christ (and hence the relationships within Trinity). Some people (called Docetists) said that Jesus only appeared to be fully human. Others (later called Adoptionists) claimed that a human being was “adopted” by God as his Son. Some settled for Christians believing in two gods (after all, much of the rest of the then known world was polytheistic). Even today Jehovah’s Witnesses may claim that orthodox Christians believe in three gods. The rest struggled to maintain the difficult (and orthodox) view that Jesus was a unique being who was both fully God and fully human at the same time.

We can’t comprehend it, of course, but the closer we can get to expressing it may help us to enter more fully into the practical riches of faith. The early church wrestled with words like person, substance and matters came to a head in the fourth century AD when Arius reverted to the belief that Jesus wasn’t fully God. He was opposed by theologians such as Athanasius and the Nicene Creed was the result as the church officially took the both/and view.

But that wasn’t the end of the story. Disputes about words continued and in the fifth century the eastern churches wanted to stress that Jesus had one whole nature, not two (divine and human). Western churches begged to differ and a split resulted. That split might be on the way to healing. In 2014 an “Accord” was reached between Anglicans and representatives of eastern Orthodox churches. It stated that “Christ has one incarnate nature” that contains “two natures distinguished in thought alone”.¹ So that’s clear, then.

Fully God

Back to the Nicene Creed, which stresses (at length!) that Jesus is fully God. This is what really matters and which can make a big difference to personal faith. Jesus is worthy of spiritual worship as God, not merely hero worship as a great man. The term “Son” differentiates Jesus from the Father but doesn’t imply that he is an offspring. He has existed for as long as the Father existed; long before he emerged from Mary’s womb, long before the Big Bang. He’s not like the children of the mythical Greek gods.

There is only one God, comprising three persons (the third appears later in the creed). So Jesus is “one Being with the Father”: the same God who is revealed to and experienced by us in different ways. Any analogy is flawed, but for most of us any analogy is probably better than none. So for example I am a son, a father, and a husband (and several other things too). I appear or act differently in each role, but I am still fully “me” in each “person”.

The Trinity is important for two reasons. First, it tells us that God is multi-dimensional. Like a ball, we can see all sides of God in one glance. Like a multi-faceted diamond, we see God from different angles at different times and each one sparkles with colour and surprise – but none can be taken in isolation but seen as part of the whole. And secondly, God is a “community” in himself. He does not exist in splendid isolation; he was never so lonely that he had to create humans to keep him company but did so out of love and a desire to share his riches; and he is a model for human community: unity in diversity.

The creed labours the point about Jesus’ divinity. Jesus was eternally “begotten, not made”. The word is important. What we beget is the same nature as ourselves: our children are human, not less than human. Jesus was God, not less than God. What we make, like a home or a model, has a different nature; God made the universe and it is separate from God, it has a different nature. On earth Jesus claimed to be equal with God even though he was in certain ways distinct from the Father. Ultimately that was why he was crucified. Occasionally of course he demonstrated divine powers through his miracles, and his true nature was most clearly seen in the transfiguration and resurrection.

C.S. Lewis put it memorably in Mere Christianity: “A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic – on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg – or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come up with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”²

And that is the relevance of this theological complexity. Jesus really is the human face of God; the creator who became one of his own creatures; the author who took the lead role in his own drama; the king who allowed himself to be his own subject. So when we want to know what God is like, Jesus is the image to focus on. For a creator to become a creature – to descend from the sublime to the subordinate – in order to help the rest of creation out of the hole it had dug for itself is by any standard an extreme action that can only be described as love, especially when it resulted in God experiencing the full horror of a painful and undeserved judicial murder at the hands of the very people he came to help.

Think and talk

1.  What do these passages tell us about Jesus’ pre-existence before he was born as a human being? John 1:1-5, 8:54-59; Colossians 1:15-17.

2.  What do these passages tell us about Jesus’ claim to be fully equal with God? Matthew 26:63-64; Luke 22:66-71; John 5:18, 10:30, 14:6-11; Philippians 2:5-7; Colossians 1:18-20; Hebrews 1:1-3.

3.  References to the Trinity as such are rare in the New Testament (it took centuries for people to even start to get their heads round it). Each “Person” is seen as acting in a specific way. But there are a few places where all three are mentioned as acting in a co-ordinated manner. What might these tell us about how God works in our lives? Matthew 28:19-20; John 14:23-26; 2 Corinthians 13:13-14; Ephesians 2:17-18, 4:4-6; Revelation 1:4-6. Notice too ow they work together in Romans 8:1-39.

4.  Why do you think we always want to bring God down to our level and size rather than embrace the mystery of a multi-dimensional God who is beyond human understanding? How might this limit our view and experience of God?

References

1.  Reported in The Times, 1 November 2014

2.  C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, Fontana books 1973, pp.52f

 

© Derek Williams 2015

 

 

The creed in plain words: (1) The nature of God

"You created my innermost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb"
(Psalm 139:13) - an example of God's powerful attention to detail

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.

The Irish comedian Dave Allen used to end his shows with the pay-off line “May your god go with you”. He wasn’t implying that there are many actual gods but rather suggesting that each person fashions an image of God according to personal taste. He was partly right.

“No-one has ever seen God,” John 1:18 reminds us, before claiming that Jesus has made God known. Because God is unseen he is beyond our imagination, and human imagination can run riot. We need a framework of understanding if our faith and life is to be authentically Christian, and not a pick and mix bag of hopeful ideas or a caricature which is easy for others to dismiss.

The ancient Nicene Creed based on New Testament teaching, provides such a framework which we shall explore here over the next few months.

One God…the Almighty

Almost every people group in history has had a “faith” in supernatural powers; most have believed in many gods. The ancient Jews were an exception. They believed in one supreme God (although they struggled to maintain it; neighbouring religions with many gods offered great attractions). So they had to be reminded regularly that “I am the first and the last, apart from me there is no God” (Isaiah 44:6) and that home-made “idols” were worse than useless.

“Almighty” means all-powerful, an important encouragement for the struggles of daily life. It is illustrated in the Bible by two major events. At the Exodus God assisted a down-trodden group of people to escape slavery and begin a nation through whom he planned to show his purposes to the world. (Unfortunately, they didn’t always live up to their calling.)

And secondly in the life, teaching, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ God demonstrated his power by opening up a new way for human beings to relate to God personally. But as powerful as God is, he is not a bully; he never forces his ways on anyone. He is not an uninvited meddler in or manipulator of human affairs. He does not automatically snuff out suffering and evil. Instead he waits for us to willingly associate ourselves with him. Loving power is also patient. Pope John Paul once said that “There is one source of power that is stronger than every disappointment, bitterness or ingrained mistrust, and that power is Jesus Christ, who brought forgiveness and reconciliation to the world.”

The Father

Dave Allen’s line was marginally better than the catchphrase of Star Wars: “May the force be with you”. God is personal, not a force. A force cannot love or choose, but a person can. “God so loved the world that he gave…” (John 3:16); a blind force cannot love or willingly give, but a person can. A force cannot communicate with people, but a person can. Human language is limited, though. “Person” is the nearest we can get to describing one who is (in C.S. Lewis’ words) “beyond personality”. We faintly reflect God’s personality; we have not projected ours onto him.

Generally, God is described as “he”. But God has no gender. We have no word in English to describe personality that isn’t gender-specific. Jesus taught his followers to regard God as a caring “Father”, with whom they could have a real personal relationship. “Father” is used because God sows the seed from which everything else – our life and personality included – springs. Not surprisingly, you will find places in the Bible where God displays what we would call “feminine” characteristics as well.

It’s not God’s fault that some people have used this as an excuse for excessive male dominance in the world, instead of developing and valuing the gender partnership which God intended when he created human beings.

Maker of all

Interpreters of Charles Darwin (and some Christians) have a lot to answer for because of the confusion they have created by pitting “science” against “religion”. The Christian doctrine of creation simply claims that everything that exists owes its origin to God. It is a statement of faith which can neither be proved nor disproved. The alternative to divine creation is blind chance. Many find “chance” unbelievable when faced with the complexity of sub-atomic particles and microscopic organisms, living, thinking humans and the rhythmic patterns of the planets.

For example, no-one knows how many stars like the sun exist in our galaxy, the Milky Way; estimates vary from 100 to 300 billion. And the Milky Way is only one of maybe 200 billion galaxies in the universe. At the other end of the scale, if all your veins and blood vessels were lain end to end they would stretch for 60,000 miles. And every second your body makes 17 million new red blood cells.

You can’t prove that God exists from observing our amazingly complex universe. But if you accept that God does exist, then examples like this from the natural world provide one picture of what he is like: powerful enough to set stars in space, yet caring enough to give attention to tiny details on earth.

Biblical poets don’t worry about how God fashioned everything. The account of origins in Genesis is more about the nature of God than the method of creation. Bible writers simply reckon that if God is powerful enough to oversee all that exists, then he’s powerful enough to see us through the troubles we face in life.

Think and talk

1.  What do these passages tell us about the power of God compared with the impotence of human fabrications: Isaiah 40:9-31; 44:6-20?

2.  A “god” is what we put our hope and trust in. What today might take the central place of God in our approach to life? (See 1 Timothy 6:17,18 for one example.)

3.  How might these “feminine” characteristics of God help us to view God without a gender emphasis: Deuteronomy 32:10,11,18; Psalm 57:1; 131:1-3; Isaiah 40:11; 49:5,15; 66:12-13; Matthew 23:37?

4.  Why do you think some people feel more comfortable viewing God as a force rather than as a person?

5.  What can we learn from these passages about God’s generosity? Psalm 104:10-18; Matthew 20:1-16; Luke 11:11-13; Acts 14:16-17; 1 Timothy 6:17?

6.  What do these verses tell us about God’s presence with us? Psalm 139:1-12; Isaiah 57:15-16; Jeremiah 23:23-24; John 14:15-20; Acts 17:26-28.

 There wiil be a series of six posts on the creed, roughly one per month April--September 2015

©Derek Williams 2015