Singapore soon has a general election that is attracting unparalleled interest. Candidates, platforms, alternatives and rallies abound. Normally apathetic people are going to rallies and following the new media for their fresh and diverse perspectives.
How do we follow Christ in the polling booth?
The following Bible study uses the familiar rubric of creation / fall / redemption to give some starter questions on this issue. The study and questions arise from the conviction that there is not a singular Christian way to vote, but what matters is whether our motivations and reasons for voting the way we do reflect our confession of Christ as saving Lord.
CREATION
1. Where do institutions of government come from? How should that shape our attitudes and actions? (Rom 13:1-7; 1 Titus 3:1; 1 Pet 2:13-17)
2. What boundaries are there to Christian submission to governments (Acts 4:19)? In what ways does that reflect the first commandment? (Exod 20:3) What does that mean in Singapore today – where should our boundaries be? Are we adept at separating our Christian and Singaporean identities?
FALL
3. What sad effects of the Fall do the following passage track with respect to politics? (Deut 17:14-20; 1 Sam 8:10-17) How do we see that playing out in local politics?
4. It is often said that the US constitution has a Biblical sense of human sinfulness in a careful separation and balancing of powers. In what ways can we help maximise this separation and balance in Singapore - given a single-chamber parliament and local political realities?
REDEMPTION
5. How should our identity as followers of Jesus shape the way we vote tomorrow? How is this different to the way others may decide how to vote?
6. How do we love both God and our neighbour in the polling booth (Matt 22:34-39)?
7. How, specifically, should we pray for politics generally and specifically for local Christians in politics (1 Tim 2:1-2)?
8. 'If Christ is not Lord over our all, he is not really our Lord at all.' Discuss the implications of this for how we vote.
