Politics

A year out from the next general election in New Zealand, Christian leaders are being drawn into talk about forming a new political party to contest the election.

One leader says that he wants to make a stand against the four big issues of abortion, euthanasia, genderism and homosexuality. Unfortunately, when Christians campaign on these issues, the fear, anger and hatred that pervades the modern church is exposed. When people see the lack of love and compassion, they will react with hostility. The media will have a field day.

Another leader says that the government is not supporting Christian values. The problem is that New Zealanders no longer support Christian values. They like what the church does when it cares for the weak and vulnerable (the Salvation Army still gets strong support). However, they intensely dislike some of the things that the church stands for and the way that it operates. People have adopted different values and now place tolerance and inclusiveness as their highest value. They still believe in some Christian values, such as generosity, forgiveness, kindness, but they will no longer accept the entire package of so-called Christian values.

Christians cannot blame the government or the media for the rejection of their values. They have failed to proclaim the gospel to the nation in the power of the spirit, so the percentage of the population that follows Jesus has dropped significantly. When Christian values do not flow out of love for Jesus and the fruit of the Spirit, they become harsh and sterile. Only the gospel and the Spirit can change that.

Christians claim to believe in grace, not law. They acknowledge that laws cannot change human hearts. Yet when grace is rejected, they always seem to fall back on using law to change people’s behaviour. They want to use the power of the state to enforce Christian morality. Unfortunately, using laws in this way always fails, and creates hostility to the Christians who try to impose their laws on people who do not want them.

When Christians use political power to impose their morality, they are seen as legalistic and hypocritical, and the gospel of grace gets lost in the smoke.

I don’t understand why people with the wonderful gospel supported by the glorious Holy Spirit would prefer to rely on law and political power, as it turns the good news into bad news.