Putting aside the question of whether vicars actually should be telling people which party to vote for (!), the question of to what extent any candidate’s faith – or lack thereof – should play a part in us choosing whether to vote for them or not is an important one.

Faith may play more of a part in US politics at this point than in Britain, but the worldview any individual holds invariably shapes the values they believe in, and accordingly, what they are likely to do should they obtain office.

Of course – regardless of how we answer this question – there are real positives to having Christian representatives in Parliament, who can speak on our behalf. Immense good has been done by Christian MPs, both past and present, from the anti-slavery reforms of William Wilberforce, to the faithful Christians MPs today who have led the battles against everything from abortion and assisted suicide, to poverty and inequality. This is something we have explored in more depth here.

Let me suggest three things that we might want to think about as we answer this question:

1. Are they actually a Christian?

In some ways, this question is rather unfair; for who are we to judge the faith of another? Ultimately it is God alone who will judge us.

But, as we see within the church at large, people may mean very different things by identifying as Christian. In a country where technically, 46% of people identify as Christian, and yet only 5% go to church weekly, people clearly have very different understandings of what allegiance to Christ actually means.

For some, being ‘Christian’ might be seen as a mark of Britishness, particularly in the increasingly-prevalent ‘culture-wars’ and the debates around immigration. Others may view it as trying to follow Christ’s teaching, but little more. For some of our recent Prime Ministers (such as David Cameron and Boris Johnson) although they would claim to be Christian, their faith seems to be little more than nominal.

But at CARE, we firmly believe that to be Christian requires far more than such things: to be a Christian means to follow and trust Jesus as your Saviour and the Lord of every part of your life, based on the historical realities of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection.

To follow Jesus means – and has always meant – believing certain key things, and looking to live in a certain way. Yes, of course there are disputable matters too, where Christians are allowed to disagree, but there are some core truths around which we all unite.

If your local candidate is claiming to be a Christian, do they mean what you mean by it?

2. Do their policies reflect God’s heart?

It is one thing to say you follow Jesus. It is quite another to enact policies which glorify him.

At times within the Old Testament, Israel and Judah were ostensibly worshipping God. But at the same time, their policies led to exploitation and injustice. At the start of the book of Isaiah, God warns his people that he is less interested in their sacrifices than he is the way they are treating one another:

“The multitude of your sacrifices—
    what are they to me?” says the Lord.
“I have more than enough of burnt offerings,
    of rams and the fat of fattened animals;
I have no pleasure
    in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats…

Your hands are full of blood!

Wash and make yourselves clean.
    Take your evil deeds out of my sight;
    stop doing wrong.

Learn to do right; seek justice.
    Defend the oppressed.
Take up the cause of the fatherless;
    plead the case of the widow.”

(Isaiah 1:11, 15-17)

The theologian Chris Wright, in his excellent book ‘Here are your gods’, warns of:

“[the mentality which] imagines that the kingdom of God can be advanced by getting ‘our man in the White House’ – the precise words that a dear American friend said to me when I landed in the United States a few days after a previous presidential election. “He holds a prayer meeting in the Oval Office!” she went on, with obvious delight. I could not help but recall the prophet Amos…what matters to God, Amos would say, is not what a president says in his prayers but what his government does in practice and whether that aligns in any degree at all with the standards of justice and compassion that God’s Word makes very clear are the responsibilities of those entrusted with political power.”

Indeed, sometimes God actually uses those who do not believe in him to accomplish his purposes. Think of Cyrus, who was chosen by God as his vessel through which the Jews were allowed to return to Judah.

We need to ask whether the Christian candidates we are thinking of supporting do not just have a personal faith, but whether they will reflect God’s Kingdom in their actions.

And more than that, we ought to reflect on whether the party they represent will do the same (or whether the party will even allow them to as an individual!).

3. Do we desire Christian MPs for the right reasons?

As Christians, we pray earnestly for God’s Kingdom to come on earth, as it is in heaven; understandably, we long to have the means for that to occur. We long to see Christians having an influence for Jesus in the public square.

It is much easier to change things when you are in power. We want to use power to speak up for the powerless. At CARE we know well the frustration of not always being able to change things, of feeling like we are a ‘lone voice in the wilderness’ when we speak about human trafficking in the Illegal Migration Bill or outdated gambling legislation on football shirts.

But the church has not always been very good at being in power. We are still sinners, and remain susceptible to corruption, hypocrisy and abuse, just like everyone else.

We’ve seen it throughout history: for the first three centuries of its existence or so, the church was not in power; persecuted by Rome, living in poverty, eschewing violence. It changed after the conversion of the Roman Emperor, Constantine, to Christianity, and the legalisation of the Christian faith in AD 313 via the Edict of Milan. Church and state soon formed an alliance, Christians began to be seduced by power, wealth and luxury, and the persecuted became the persecutors, eventually spreading the gospel by the sword, rather than by the Spirit.

Power is not a bad thing in and of itself; but we have to be particularly careful how we use it.

Jesus offered a completely different vision of kingship to the world around him. He told his disciples on the night before he died: “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.” (Luke 22:25-27)

The greatest, most earth-shattering event the world has ever seen came when Jesus refused to use his power. He said when he was arrested, “Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matthew 26:53), but let the Sanhedrin try him, the authorities flog him and the soldiers crucify him; true power, for Jesus, came through submission and service of others.

Jesus did not seek to cling to power, but looked to make himself nothing in humility. He was in very nature God, yet “did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,” submitting himself to death on a cross.

Let us all examine our own attitudes this election-time as we consider who to vote for, and let us remember that more than God bringing His Kingdom through power, he does so through sacrifice.