What, I have been asked, is Jubilee Centre's message to those who didn't vote for David Cameron or Nick Clegg?

Ignoring the fact that very few of us even had the chance to vote for the new Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister or even the former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, as very few of us live in any of their constituencies, our message to all voters remains the same as it was before the election - namely:

1. Be encouraged: Everyone elected has since been empowered by God for his purposes: (see Preparing to Vote: Christians and the Election, point 3)
2. Don't be numbered among those who rail against the newly elect; rather: participate, pray and serve (see Making it Practical: Applying the Principles to Policy)

Let me expand a little on these latter two points.

Participate

I should repeat my warning about being perceived to campaign against things, and against things that appear to be of very little relevance to the vast majority of people – issues such as same sex marriage, abortion, and freedom of religion. If we are in any sense 'to carry the Christian message to the heart of government', we will need first to demonstrate the relevance of that message to the concerns at the heart of government: these being, as identified by the Liberal Conservative Coalition Agreement, (i) Deficit Reduction, (ii) Spending Review - NHS, Schools and a Fairer Society, (iii) Tax Measures, (iv) Banking Reform, (v) Immigration, (vi) Political Reform, (vii) Pensions and Welfare, (viii) Education, (ix) Relations with the EU, (x) Civil liberties, and (xi) Environment – many of these being areas in which Jubilee Centre has and continues to conduct biblical research.

As Lord Brian Mawhinney once put it, in his book In The Firing Line: Politics, Faith, Power and Forgiveness: 'Christians should not think that they can reverse the trend by turning up a few days before a vote and demanding that MPs vote as they would wish them to. Most MPs will ignore them and support instead the lifestyles and presuppositions with which most of their constituents acquiesce. Many MPs will be persuaded to change only of the popular mood changes. Berating them with Christian presuppositions is useless when the spirit is shut down to persuasion.'

He continued, 'The Christian view will prevail, other than by God's direct intervention, only when we persuade our communities generally to change their views by persuading them that there is a better way. That poses one of the most enormous challenges of the twenty-first century and should be a focus for much prayer. Fortunately, this debate on fundamentals does not have to be conducted in Christian jargon. Indeed it cannot be, for we will have to seek common cause with those who would not claim to be Christians but who, for their own reasons, want the same sort of social policy we do.'

I suspect we have things to learn from the way the two political parties have come together to form their coalition, despite their ideological differences and contrasting worldviews, and committed to 'work hard for the common good and the national interest.'

(For further reflections on the common good, see also Ruth Gledhill's The Three 'C's: Cameron, Clegg and the Common Good)

Pray and serve

Again, to quote from In The Firing Line, Lord Mawhinney noted the shock and concern in Christian circles when a survey of churches revealed that only eight local churches in every hundred prayed frequently for their local MP by name and less than five local churches in every hundred prayed for their local councillors by name. The former MP and member of cabinet went on to note, 'Too often, when all I wanted was a word of encouragement or the prayerful assurance that a fellow church member was burdened to pray for me personally, all I received was "I saw you on TV this week.'' I do not mean to despise such a friendly greeting, but there were times when more was needed. Millions saw me on TV, but millions could not pray for me, nor come to the Commons to pray and have fellowship with me, nor even occasionally offer Betty [his wife] company and fellowship as night after night she was at home while I was at work. Millions could not do those things. Only individual Christians could do those things if they were motivated.'

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