God's Sovereignty in Elections

The South African elections of 2009 are almost at its end. Citizens voted on 22 April, and the IEC has announced that the final results will be made available at 17:00 today.

What has so far transpired is surprising and at the same time not surprising. What is surprising is that the ANC almost got the ⅔ majority it was hoping for. By late yesterday, the ANC had around 66.8%. However, with more voting districts reporting in, the ANC has now slipped by a fraction down to 65.9%. This is according to the results from the Independent Electoral Commission at 15:32 today. These results most likely are the final results.

What has surprised many Christians, especially those involved with Christian political parties such as the ACDP and the CDA, is the absolute dismal performance of these parties in these elections. The ACDP, at this point, has only 0.81% of the national vote. That is half, percentage wise (1.6%), of what they had in 2004 at the last national elections. In physical votes, the ACDP is still 108,000 votes short of the 250,272 they made in 2004.

If we look at the 1.6% of 2004, and we extrapolate to the number of voters this year (so far counted) at more than 2,000,000 more, then the ACDP should have had 281,794 votes in these elections if they simply held their ground. Which of course means that the ACDP is 139,136 votes from breaking even. But, I suppose, this can be expected when party leaders make statements way before the elections to the effect that the ANC would not get 50% of the vote! How did he think he knew that? When Christian politicians make baseless statements like that, how can the electorate take their political parties seriously?

The ACDP and the CDA for that matter, must be very saddened by the results of these elections. The reasons for this result must be myriad, but I am more and more convinced that of the millions so-called Christians in this country, a majority are Christians in name only! The ballot papers don't lie! "They speak with forked tongue!" On the one hand they say that this and that and the next thing are morally wrong, and then promptly vote for parties that stand exactly for those moral sins. But, this must be left for another post.

One thing that is forgotten by Christians in times like these is that God is sovereign over this earth and his plans and decrees will stand. Not voters, nor the ANC, run this country! God remains on His throne, and He still is the ultimately sovereign ruler over all the earth!

Did these election results catch God off guard? Not in the least! God "made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place. (Ac 17:26)" The ANC, and indeed the nation of South Africa will exist only as long as God determined. God "makes nations great, and he destroys them; he enlarges nations, and leads them away. (Job 12:23)"

"(10) The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans of the peoples. (11) The counsel of the LORD stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations. (Psa 33:10-11)"

We must not forget, God used a donkey to speak to Balaam. He also used the evil king Cyrus to release the Israelites from their bondage. Surely, if the Lord used a donkey and the evil king Cyrus, He could still use Jacob Zuma to accomplish His purposes? Whether the ANC believes it will rule forever or not, at the appointed time, God will bring the ANC and its evil to a very abrupt end. Only God's counsel will stand!

All of this makes me think of when Moses went to speak to Pharaoh to let the Israelites go. Who will dispute that God was sovereign during the saga of the exodus from Egypt? During the rounds of Moses' "negotiations" with Pharaoh, this Egyptian did not want the Israelites to go. Hey, that would cause economic collapse, and what do you know, the Egyptians would then have to do all their work themselves!

Now, why is it that Pharaoh did not want to let the Israelites go? God hardened Pharaoh's heart! Several times the Bible tells us that God hardened Pharaoh's or the Egyptians' hearts (Ex 4:21; 7:3; 9:12; 10:20; 14:4, 17). It is quite startling that God accomplished His work by hardening the heart of the Egyptians.

God was sovereign then, and He is sovereign now. We must not think for one moment that God is no longer on His throne. Evil may not be ultimately destroyed today, or even tomorrow, but in the end there can only be one, and that is Jesus Christ!

We must not think for a moment that an election in which so many people, some professing to be Christians, would vote for evil, can derail God and that He no longer cares. In God's eternal decree, He is busy working out His plans that will lead to the end of time and this world as we know it!

We must NOT rely on politics and be amazed when politics fail! Only Jesus Christ stands true, and His rule has no end!

"(11) Then I saw heaven opened, and behold,
a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and
True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. (12) His
eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems,
and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. (13) He is
clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called
is The Word of God. (14) And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine
linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. (15)
From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down
the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will
tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the
Almighty. (16) On his robe and on his thigh he has a
name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.
(Rev 19:11-16)"

 

What is wrong with our voters?

Why is it that in a country that boasts of a Christian majority of about 70%, we cannot get a Christian party to even get close to becoming the official opposition never mind actually winning an election?

 

The ACDP came into existence before the 1994 general elections in 1993 as a voice for Christians in South African politics. However, it seems that the Christians of this country do not want a Christian voice in government.

 

We've had 3 general elections (GE) since 1994 and 2 local government elections (LGE). The percentage of votes the ACDP has garnered in these elections are as follows:

 

YEAR   ELECTION   % of VOTE

       TYPE

1994 -  GE      - 0.45%

1999 -  GE      - 1.43%

2000 - LGE      - 1.14%

2004 -  GE      - 1.60%

2006 - LGE      - 1.24%

 

Those Christians who have voted for the ACDP in these elections have all asked the question: "Why don't more Christians vote for the ACDP?"

 

The fact is that the majority of Christians vote for the two leading parties of our country, the ANC (African National Congress) and the DA (Democratic Alliance).

 

The reasons for this are certainly multifaceted and I would like to look at a few reasons here.

 

1. Historical Voting

 

In my opinion, South African politics are still divided along racial lines, even though these lines are somewhat blurry at times. I am not saying that the parties mentioned here are only black or only white. Yet, when we look at them the one is predominantly black while the other is predominantly white!

 

The fact that the ANC got 66.34% of the votes can simply mean that the votes that they are getting are historical votes instead of votes based on knowledge. In the months running up to the elections there have been many riots and marches against what the people felt was bad service delivery. People have publicly complained about the poor service delivery by the ANC. However, once it was time to vote they simply voted for the ANC! To me this can only point one way: historical voting.

 

It is now 12 years since the first so-called democratic elections in 1994 when the ANC won to take over the rule of South Africa. The masses saw the ANC as liberators then, and they still see them that way. The black people of this country mostly vote for the ANC.

 

On the other hand we have the official opposition, the DA. After what most whites saw as a sell-out to communistic forces and a crushing defeat in the 1994 general elections, the NP (National Party) started losing ground to other parties. The NP was the ruling party of south Africa from 1948 to 1994. In the 1994 elections the NP only got a third of the votes of what the ANC received. These elections were definitely along racial lines.

 

Although, at this point the NP still got more votes than the DP (Democratic Party - which was to become the DA later on), but by 1999 the DP got 9.56% of the votes and the now NNP (New National Party) only got 6.87%. This simply meant the end of the NP. This also meant that the DP/DA became the official opposition party. At the 2004 GE the DA had 12.37% of the vote while the NNP dwindled to 1.65%. With the 2006 LGE the DA garnered 14.77% of the vote and the NNP was not anywhere to be seen. The DA solidified itself as the opposition. The DA has now become the historical vote of the white people as they see the DA as the only hope for whites in a country where black people rule.

 

Because of the historical voting of black people for the ANC, white people have come to see the DA as the only way to stave off the "onslaught" of the coming communistic regime of the ANC.

 

2. Lack of Knowledge

 

Polls have consistently shown that South Africans are against the big issues such as abortion, pornography, same-sex marriage, etc. Polls have also shown that a majority of people in this country are Christian. However, they keep voting for the ANC or the DA. In order to see what these two parties stand for on these big issues one simply can go to the Biblical Issues Voters' Guide 2006.

 

When the Constitution was created in 1996, both the ANC and the DA voted to eliminate the phrase "in humble submission to Almighty God." Both the ANC and the DA voted for abortion on demand. The ANC as well as the DA are open to the rights of the homosexual lifestyle. The question remains: How far will they push that envelope?

 

The fact is that if Christians knew what these two parties stood for, they might have voted for the ACDP. The day after the elections I spoke to a lady that voted for the ACDP. However, she did say that she did not know what the ACDP stands for! This, I believe, is true of most voters in this country. People vote for parties without actually knowing the principles of those parties.

 

There are, of course, those that say that we should vote for the DA to keep the opposition strong. They claim that we should not divide the opposition. However, the ANC and the DA are so close to each other when it comes to the big issues, why replace the one with the other if the are so similar anyhow? Better the devil you know than the devil you don't know! Actually, in this case we know both!

 

3. Lack of Commitment from the Church

 

If South Africa has a majority of Christians and the church is such a force to be reckoned with, I must say, it is escaping my notice! I certainly cannot see it in these elections!

 

I have heard it from too many churches, "We cannot tell our people who to vote for!" The fact is that no one can tell anyone else who to vote for. However, having said that, I don't want our church leaders to be silent on the matter either!

 

The church is forever preaching about the fact that Christians should get involved in every area of life..., except "politics" of course! From the church's response during the campaign period before the elections, it is clear that they do not believe that we should be involved in politics or that the people in the church should be guided on this issue.

 

The church does believe that we should be part of the solution of creating a better world for our children to live in; however, when they get the opportunity of standing up in the political realm for a Christian party strongly guided by Biblical principles, they drop the ball and lose the game! It is at times like this that we can truly see whether the church is really serious about what they believe or not. "Oh, we do not want to offend the people in the church that vote for other parties!" Yeah, yeah! I have heard that before. It simply means that the church is ambivalent on the issues that matter. They continue preaching pop-sermons every week, trying to make people feel all good about themselves, while the country goes down the drain. I cannot say that I have heard one sermon since 2001 at my own church that deals with the big issues. It is truly a shame!

 

Feel-good sermons are at the order of the day while a Biblical worldview is completely lost on church members! It is time that the church starts preaching a Biblical worldview from the pulpit and stop pussy-footing around the big issues! How is it that the church is willing to guide its people in everything, yet when it comes to politics it turns out to be totally clueless?

 

Who decided that the church is not supposed to speak on political issues from the pulpit? This is simply being "politically correct!" The Bible is full of political issues. Justice for all is strewn across the pages of the Bible from beginning to end.

 

If we look at how the church dealt with the big issues in the past, then the modern church is blatant in its lack of any given stand!

 

"In the pagan Roman Empire, abortion was freely practiced, but Christians took a stand against it. In 314 the Council of Ancyra barred from the taking of the Lord's Supper for ten years all who procured abortions or made drugs to further abortions. Previously the Synod of Elvira (305-306) had specified excommunication till the deathbed for these offenses." (Francis Schaeffer, How Should we Then Live?, Crossway Books, Wheaton, Illinois, 50th L'Abri Anniversary Edition, 2005, p222)

 

Voting to put people like this in power would probably have incurred a similar ban by the church.

 

To say that the church does not get involved in politics is to say that it does NOT care about the people of the country. We are to ensure a good future for our children. Yet, when it comes to politics the church does not care less.

 

So, what should the ACDP be doing for the next elections in 2009?

 

The ACDP should develop a long term plan that will accomplish at least 2 things:

1. Make the ACDP more visible and more prominent. Many people do not know what the ACDP is doing in communities to uplift them. Most people do not even know what the ACDP stands for!

2. Educate people in terms of what the ACDP stands for, how to choose a political party according to Biblical principles and expose the ungodly principles of other parties.

 

The battle starts now!

 

Just thinking...

 

Elections have come and gone!

Two days ago was March 1, 2006. Local government elections day here in South Africa.

 

The party that I stood for as a ward candidate in Tshwane (Pretoria), the ACDP, has lost dismally in these elections (more on the causes of this in a later post - WATCH THIS SPACE!), nationwide and also locally here in Tshwane. Our party president has released an election result statement that can be read here.

 

More on my own ward:

 

I got up at 05:00 in order to get ready for the day. The voting booths across the nation were supposed to open at 07:00. It did in most cases. My wife assisted me as a party agent (PA) in one of my voting districts (VD). My ward had 5 of those. Each voting district has one voting station (VS). Each voting district has an average of about 3,000 voters, even though one of my VSs only had 539 voters registered and another had 5,953 registered voters.

 

It was indeed a busy day as I had to visit each voting station several times during the day and still had to vote and have lunch! I visited most of my stations 4 times during the day. One I visited only three times and another 5 times. At the time of the visit I would chat to my party agents to find out if everything was still fine, but I would also observe the voting process to ensure that no shortcuts are taken by the elections staff from the IEC.

 

One thing that happened during the day that left a bitter taste in my mouth was that the ANC tried to intimidate the VF+ and the ACDP. At the voting station where my wife worked as a party agent for the first 6 hours, the ANC asked the VF+ to remove their gazebo and their party posters no less than 6 times! Luckily the presiding officer from the IEC there did not fall for their tricks and asked me what I thought of that. You see, the VF+ had their gazebo and posters right next to the line where the voters were going to walk by. However, each presiding officer had to demarcate an area within which no campaigning activity was to take place. Outside of that area belonged to the parties. The VF+ had their stand right next to this demarcated area. I simply told the presiding officer that the VF+ was within the elections law and that the ANC had no leg to stand on. They tried the same tactic with the ACDP at one of my other VSs. Luckily my party agent who was on duty at that moment knows his rights as a party agent since he has done this several times before. He simply told the people from the ANC to go read their election manual.

 

One of my voting stations was at the Chinese school. When the voters arrived there in the morning it was under water and full of mud every where. It just happened that my party agent there is also our branch manager and he quickly came up with the idea of getting cardboard boxes and to flatten them so that people could walk on them to the tent where they were to vote. It was quite appropriate that it looked like this at the Chinese school since we started to joke about planting rice paddies there!

 

Evening came and so did 19:00 when voting ended. After this counting started. Since I had worked very hard during the day, I had decided to go home for about an hour and a half while my PAs-for-counting observed and/or ensured that the counting went well. After a little rest I went to the nerve centre of my region at about 21:00. It didn't take long before I received the results of my first voting station. At this point depression set in. I just could not believe the results. Some of the ACDP people that worked with me in my ward thought that this year would be the year that we might possibly take the ward. After that first result I knew that there was just no way that it would happen this year.

 

At about 02:00 our mayoral candidate and I decided to go to the IEC's city results centre. When we arrived there nothing was going on. We immediately deciced to go to the national results centre. We stayed there until 04:30 and then we left. I got home at exactly 05:00. By now I was awake exactly 24 hours.

 

I simply cleaned up, got dressed and went to work. I arrived at work about 06:15. It was not an easy day but I did manage to get some things done. I left work around 13:45 wanting to go sleep. At last!

 

I suddenly thought that if I was not mistaken (amazing that my brain was still working here!), it was my son's last cricket match for the season. I called my wife on my mobile and she confirmed it. Well, decision made! I was going to watch my son's last game! Boy, did he not disappoint me! He hit a quick 17 in the three overs that he batted. After only 4 balls he already had 16 runs (2 sixes and 1 four!).

 

My wife had to leave earlier to pick up my daughter from choir practise. So, at the end of the game my son and I packed up and when we got to the car I realised that my wife had my keys! Something like this would usually rattle my cage, but not this time! I was just too tired to even be remotely upset by this! Much earlier she went to check if my car's alarm was sounding or not. Well, we waited about 20 minutes for her to bring the keys, so my son and I played a little cricket all by ourselves!

 

We finally made it home! We had supper and I eventually got to bed at 21:00. That means that I had been awake for 40 hours! It isn't always easy to be a politician! I had to get up at 05:00 again this morning, giving me only 7 hours sleep.

 

Well, no problem. That is life!

 

The results for the elections in my ward are as follows (top 6 party candidates):

 

DA   - 73.33%

VF+  - 10.31%

ANC  - 10.10%

ACDP -  5.16%

CDP  -  0.36%

PAC  -  0.32%

 

Look out for my next post as I look at what caused this dismal result and what I think should be done to improve it!

 

Just thinking...

 

People are too comfortable

Finding party agents (PAs) for next week's (March 1, 2006) elections proves to be a task that few of us were really ready to face. The ACDP does not work on the principle of big money and buying PAs for election days like other parties do. The ACDP is a thoroughly Christian party, yet it seems to me that Christians still have an aversion to politics.

Before I got involved in politics, I used to listen to and participate in conversations complaining about how the government's laws are creating a perverse society bent on its own destruction. With the regular verbal attacks against Christianity from government it was also easy to see how they could one day use the current liberal and morally depraved South African constitution to label almost anything Christians say as hate-speech and as a result Christianity will lose its freedom in this country.

In the midst of all this, South African Christians are still prone to complaining about the state of the nation, yet are not willing to actually get their hands dirty in order to bring about positive change.

At a National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) convention in Dallas, a member of the British House of Lords said "that biblical preaching could be outlawed unless Christians become more politically active." Beware the day that preachers will no longer be able to speak the truth from their pulpits concerning degenerate lifestyles such as that of homosexuals and lesbians, or even point out that Jesus Christ is to be worshipped ONLY and not Allah or some other moon-god!

If Christians do not rise up in this country as a voice to be reckoned with, I fear that our rights to free-speech and religious freedom will be curbed not so long from now. As Christians we are still very much concerned about our quality of lifestyle instead of our quality of life. There is a real difference between these two concepts. Quality of lifestyle is concerned about the car, house, neighbourhood, bank balance and level of comfort we have. Quality of life is concerned with the greater things in life such as justice, caring for the poor, truth and being able, at the end of the day, to feel that we have seriously impacted others' lives for the glory and kingdom of God, even at the neglect of quality of lifestyle!

Many Christians think that it is enough to attend church--although some do not even do that (a possible sign of apostasy?)--and perhaps even go to Bible study or cell-meeting; yet, the impact they have on their communities only reach as far as their own front doors.

In order to avert a wholesale collapse of our rights as Christians and of our nation's morality, it is absolutely imperative that we as Christians get involved in our communities and in politics. To say that Christians should not get involved in politics is like saying that motorists should not get involved in knowing the rules of using the road. I know, analogies are not always that accurate in expressing what we mean. If we as Christians do not know and get involved in the way government does things (politics), we might just one day wipe the tears away from our eyes and find that we are living in a country run by a bunch of tyrants. Then it will be too late to complain!

To say that this will not happen to us because we are Christians, I would like to tell you that you are wrong! Then you are simply denying what has been happening to Christians from the very first day of Christianity. Remember, Christ was crucified for what He proclaimed! All down history, Christians have been martyred for what they believed. It happened under the Roman Caesars, it happened after the Russian Czars, it happened in Muslim Turkey and is still happening today in Muslim countries, China, North Korea and other countries.

"When I am tempted to believe that I deserve to be safe and prosperous because I believe in Jesus, I remember the martyrs who died to preserve the Gospel for us. When I am tempted to think that believing the Gospel guarantees me comfort, I remember the missionaries who endured all sorts of discomforts and death to bring the Gospel to our continent." (Biblical Democracy, Miriam Cain, Signpost Publications, Second Edition 2004, xi)

Remember, what you "fight" for today, your children will enjoy tomorrow! If you fail today, your children will suffer tomorrow!

As Christians we need to get involved in every sphere of life, and that includes politics.

Are you going to bind up the wounds of the political "downtrodden" or are you going to be like the priest and the Levite who walked past and thought that it had nothing to do with them?

Change in this country depends on YOU! Yes, YOU! Do not leave it for the next person to accomplish! As a Christian YOU have been empowered by the Spirit of God to do mighty things for God! Even in the political arena.

Christians lost the battle of the worldviews in the first three quarters of the 20th century exactly because they withdrew from the public square. In the U.S.A. this cost them things like prayer in school and the lives of over 40 million aborted babies!

It is time, once again, that Christians take their rightful place in this world, ready to preach the gospel to all and to let that gospel carry them into every sphere of life!

Just thinking...

South African Voters' Guide

A voters' guide can be viewed to analyze what some of the main parties in South Africa stand for.

 

HT: Christian Action

 

Just thinking...

Politics and worldview 4 - Support the ACDP!

...continued from Politics and Worldview 3.

I sent out the following letter (between the two horizontal lines) today to all the people I know that call themselves Christian here in South Africa. It is basically an appeal to the Christians of this country.

---

We are living in a time in which almost anything is possible. Humans have put people on the moon and now have gone as far as sending a spacecraft all the way to the planet Pluto. Daily, the airwaves are filled with information that either get decoded into radio output on millions of radios or as television output onto millions of televisions. Information is travelling around this earth in all kinds of format, from radio to TV to emails and SMSs. Information can be disseminated in a matter of seconds to people all around the globe.

Information can inform to the point of changing attitudes and helping people change their minds.

This is where you come in!

As Christians we have a mandate to stand for what God stands for and nothing else. When we look at the political parties in South Africa it quickly becomes apparent that most of these parties do not have God's issues at heart. Most of these parties are so similar in their policies that they could actually be the same party. Just consider the ANC and the DA. On one essential point, abortion, they are exactly the same!

It certainly is time, especially with the local municipal elections of 1 March 2006, for every Christian to decide where he stands. It is interesting that according to statistics, South Africa is majority Christian with more than 70% claiming to be Christian. However, when we vote, we do not show that majority at all!

The question we have to ask is "Why?" There can only be two reasons: either those who claim to be Christians are not Christian at all, or those Christians do not have a Biblical worldview to guide them in their vote. You have to decide for yourself where you stand.

As a candidate in these coming elections I can say with genuineness of heart that the ACDP certainly has God's issues at heart. It is a thoroughly Christian party standing for strong Biblical principles. The ACDP also does not consist of a group of super-spiritual people that are of no earthly good. There are many capable people in the ACDP who are willing to sacrifice of themselves to do a job in government--local or national--that fellow Christians can be proud of.

It all depends on Christians who are willing to stand up and say: "I am willing!"

The question is: Are you willing? Remember, we are in a battle of worldviews, and we know the worldview of the Bible is the only correct one.

So, if you are willing, you can do one of four things: (1) Call your local ACDP branch today and offer your services as a volunteer in these coming elections, (2) Support the ACDP financially (every rand helps in the cause), (3) At least send this email to 5 (or more) other Christians you know, (4) Vote for your ACDP candidate. Hopefully you will do all four!

God can use you today!

--
-------------------------------------------
William Dicks
ACDP Candidate Ward 47 Tshwane
+27 83 556 7600
"Moral crusaders with zeal but no ethical understanding are likely to give us solutions that are worse than the problems."
-- Charles Colson, How Now Shall We Live?
Just thinking... (My blog)
Read my blog for current issues in theology, culture and more...
Gulielmus Contra Mundum
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Politics and worldview 3

...continued from Politics and worldview 2.

After having spoken to several ministers, I was very amused by the fact that they all told me that they could not give support to one party over another from the pulpit.

Here in South Africa churches do not have any kind of tax-free status. Meaning that the church here is taxed like any other organisation.

So, pastors do not want to say which party to vote for or which to support because they do not want to upset those members who vote for parties other than the ACDP. My question is this: Why do these pastors not want to upset them? Should we not stand up for what we believe no matter what area of life, even if it is in the area of politics?

When I look at other parties in South Africa, I cannot with any good conscience vote for any party but the ACDP! I also cannot in good conscience be quiet about who I vote for when asked! Pastors come up with schemes such as "Ask the Lord who you should vote for." Isn't that amazing?! Fine! "Lord, should I vote for the ACDP who stands for the Bible, against abortion, pornography, same-sex marriage, etc or should I vote for the ANC or even the DA who both have raised their hands for abortion?"

What accord has Christ with Belial?
Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever?

(2Co 6:15 ESV)

How can a pastor with a clean conscience tell his people to ask God to tell them who to vote for? We have all seen how people in the past have gone to God to hear His "now" word and came away from this celestial meeting with the biggest lot of anti-Biblical notions.

Goodness me! If people are going to be upset because you have spoken out on your support for the ACDP and not the other parties, then so be it! Perhaps pastors must start preaching on topics to make people think and not on all this new fandangled pop-theology of our modern sermons. It is all to common for pastors to preach for all too long and hardly say anything of any value at all! Why is this so? It simply happens because they are preaching on their favourite topics without actually making the Bible speak on those topics. At church the other day the pastor preached for almost 45 minutes in which he mentioned a couple of verses which did not say at all what he claimed they said! He made absolutely no effort to expound those verses to show what they really meant through proper exegesis! If he did so, then the people would actually start thinking in his sermons. But, as it is, it is more important to experience breakthrough than actually be fed the real unadulterated Word of God.

Now, coming back to the excuses these pastors make for not standing behind what I would call the obvious party to support, if these pastors really taught their people a proper Biblical worldview, then perhaps people would not get upset because they have already been trained to discern between right and wrong! But, it is easier to preach pop-theology than real sermons, because real sermons demand hard work.

Then on the other hand, maybe these pastors do not want to upset the people because then they would lose their base of income through tithes?!

Money talks, I suppose and if it does talk, then what does it say?

Continue to Politics and Worldview 4...

Politics and worldview 2

Coming back to the blog post I wrote yesterday about Politics and worldview, I started thinking of Christian maturity.

(11) And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, (12) to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, (13) until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, (14) so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.
Eph 4:11-14 ESV

It seems to me that the maturity of the church depends a lot on the ministers of the church. Naturally, the maturity of the church does not depend solely on these ministers. However, it seems to me that Paul thought that the role these men play in the church is of great importance.

When I look at the 21st century church, I cannot but think that as an organism, it still has not grown into mature manhood. The people of the church are still very prone to being "tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes."

The ministers of the church therefore, have an ever growing task to bring the church to maturity. However, that does not seem like it will be happening soon. The evidence for this is all too clear when we see a church with great influence--notice that I did not say good influence--likeSaddleback Church deciding to go Hollywood style "glitz and glamour" with a singles night where they will dance the night away in the "Worship Center." It just seems to me that the church continues to be influenced by what "works" (whatever that means) in the world and using the methods of the world. This is in no way conducive to church maturity. Maturity will lead us away from the ways of the world, not to it! Paul will call what Saddleback is doing "human cunning" and "craftiness in deceitful schemes."

It is because churches do this kind of silly worldly stuff that the people in those churches are not maturing. Just to make sure that you understand; knowing theology and doctrine cannot be equated to maturity. It is how that doctrine influences your life that will determine how mature you are.

When it comes to politics, the way you behave in, and respond to, politics and how you vote will clearly show your level of maturity as a Christian. When you keep on supporting parties like the ANC and even the DA, then I have to put a big question mark next to your name. Both of these parties are terribly weak on the big issues and in fact both support abortion (the systematic elimination of human beings - GENOCIDE!) and other horrible sins!

Pastors, it is time for you to start preaching a Biblical worldview from the pulpit, not shirking away from controversial stuff like politics ("oooooooohhh"). You have a mandate from God to preach the truth, ALL OF IT! You do not have the right nor the mandate to pick and choose the truths you will preach on!

Continue to Politics and Worldview 3...

Politics and worldview

I have been thinking of the Christian worldview for a long time now. This is one of my pet peeves in the church... that there simply is no Biblical worldview in much of the church today.

As those of you who have been reading my blog for a while know, I am standing as a candidate for the ACDP in the South African local municipal elections on March 1, 2006. It is a thoroughly Christian party where every little bit of policy is checked against the Bible. The ACDP is not just another conservative party here in South Africa and it is much less just another party that is anti-ANC.

Being completely aligned with what the Bible says about issues, it is easy for the church to marshal its people to vote for the ACDP. And, in fact, if the polls and statistics are correct, then South Africa is majority Christian with about 72% claiming just that! On the other hand, when we look at the election results of previous years it proves that most of those who claim to be Christian in polls have no idea what it means to be Christian.

A case in point is a member in our own church who used to be a member of the ACDP. For some odd reason he has decided to leave the ACDP and stand as a candidate for the ANC! Now if this doesn't strike you odd, I don't know what will! His reasoning for this is that many people at our church vote for the ANC! Yea... the devil too! His reasoning is as sound as the teenage boy who wants his ears/belly button/nose/tongue/etc pierced because "everybody else is doing it!"

Now for those who don't know, the ANC is in the business of rushing controversial legislation through parliament so that laws can exist to favour them. They stand FOR abortion, pornography, same-sex marriage, disarmament of the people, early release of violent criminals and much more! Their worldview is the complete opposite to that of the Christian worldview. How a Christian can vote for the ANC, never mind standing as a candidate for them is completely beyond my understanding!

The fact that so many "christians" do vote for them can mean one of two things: they are not Christians or their worldview has no bearing on what the Bible says.

Who should be blamed for this? Who else but the church? For too long the mantra has been "Don't mix church and politics!" What? As Christians, can we live a political life--voting and complaining about politicians--and also live a separate Christian life? This simply points to a Biblically uninformed worldview. Everything that we do should be informed, touched and transformed by the Bible. IMHO, I believe that when a pastor discovers that he has people in his church who vote for someone like the ANC or standing for them in an election, that he should approach them with great concern. These people are in effect standing with the kingdom of darkness against the kingdom of God. When God says "You shall not murder" these people are saying "No! We will murder!" When God says "You shall have no other gods before me" they say "We are god. We stand for humanism!" How can a Christian stand for this!

When a pastor does not make clear who his people should stand for, they will stand for anything, especially if his church is filled with people with no Biblical worldview! If we as Christians are to affect all spheres of life, why are pastors so reticent to voice their Biblically informed opinions in matters of politics?

Maybe pastors who do not voice their opinions do not want to upset those who vote for the enemy of God's kingdom and as a result lose these people? But then again, what do I know?

Continue to Politics and Worldview 2...

Political campaigning has started!

The reason for my absence on my blog is due to several things, but mainly since my political campaigning for our local municipal elections has started. Up until this past weekend it was not in full swing yet. However, this is where my thoughts have been almost permanently!

Today, however, is the day when things will start getting rough. I feel sorry for my family, though. From today until 1 March (election day), my family will hardly ever see me. I will be out every night from Monday to Friday. Ever Monday and Tuesday night I will be in meetings and every Wednesday to Friday night I will be out campaigning. I believe it will be a time of great stress, and as a result I covet your prayers for this time. Saturdays will also be used for campaigning. Sundays will belong to my family.

You are probably thinking, "What are you talking about?" I wrote about my decision to go into politics in a blog post called A small start in politics back on December 12, 2005. You can read all about it there.

Because my evenings will no longer be open, I will have to go to gym in the mornings. I used to do 2 spinning classes a week at night after work to supplement my cycling which is done over weekends. With the election drive in full swing now, I have to attend morning classes. It was my first one this morning.

Obviously, another thing that will be impacted is this blog. I will for a while not be able to deliver on some of the studies that I would like to do. My posts will most likely be short just to keep you up to date.

I will be standing for the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) and you can read their manifesto for these local municipal elections here. It is a PDF document. You need to use the free Adobe Reader to read this file. If you do not have this reader, you can download it from Adobe's website for free.

I will probably blog mostly on issues that I see in these elections and how they may affect the people of the ward I am standing in. I will attempt to highlight these issues and address them from a Christian point of view.

Just thinking...