Emerging from the federal election: divisiveness or diversity
September 2021
The “attack ads” on television have ceased. The colourful lawn signs are slowly coming down. The media have returned to reporting on the Covid-19 pandemic after 35 days of election polls, political rallies and platform analyses. And the make-up of our federal government is much the same as it was the day before the federal election was called. One CBC political commentator, late on election night, summed up the positions of the party leaders with this statement: “Nobody got what they wanted.”
So what are we left with? Do we simply return to what was before – minus the $600m spent to have this election? Even though the Liberal party will form this (minority) government, they didn’t even come first in the popular vote. Some have made the observation that the election campaigns have left our country more divided than ever. Is divisiveness the only “fruit” that we’re left with going forward? Like the popular romantic comedy movie “Groundhog Day” from the early nineties, are we destined to simply repeat the same scenario of the past two years all over again – except perhaps with more greatly entrenched divisions?
People of faith are left with a further dilemma. Those of us who sincerely believe that a loving, living, divine Creator is guiding this world and everything in it to a good end, are left wondering, “Where is God in all of this?”
Neither the Hebrew Scriptures nor the New Testament have any examples of modern democratic elections. But there is a major incident very early in the Christian “movement” (it wasn’t even recognizable as a “church” yet) that can shed some light for us. Immediately after the resurrection of Jesus Christ, fellow Jews in Jerusalem and in the neighbouring areas responded to the preaching of the Gospel and, in faith, accepted the truth about the death and resurrection of Jesus as God’s Son. For them, the recognition of Jesus as the Messiah was simply the ultimate result of their Jewish faith. However, it was not long before Gentiles (non-Jews) and Gentile communities also started responding to the proclamation of the Gospel. The Acts of the Apostles records, in particular, the missionary efforts of Paul and Barnabas in these Gentile communities. As Acts records, it was not long before “certain individuals from Judea were teaching the brothers, ‘Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved’.” In other words, the Gentiles had to become practicing Jews before they could be Christians. Employing diplomatic understatement, the author of Acts writes, “After Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to discuss this question with the apostles and the elders.” [Acts 15:1-2] The gathering that resulted has been named “The Jerusalem Council” – just brimming with some of the passionate divisiveness that our country and government are facing now.
And one could conclude that “nobody got quite what they wanted.” The Jewish Christians were not successful at forcing their Gentile fellow-Christians to adopt the Jewish law and customs. Likewise, the Gentile Christians were not free to carry on with their own autonomous brand of Christianity. There were a few “Jewish directives” that they would be required to adhere to. [See James’ “speech” in Acts 15:19,20]
And how did it work out moving forward? Did everyone calm down and live happily ever after? No. Paul and Barnabas’s mission to the Gentile communities of Asia Minor (Turkey) and Europe (Greece) was continually plagued by radical “fringe” groups insisting on their own interpretation of what the life of faith in God should entail. But in spite of those pockets of resistance, the Christian movement of both Jews and Gentiles grew and matured into what became the Way – the Church of Jesus Christ. And this was possible because of leaders and people listening to the leading of the Holy Spirit and accepting that diversity (not divisiveness) was part of God’s design. They realized that when they came together to work for the good of all, they could make decisions and plan courses of action that did respond to everyone’s needs. While the diversity initially made the work more difficult, it resulted in a more powerful and effective proclamation of the Gospel expanding across the east and west.
The “Groundhog Day” syndrome aside, maybe we, and our government, are being invited to “do this again” with the hope that the leaders (of all stripes) will bring their differences to the table along with the determination to make decisions and implement policies and actions that will further the lives of all Canadians. Is this an idealistic hope? Of course it is, but it is one worth praying for, talking about, and helping to bring to fruition.
