Christians in New testament(NT) times had to live under totalitarian forms of government and often had to endure persecution. So the Bible teaches about being good citizens (Romans 13:1-6) and praying for those over so that Christians may go about living life unimpeded by government (1 Timothy 2:1-3)

Being a good citizen in our context includes having a say through the electoral process in who governs us and thereby, to some extent, how we are governed.

So we have a responsibility and privilege that NT Christians never had. There is a tendency among Australians to take this process cynically.

This is based on perceptions of the deficit between words and actions over time. Although Christians are no doubt impacted by this as well, as God’s people, our voting responsibility should be taken seriously, thoughtfully and prayerfully.

It could well be argued that most of Jesus’, Paul’s, Peter’s, and James’ ethical teaching about relationships is about how to live as God’s people in society and therefore as responsible contributing citizens of heaven on earth.