I’ve been feeling sick again this week with some form of virus, and agree with Amy Carmichael (a missionary to Japan, Sri Lanka and India). After being confined to bed for a time, she said: “what asses bodies are!” When sickness comes, it’s so easy to become frustrated, complain and moan. I do this (to my shame).

But God’s been teaching me that sickness is also a good time to have our false priorities, pride and self-sufficiency swept away. Below is a short video of the life of Charlotte Elliott – which shows so vividly the power of God at work to bring hope out of hopelessness, peace out of despair.

Just as I am, without one plea,
But that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou bidst me come to Thee,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, and waiting not
To rid my soul of one dark blot,
To Thee whose blood can cleanse each spot,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, though tossed about
With many a conflict, many a doubt,
Fightings and fears within, without,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, poor, wretched, blind;
Sight, riches, healing of the mind,
Yea, all I need in Thee to find,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, Thou wilt receive,
Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve;
Because Thy promise I believe,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, Thy love unknown
Hath broken every barrier down;
Now, to be Thine, yea, Thine alone,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Charlotte Elliott (1835)

A few minutes ago, I read through the headlines at brisbanetimes.com.au. Here’s a few of them:

• The gloves are off as the tussle for the top begins
• Gillard’s plan to crush Rudd
• Ministers line up to pour on the venom

It’s quite a time in Australian politics with the current leadership crisis. Many people are sharing their views on the Gillard versus Rudd issue – taking sides, and the accompanying abuse, distrust, accusation and slander. It has gotten pretty nasty. As I’ve been watching / reading about this, I’ve thought: what should we think as Christians about what is happening? What should we be doing as Christians?

I don’t have all the answers. But in thinking about these questions, my mind immediately went to God’s message to us in 1 Peter 2:13-17

13  Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, 14 or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. 15 For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. 16  Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. 17  Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.

The above verses came to my mind because last year, Winston and I met regularly to catch up, pray and read through 1 Peter together.  When we got to the above verses, I was rebuked. The reason being: I am like many Australians – quick to find fault with our leaders, explaining away any good things the government does, always being negative, and even stooping so low as to make fun of our Prime Minister’s accent. Yes, in all honesty, I do disagree with a number of the government’s policies. And I think this is OK  - especially when I feel they contradict the Bible’s teachings. But that night at Winston’s place, God spoke through 1 Peter 2 and told me that I am to honour my leaders. And I need to repent of my mentality towards them.

Honouring my leaders means that I’m not to tell jokes about them; I’m not to enjoy seeing them make policy mistakes (which might hurt Australians), just because I want to see the government fall. I’m to speak kindly about them, even when I disagree. I’m to be thankful that I have a say in government affairs through my local member of parliament, and can make my voice heard there and with my vote in the next election. I can also pray to the Sovereign God, asking Him to be at work to bring wisdom, justice and mercy in and through the leaders of our country.

Just to reiterate His message in 1 Peter 2, God says a very similar thing to us in Romans 13:

1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4 for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 7  Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.

God has taught me some hard but good lessons about honouring our leaders. In the time of this Australian Government leadership crisis, it is my prayer that you might do the same - giving respect to whom respect is owed, honour to whom honour is owed, as an act of obedience to our good God who rules over all.

Tolerance: this must be one of our society’s most valued catch-phrases. It’s thrown around on the TV, in the newspapers, by our friends and at our universities. Tolerance seems to be at the forefront of many political and social discussions. But what does tolerance mean?

Does it mean that if we disagree with someone else, then we’re intolerant? Does it mean that we must accept all people’s opinions and the subsequent outworking of their opinion? If this is what is meant by tolerance, then the world is an intolerant place, and I have to say – so it should be (and so should I be). If we were to accept all people’s views, then we’d have to accept the acts of terrorists who kill innocent people as OK. We’d have to accept the actions of Hitler, and Chairman Mao. But this is not true tolerance. This form of tolerance does not and cannot work. True tolerance, can never accept evil to reign.

The world wants Christians to be tolerant, but we need to figure out what true tolerance is. Reading my 50 year-old Oxford Dictionary, the classic definition of true tolerance is to be able to disagree with another person, but still be able to love/relate to them in a peaceful/positive way.

As Christians, we believe that we have the truth, not because we are special in and of ourselves, but because we believe that God has spoken in His Word, the Bible. If God, the all-knowing God, had never spoken, then we would not know Him, and we would not know truth or have any right to say we have absolute truth. But He has spoken: Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by His Son (Hebrews 1:1-2). We know God, and we know that His message is a message of love and hope (John 3:16). Because of this, our message to the world can never be one of shouting from the rooftops that we’re right and you’re wrong, but instead needs to be a communication of the love of God for His world.

Yes, as Christians, we disagree with other religions; yes we disagree with many of today’s society norms, and yes, we hate the evil atrocities of this world (e.g. 9/11, the Rwanda Genocide). We are not to be blindly intolerant. But we are to be people of love, as our King and Saviour is love (1 John 4:8). It is love that should be seen as our defining characteristic (even amongst our disagreements).

Are you a person of love? Do people see you as a person of love, especially when you disagree with them? Or are you rude or arrogant? This is a good prayer I’ve learnt to pray; maybe you might like to pray it with me: “Lord, help me to be a person who holds fast to your truth, and speaks and lives your truth in love. Amen.”