Dear…
‘And said unto the children of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all kingdoms, and of them that oppressed you. And ye have this day rejected you God, Who himself saved you out of all your adversities and your tribulations, and ye have said unto Him, Nay, but set a king over us…’
1 Samuel 10:18-19
A particular long opening verse this is, but the Lord has impressed upon me to keep the rest of this sharing concise and by His grace, I will.
As I pen this, just after lunch, Nominations had just closed and preliminary figures showed that an unprecedented 82 out of 87 seats for the May 7th General Election in Singapore will be contested. The Reverend Francis Khoo of Covenant Vision Center in his prophetic Word released for this year shared about the vision he received in Nov 2010 of 6 months of great prosperity, followed by a period of uncertainty.( http://www.covenantvision.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=268&Itemid=81 ).
Is it not prescient that the election month of May also marks the end of that first 6 months and while it is anybody’s guess as to how the general population in Singapore will cast their votes, if the noise on the ground were to be reflected into actual votes, as a country, we could be in for some significant changes.
As a Christian, we are of this world but not in this world. But we are also commanded to respect our human leaders as men anointed by God. But does anointed in our fallen world mean that our leaders must be a Christian? And reality is not every professed Christian truly live out their calling and in the same vein, there are also very good leaders who are not Christians but have lived a life that is more in line with the values that we hold dear.
“Who should one vote for?’ was never an issue for most of us in past elections, for a dearth of good quality opposition candidates in past elections have ensured that few of us really had a chance to vote and even if we had that opportunity, the choice was obvious
But is this time different, with most of the available seats being contested? Many of us will finally not just be given a chance to vote but with real choices, as there do seem to be a great improvement in the quality of the opposition. But who should one vote for and should our moral values grounded upon one's religious beliefs, be the basis for making that all important decision?
Most in my generation(age 40s to 50s) are the baby boomers who truly benefited from our strong and good leadership. And we know that having experienced the difficult years of Konfrontasi(when Indonesia under the late President Soekarno was pretty antagonistic), the race riots(which was thankfully arrested before we had a chance to experience the human carnage we see in Rwanda and rump Yugoslavia when it broke apart and different ethnic groups embarked on ethnic cleansing) and having lived through our transformation from 3rd world to 1st world living standards,should we not stick to the safe and proven rather than vote for a change for the sake of putting a point across to the establishment? And are we like the Israelites of whole who never appreciated the miracles God wrought in their midst and rather follow a golden calf of their own making than the leading of God and His chosen servant leader, Moses.
‘Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.’
1 Corinthians 10:14
But is the status quo truly God’s will? Have we as a nation become so enamored with our blessings that we have moved away from the will of God? The world with all their riches and their idols have descended upon our tiny nation. In our efforts to be conducive, have we moved away from the values that have anchored our nation and have we allowed ourselves to evolve more and more into the warped values of the world. A world where the traditional family is no longer sacrosanct, where greed and pride and self interest takes precedence over community. And where legalistic arguments justifies unethical values and less care and concern for the needy?
‘Then Mordecai commanded to Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king’s house, more than all the Jews. For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place, but thou and thy father’s house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?’
Esther 4:13-15
As the Bible has taught us, to disobey the will of God in order to maintain one’s present comfort zone is a recipe for disaster and the loss of the very thing that one is trying to preserve. This was the warning given to Queen Esther, when Mordecai asked her to approach the King, at risk to her own life, to save her people. Are we as a nation doing the same?
‘How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts..’
Jude 1:18
Yet, God is also very clear about deviant lifestyles. Satan is a lover of itself. Prideful, insatiably lustful and lovers of themselves. It is not for us to discriminate nor impose our beliefs upon those who choose to live their life different from the command of God. However, is it right for us to place in leadership, person or persons whose value system will be reflected in decisions they made not just for themselves but for this blessed nation of ours and is it possible for one to keep separate, one’s beliefs in the private, totally disconnected from one’s public role? Christians are asked to share but not impose their faith in the way they live, but can the same apply to those who desire an alternative lifestyle? Based on what is observed in the West which is more “liberal” or “carnal” depending upon one’s belief system, proponents of an alternative lifestyle do not stay within their confines, but instead do actively seek to propagate and push that choice into the mainstream of society, if given half a chance? But would it be fair to ascribe that same possible behavior to someone who is of the same orientation but state in no clear terms that they will not propagate? Only God knows what is in a person’s heart.
But as a Christian, it is not about what we think, but rather, what is the will of God and God will lead us.
We must surrender that right to decide based on our finite and flawed understanding even if it seems to rest upon high moral grounds, and to surrender to the leading of the Holy Spirit, our Spiritual compass. Empowerment comes not from the exercising the right to decide, but rather the decision to follow the will of God.
'Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.'
Malachi 4:5
It is good that we take time to pray for our nation as we go through this possibly defining moment in our country. The Israelites of old lost their nation not just because their enemies were stronger and more insidious. They lost because the Israelites themselves have turned away from God and looked to mammon instead.
Indeed, there are greater issues to ponder upon in this election than just mere bread and butter, but the very question of our soul and what it means in eternity. And it is the Spiritual compass that God has placed in our hearts, the Holy Spirit Who will guide us on polling day, in making the decision that will please God.
Rgds and God Blesses
Eng Hieang
(27th April 2011)
The Great Divide
This sharing might not be written if I need not have to vote. Was it by divine intervention that I did get a chance to vote this time. My constituency, Holland by the liberal interpretation of our electoral planners have been cut nicely into two distinct voting districts. And instead of using a ruler like our old colonial British masters who together with the other Western colonial powers, happily cut up Africa with no regard to tribal loyalties, the guys in charge used the Malaysian owned railway track as the dividing line for my constituency. My home is right smack at one side of the railway track and just a few meters separated me from being part of Tanjong Pagar GRC,(though for the world of me, I find it hard to understand two geographically disconnected place can now be considered the same) where there is no contest. Instead, I now find myself part of the Holland Bt Timah GRC, likely to be one of the most hotly contested seats and a possible magnet for controversy given the implied but never admitted questions raised on the choice of lifestyle of of one opposition candidate.
And as I closed this sharing, our good Lord brought me to the story of how Paul and Barnabas, both faithful men of God, who had different views as to who to take with them in their ministry and went their separate ways and God bless their works mightily. And indeed, choice presents both a dilemma for many and also often act as a source of friction for faithful men of God. It matters not who we vote for, but what matters is that each of us must truly take time with the Lord our God and follow His leading.
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