Sign of the times: Political leaders sometimes inspire fanatical devotion. Former president Jacob Zuma at the St John Apostolic Church in Johannesburg is flanked by Reverend John Molefe Moloi and Archbishop Daniel Mathe. (Lucky Morajane/Gallo Images)
Politicians are, for the most part, insufferable creatures, given to embellishment and lies, but as election dates draw nearer, they degenerate further — regurgitating failed promises and spewing fresh and impossible ones without shame.
Small wonder, then, that a man of the calibre of author, critic and Christian apologist GK Chesterton said it was “terrible to contemplate how few politicians are hanged”. That was in 1921.
Fast-forward 103 years after Chesterton’s gem, and there are countries that do execute politicians and officials — one can look to some of our Brics partners for examples — although not solely for corruption or failing the state.
There, they are mostly put to death or assassinated for not adhering to the preferences of the political party or religious group in charge or its chosen dictator/president for life/quasi-messianic megalomaniac.
In South Africa — given that it is illegal to hang them — many citizens justifiably view politicians with scepticism, while others have reached their scepticism quota and charged headlong into the realm of disdain.
Both are legal in a democracy, as is the encouragement or criticism of both.
But, at the other end of the proverbial spectrum, there are those whose loyalty to politicians and political parties reaches levels of fanaticism that would leave even the religious blushing. They display a devotion to party, politicians and a state that has failed, and continues to fail, them so often that it renders the continued adoration perplexing.
Many Bible-believing Christians find it difficult to fathom the extent of this fervour, which resembles the devotion they believe should be directed only at Jesus Christ.
It is necessary here to make a distinction between Christians and Bible-believing Christians. The former are fairly socially well accepted, while the latter are viewed as fundamentalists who thump pulpits and scream the word of God at meek congregations. Some do, most do not.
Near-religious dedication to political parties or their leaders, or to any elected government, leaves many Bible-believing Christians deeply uncomfortable because we have been taught, and believe, that there is only one Saviour, and He does not wear the regalia of any party or ideology.
We are rendered equally uneasy by politicians being invited to speak about their self-proclaimed magnificent deeds at services held by churches that deem themselves Christian, or by Christian leaders who wax on about social issues without preaching Christ as the first solution to those issues.
The Bible is unambiguous that Christ as Saviour is the most important message for preaching in any church that calls itself Christian. And for any church that calls itself Christian, the Bible is the teaching tool that should take preference over all others.
Humans are fallible and political authority is fickle — it comes and goes with elections, should one live in a functioning democracy.
But even here, democracy and God’s laws are frequently at odds, which is why Christians are told to cling to God’s laws.
But the Bible is also clear that God uses politics and politicians to fulfil His will. He “sets up kings and deposes them” and is “sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes”.
It is verses such as this that might attract the ire (and there is a lot of ire) of those who are not fervent Christians or not religious. To them, it would again smack of God’s untold arrogance that anyone could “give kingdoms [leadership]” to whomever he chooses, particularly if that leader is not deemed fit to lead or follows the “wrong” ideology — the ideology here having been decided by humans according to their political or philosophical persuasions.
One need only look to the West to again see a large portion of the populace and its devoted media rendered hysterical about Donald Trump potentially being elected as president to understand this.
To many of us, Trump is not an ideal candidate for leadership in any form, even though the powerful Evangelical lobby says that God can and does use the fallible for His will, and that the Bible is replete with such examples. (King David – polygamist, adulterer and plotter of murder, is usually cited as an example.)
Closer to home, we are witnessing many parties attempting to portray their chosen leader as a type of political Messiah, while actively campaigning within various faith groups from which they are seeking some kind of endorsement.
Outside a converted church in Virginia, former US president Donald Trump merchandise is sold. ( Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images)
One leader who has mastered the quasi-messianic role is “terminally ill” Jacob Zuma, who was also potentially the presidential candidate for the uMkhonto weSizwe party, until the IEC put paid to that.
While Zuma led the left-leaning ANC for more than a decade, the new MK party has tilted right, positioning itself as a movement of moral regeneration, based on a potpourri of ANC beliefs and quasi-Christian and African nationalist principles.
That Zuma — who portrays himself and is portrayed by his supporters as a serial martyr — is a polygamist, philanderer and is standing trial for widespread fraud and corruption is lost on his devotees.
Politics is indeed messy and fickle, and political leaders indeed fleeting, opportunistic and as imperfect as the rest of us. Still, the Bible commands Christians to subject themselves to a government, not because it is marvellous or the only hope for the nation, but because God has put it there. We do this because God’s word is sovereign, no other reason.
We are also told to pray for our leaders, and hold them accountable according to God’s standards. It is when the laws of a government — any laws — are in contradiction of God’s laws, that Bible-believing Christians will say that God’s laws must, and will, take preference.
Voting for politicians is not a biblical command, but choosing godly leaders is a recurring theme.
This means that Bible-believing Christians are extremely limited in which parties and politicians they can vote for, and it should be for those that embrace Christ’s values and principles.
“Good” Christians tend to do so, while the more fickle of us compromise and justify our compromises.
Simply put, Christians should vote because we are commanded to “do good”. And even for those of us who struggle daily with this, by voting for those who value Christ, and who place value on helping others, we are doing some form of good, no matter how far from the finish line our candidates are.
Anything else may be, to paraphrase a theologian, akin to sitting in the comfort of God’s lap and slapping his face.