Your Kingdom come.
Your will be done
on Earth as it is in Heaven.
Matthew 6:10
Here are 4 easy steps you can take to turn a culture of injustice & foolishness into a nation governed with justice & wisdom.
What do you pray for politically?
Paul wrote to Timothy, “I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth.”
Jesus taught us to pray, “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” He also taught that true love of neighbour looks like the Good Samaritan, and that we should “go and do the same”. The Good Samaritan loved his neighbour practically: he invested his time, his effort, his money and he took a long term interest in his neighbour’s welfare.
The one issue every political candidate is most concerned about is winning their seat. They are naturally motivated to do what will get them the best chance of election.
Our blind loyalty doesn’t help them do what is right, but our simple questions & conditional support does.
Therefore, what do you do?
There are three easy steps praying Christians can take to powerfully promote God’s kind of justice and wisdom in government. A fourth step will only cost a fraction of the time, effort & money invested by the Good Samaritan, but – when added to the easy first three – will amplify your effectiveness many times over to significantly help 25 million neighbours at once.
- Genuinely become an undecided voter. This isn’t hard. Just determine that instead of being on any side and giving any political party or politician your blind loyalty, you’ll give your allegiance to Jesus only (even if you’re a party member), and with an open Bible and sincere heart you’ll prayerfully consider which candidate best represents the values of His Kingdom: justice, wisdom, Truth & freedom.
- Ask your candidates how they’ll vote in Parliament. Write a simple email to every single candidate in your electorate and state senate candidates. Click here for a complete list. Ask them how they’ll vote on the justice issues you have prayerfully determined are the most important for your neighbours (not yourself). Don’t try to persuade or debate them. Don’t ask candidates what they believe or think or what their party policy is. These will be reflected in their answer to how they will vote in Parliament.
- Choose your own preferences. Don’t follow anyone else’s “How To Vote” guide. Ignore the media. Find the candidate that will best represent the justice God requires in Parliament and put him/her first, even if you don’t like the party or their leaders. No answer is a negative response. If there’s a tie for first, go ahead and consider less important issues.
The most important step!
It’s not enough to find a good candidate and send them out to fight alone. They need an army behind them willing to back them if they are to have the courage to fight the big, important battles. That’s our job. Together, we supply or withhold from politicians the imprimatur: the authority to speak what may be unpopular. You can be certain that many good politicians have been unable to hold the line when left to fight alone.
When you find the best candidate, you should also offer to donate what you can to their election campaign, as well as your front yard fence for their election sign. You have to go and vote, so volunteer in advance to stick around for a few hours and help handout flyers which will help other people to vote for who you’ve sincerely discovered to be the best candidate for the job.
Now if just 1,000 praying Christians in every electorate make this offer when emailing every candidate in the first place, every candidate will have the offer of
- 1,000 new sign locations
- 1,000 new campaign donors
- 1,000 pre-polling or election day volunteers
Anyone who’s worked in an election campaign knows that those three things are usually in rare supply. Politicians also know that for everyone prepared to write and ask about those deal-breaker justice issues there’s probably 10 or 20 people who feel the same but can’t be bothered writing. Add 10,000 – 20,000 votes to the chance of 1,000 signs, donors & volunteers, and that’s a lot of pressure to do the right thing!
Would you like to help?
Will you genuinely become an undecided voter, email your local candidates, and write your own voting preferences based on their responses?
If yes, it would be a genuine help to others if you would also share the responses you receive. As much as we prefer to train people to think for themselves, some still really need more basic assistance. We’ll collate everyone’s responses for each electorate (yours may be the only one we receive in your electorate) and provide another election guide.
Please don’t rely on any voting guide we (or anyone else) may produce! Firstly, the goal is to stop being told who to vote for by others; but secondly, your informed vote is only the beginning of being a faithful steward of the political responsibility you’ve been given. The influence you lose by only voting is too precious! The CAS voting guide is just a temporary measure until we all become more intelligent, more empowered voters.
Please email each candidate yourself, and then forward the responses you receive to admin@ChurchAndState.com.au. Click here for a complete list of your candidates.
And don’t forget to put wind in the sails by offering your fence, donations and a few hours to volunteer when you write.
Sign up below and we’ll send you a list of the candidates in your electorate with their contact details ASAP after they are finally declared (24 April), as well as a suggested email message you can personalise before you contact them.
I want to be more than a voter. I want to be an election influencer!
“After him Benjamin and Hasshub made repairs opposite their house. After them Azariah the son of Maaseiah, the son of Ananiah, made repairs by his house.” – Nehemiah 3:23
