Yesterday, April 28th, 2025, marked the 45th federal election in Canadian history. What a unique privilege it is to live in a democratic country where we can contribute to deciding how a country is led. For most of history, this has been a foreign concept, and even in our world today, it is far from certain. Yet, amid that privilege, I’ve also seen a shift in how we view politics. Yesterday’s election falls in the middle of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and I realized that our reactions to our sports teams winning or losing are identical to how we are now responding to elections.
Just like the excitement of cheering on a sports team, we see an election as a win/lose proposition. We win if our guy is elected. We lose if we don’t. The emotional reactions to these wins and losses can be as epic as any reaction to a sports team competing in the playoffs. Yet politics in a democracy is not a win/lose scenario.
I hope our first response to elections is thanksgiving. Did we not all win (even if our ‘team lost’) by having free elections again? That sounds idealistic, but having family in Holland who were under German occupation during World War 2, I do not want to take it for granted. As I look at our diverse church community and people from around the world, where free elections are a foreign concept, I do not want to miss giving thanks for what we have.
Second, as followers of Jesus, I hope that how we engage in the politics of the world is different than division and win-lose. I hope that the way we see people is different than the way the world sees them. I believe we need to ask some questions of ourselves:
Do we love our enemies (or our political opponents)?
Do we trust the sovereignty of God amidst the political decisions that are made? This does not mean the decisions are God’s will, merely that God supersedes any.
Do we see public figures such as politicians as people who bear the image of God?
Third, we are called to participate politically in the world we live in, just not the way the world does. Politics is, at its most basic, how we structure our relationships and care for each other as a society. In Canada, participating politically means getting out and voting, or even getting a party membership. In the Kingdom of God, being ‘political’ means so much more – it is about how we care for and love others. As Anabaptists (it means rebaptizers and is the heritage of our Mennonite Brethren group) who believe we should live according to scripture, we believe we are citizens of God’s Kingdom first, and citizens of a country second. Faith is very political. Faith is not nationalistic. But what those politics look like are different, as scripture has different priorities reflected in the Kingdom of God than our world’s priorities. Consider these verses of scripture and how they call us to live out the Kingdom of God here as Christ Followers:
Exodus 22:21 (NIV)
“Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner, for you were foreigners in Egypt.”
Leviticus 19:33–34 (NIV)
“When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them.
The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born.
Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.”
Matthew 25:35 (NIV)
“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in…”
James 1:27 (NIV)
“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this:
to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”
Isaiah 1:17 (NIV)
“Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed.
Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.”
Micah 6:8 (NIV)
“He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”
Proverbs 31:8–9 (NIV)
“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves,
for the rights of all who are destitute.
Speak up and judge fairly;
defend the rights of the poor and needy.”
Zechariah 7:9–10 (NIV)
“This is what the Lord Almighty said:
‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another.
Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor.
Do not plot evil against each other.’”
Leviticus 19:18 (NIV)
“Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people,
but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.”
Luke 10:36–37 (NIV)
[From the Parable of the Good Samaritan]
“‘Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?’ The expert in the law replied, ‘The one who had mercy on him.’
Jesus told him, ‘Go and do likewise.’”
Romans 12:20–21 (NIV)
“‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.’
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
Matthew 5:43–45 (NIV)
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’
But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
that you may be children of your Father in heaven.
He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”
Ephesians 2:14–19 (NIV)
“For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one
and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility…
Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers,
but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household.”
Hebrews 13:2 (NIV)
“Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers,
for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.”
1 John 3:17–18 (NIV)
“If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?
Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.”
In the Kingdom of God, faith is deeply political, and we are called to live out our faith in our actions in the world where God has placed us. Our politics point people not to a political party, but to the one true King of Kings. How does your life reflect the politics of God’s Kingdom over the politics of this world?
Mike Engbers is the Lead Pastor at Parliament Community Church in Regina, SK, located near Harbour Landing. As a church, we offer programs for all ages, from children to youth, young adults to Seniors who are part of our Heritage groups. We are also diverse in cultural backgrounds but share a desire to grow as disciples of Christ together.