By Rev Tan Eng Boo
Praise the Lord for blessing our nation with a new government, following the recent general elections held last Friday (July 10).
The PAP didn’t come to power by chance. Neither did the Workers Party—having 10 elected members in Parliament. I am reminded from Dan 2:21 that is it God who “changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings.” American theologian Albert Barnes explained it well when he said,
“He (God) has absolute control over all the sovereigns of the earth, to place on the throne whom he will, and to remove them when he pleases.”
The election result is surely of God (Rom. 13:1).
And now that the election is over, our new government has much work to do for our nation. But so do we as Christians. What are some things we should do for our nation?
For one, we are supposed to pray for them (1 Tim 2:1-4). Now that we have more opposition members in Parliament, we must pray for them that they will be a part of our nation building. Besides prayer, here are other things we can do:
We should be a part of the IRCC (Inter-Racial and Religious Confidence Circles). Grace BP Church is currently part of this circle, and I have been representing our church in some of the meetings. It is good to stay vigilant and to maintain racial and religious harmony in Singapore. Some of us who have been through the racial riots in the 1960s do not wish to see it happen in our nation again. Let us keep on being a part of the IRCC work.
We should listen and follow the health advisories of the government. No government is perfect. Every government will make mistakes. No one knows this virus fully. Even the WHO has difficulty handling it. We cannot take safety of our personal health for granted. Let us take heed of the advisories and show personal responsibility. As a church, we do so by taking steps to be safe as we work towards livestreaming and eventually, physical congregational worship.
We should build our nation to the glory of God (1 Cor 10:31) and reflect Him in our lives—regardless of whichever politician or political party we voted for in this election. The reality is that some of us may not be happy with the recent election outcome, and may be tempted to behave like some of the Corinthians who said, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Apollos” (1 Cor 3:4). But let us remember that ultimately, we are all Singaporeans. While we may affiliate ourselves with different parties, let’s remember that our greater goal is to reflect Jesus in and through our lives (Matt 5:16).
God bless Singapore!