Politics is an arena in which personal convictions and public service intermingle like no other; a home of great power and yet a place where decisions require consensus and approval on many levels. Within a country composed of many religions, and bearing in mind the common root of convictions and beliefs, I feel it valuable to refresh our predominantly secular view of politics and politicians to include a religious point of reference. With your permission I would like to

share my own personal viewpoint founded upon Christianity, in the hope it might at least provoke some thought about the political demands placed upon all of us by our respective religions.

As a Christian, I know that I am by no means isolated amongst members of the world's major religions in being required to apply the guidelines and rules of my religion throughout my live without exception. The forthcoming election is certainly an occasion during which this requirement can be exercised, for insomuch as a Christian believes one candidate would do more good than another in the eyes of the Lord, it is incumbent upon the Christian to vote for that candidate.

Thus far, I am sure all seems quite agreeable. However, danger lurks in the naive application of such a principle; the promises made by a candidate before election frequently fail to reach fulfillment. Oftentimes the candidate lacks the experience, resolve or ability to bring about the changes promised. In yet other cases, the newly elected politician feels free to ignore promises which were made and begins to views them as merely a means by which to win votes.

How then should the Christian decide, given that promises cannot be taken at face value? A useful measure of the worth of a man is by the deeds he performs; as the Bible teaches, a good man will not bear bad fruits, nor a bad man bear good fruits. When one considers a candidate, a Christian should care to judge him based upon his past performance as well as what he promises for the future. If the fruits of his past are bad, why should one think that the fruits he will bear in the future will be good?

Yet still, this is not enough to judge a politician, for in the complex world of politics, a man's will is not always entirely his own. There are frequently loyalties to political parties, other people or communities which will influence him if he is elected. It is true to say that a man cannot serve two masters; that is to say that he will serve God in his work, or he will serve his other master; he can never serve both entirely but will pay lip service to one and obey the other. Christians learn that to serve the weakest amongst us is to serve God himself, making true service of the most disadvantaged amongst mankind no conflict of interest with serving God. So, one should measure candidates against that yardstick and ascertain whether they strive to help everyone who is hungry, needy, ill or otherwise helpless and without the slightest regard to the creed, race, background, or nationality of those people, for these are signs of true service of God.

Needless to say, a Christian should count against a candidate any form of inequity, corruption, repression or works which enrich the wealthy above enriching the poor - for whether these are silently accepted or vocally supported they are a powerful indication that the politician seeks not to serve God but the evils of greed, thirst for power or base racist and nationalist depravities. Every good man fit for public office fights against these things at every step of the way, whatever the consequences may be for self, family, party or nation, for there can be no compromise between what is right and what is evil. Should no candidate match up to these very basic and most essential

of requirements, then a Christian does well to pray for and hasten the finding of new candidates from amongst the most upright and God-fearing members of society.

Of particular importance to a Christian is that he must ensure that the candidate who gains his vote is one who will not stand in the way of God's will. Importantly, this means choosing a candidate who supports freedom of religion, a freedom which allows Christians to be uninhibited in their obedience to the Word of God. One might check whether a candidate fully supports the right of Christians to spread the Good News to people of all races, religions and nations, and to serve God through every part of their lives. To me as a Christian, any politician who condones or leaves unopposed a limitation upon the teaching of Christianity and laws restricting forms of Christian public worship is in direct opposition to the expressed will of God.

As a Christian, I pray that the new government will have upright and God-fearing members sufficient that the will of God will be furthered throughout their term of parliament, and that God's guidance and blessing will upon those in authority, throughout this nation and in all nations.