For a long time, and even under MMP, we have switched repeatedly between the major political parties.

We become disenchanted with the incumbent party and we want a change. We celebrate the arrival of the new party, full of hope that things will improve, only to then be disappointed again.

And so, at some subsequent election, we switch back.

The polls suggest that we are currently disenchanted with both major parties and are, to some extent, rejecting them and looking for yet another alternative. The minor parties are polling better, and the major parties worse, than ever.

Whatever the outcome next Saturday, if the pattern repeats, we will soon have lost faith in the new coalition as well and be searching for yet another answer. We clutch at straws.

Could it be that every party has (to use a biblical phrase) feet of clay?

Every party is flawed. They will frequently do some good, but they will ultimately fail to deliver what we essentially long for.

Are we looking in the wrong place? Given those feet of clay, why do we expect politicians to rescue us?

Most of our politicians, I am sure, work diligently and have the best of motives but they are, like all of us, flawed.

They are gifted people, but they are also weak. We will inevitably be dissatisfied.

The Bible repeatedly warns Israel against making alliances with other nations instead of trusting God. God warns against trusting in military power, in horses and chariots. God would determine their future.

When they trusted God, tiny armies routed vastly bigger armies, sometimes without even fighting. David beat Goliath. When they didn’t, their own armies were often defeated.

From a human perspective, large armies should defeat smaller armies, clever policies should bring social improvement.

Training programmes, economic theories and more data should make us better equipped than previous generations.

Progress should mean that we are miles ahead in education, health, welfare, social cohesion and international peace compared with those who went before us.

It seems logical to trust those initiatives and yet we are not living a markedly more peaceful and prosperous lifestyle. Political parties promise utopia but they cannot deliver it.

But somehow, we still expect it of them and we repeatedly get disappointed.

If the better option is to trust God, what on earth does that mean? We need leadership; we need a government, and Jesus is not on the ballot paper.

The Bible is chocked full of leaders, some good and some very bad. God is not against leadership. He calls people into leadership roles.

The question is: Are we expecting our leaders to create the utopia we long for, or do we know that only God can do that? Will our political leaders “save” us, or can only God do that?

Is our future within our control or are there much bigger factors involved?

If we believe we can save ourselves, then let’s carry on just as we are – searching for the person, or party, or coalition, who will do it.

But, if we recognise that what we long for is beyond us, then we need help beyond ourselves.

A first and obvious step would be to pray for our country, and for our leaders. Prayer shows we know we need God.

A second step would be to listen to what God says and seek to do things His way.

In a sharply divided world where strident voices compete for dominance and politicians are physically and verbally attacked, what if we loved one another, as Jesus taught? What if we forgave one another and were gentle with one another, as Jesus taught?

What if we were to be generous, and humble like Jesus? What if we were to put others’ needs ahead of our own?

Jesus’ way is infinitely better than what we are experiencing. But we are brought back to the reality of feet of clay – our own feet of clay.

We might want to, but we cannot consistently do these things. Moral exhortations sound great but do no good if they cannot be carried out.

But trusting God includes knowing that He can enable us to do what we cannot do ourselves.

A better way of living actually is possible when we acknowledge our weakness and ask God to change us – when we say we have had enough of doing things our way, we want to do them His way but we are incapable and so need Him to work in us and through us.

Do vote. We do need leaders. But what if we also decided to pray and we committed ourselves to doing things God’s way, relying on Him for all the help we will inevitably need?

We might end up being a different country.

Only God can do it.

  • Peter Cheyne is one of the pastors of East Taieri Church.