The Candidates to the Protestant Seat in Parliament in the Upcoming General Elections Will Need to Remember that they Are Called to be “Stewards not Lords, Servants not Masters”

By Chaden Hani

English translation by Jade Kassis

News

On Friday, the 15^th of January 2018, the Lebanese Minister of Interior and Municipalities, Nouhad Al-Mashnouk, signed the draft electoral decree and referred it to the Secretariat of the Prime Minister’s Office, for elections to take place throughout Lebanon on Sunday the 6^th of May 2018, after taking place earlier in the countries of the Lebanese diaspora.

Though the Lebanese Parliamentary mandate is for a period of four years, it is worth noting that the last General Elections took place nearly a decade ago in 2009. Thus, the Lebanese political scene is now buzzing with the activity of a multitude of political parties and movements that have begun to organize their ranks and to appoint their candidates for the upcoming elections. Others, who fear that the new electoral law will not play in their favor, are trying to find loopholes in the law and to create obstacles, in an attempt to delay or derail the elections. Nevertheless, Speaker of the House, Nabih Berri, has insisted that parliamentary elections will be held as scheduled.

This election is of particular significance for Lebanon, being the first held under a new electoral law recently approved by the Lebanese government on the 16^th of June 2017. It was the result of a considerable effort to protect the country from a possible power vacuum in the legislative branch, the country’s most important constitutional institution. The new law is based on a system of proportional representation for the first time in the history of Lebanon, an alternative to the previous “winner-take all” system of majority rule. This law divides Lebanon into 15 electoral districts, instead of one, and applies a different set of criteria for the various districts depending on the number of seats and number of voters. The new law also introduces the option of a “preferential vote” applied at the level of the Kaza (traditional geographical district), in order to ensure better representation for minorities. As stated by Berri, “The election law moves the country forward, granting hope to the Lebanese for the establishment and building of a new era.”

Implications

Today, the Lebanese suffer from many problems affecting their quality of life and stability within the country. Recent crises include the debacle over military ranks and salary scales, sensitive military appointments, the trash crisis, the adoption of the 2018 budget, and ongoing controversies over the exploitation of oil and the electricity crisis. All of these problems relate directly to past and oftentimes controversial decisions by Parliament, whose legitimacy many Lebanese continue to question due to the fact that it has extended its own mandate twice, in contravention to the Lebanese constitution. This has contributed fundamentally to the prevalence of unchecked corruption within the Lebanese government.

The church today, like other sections of Lebanese society, is affected by the present reality. But it has nevertheless found opportunities for growth through prayer and patience. The church has also had to face a new challenge, that of understanding and enacting its proper role in relation to all aspects of life – particularly the political. There are new opportunities today for the church to influence decision making in light of God’s word, providing a better approach to political engagement than those that have brought the country to the place where it finds itself today.

Theological Perspectives

A significant set of questions with which the church struggles today is this: in what sense is it proper to play a role in politics, or should it restrict itself only to the affairs of civil society? How do we understand proper political action? Did Jesus forbid interacting with rulers, legislators, and tax collectors, or does the Kingdom of God make a claim upon all peoples in all areas of life? As Jesus says in Luke 10:3, “Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.” But where do we encounter the wolves?

Evangelical/Protestant society, in Lebanon at least, has long avoided participating in political life, based upon the theological notion that faith/religion and politics should not intermingle. The Evangelical community in Lebanon, however, has had one seat assigned to it in parliament since the 1950’s. Today, there are at least seven potential candidates competing for that seat from within the Lebanese Evangelical community, six of whom are associated with specific Lebanese political parties, and one running as an independent. However, this reflects not so much an evolution in Evangelical theological and political thought as it does a reaction to the availability of a new opportunity in light of the new law.

There is no doubt that we are now presented with a new model, whether regarding the electoral process or the method for choosing a candidate. As a result, we are faced with many questions requiring reflection and study:

• Are candidates motivated by a desire for change and the possibility of influencing legislative decisions for the benefit of the country? Or do they seek primarily to serve the special interests, political and financial, of the political parties that offer them their patronage?
• How might we approach politics in a manner that doesn’t hold us captive to a particular party and its agenda?
• To whom will an elected deputy offer their primary loyalty? To their constituents or to Biblical truth?
• How will a candidate stand firm in the face of corruption? And, how will they confront it?
• How will our representative be held accountable to the Evangelical community for their performance?
• Should the Evangelical community unite around the nomination of a single candidate in an effort to avoid division, or will competition between the various candidates result in a political division that has thus far been avoided?
• Ultimately, how can or should the Evangelical community unite around the eventual winner with help, support, and encouragement as they confront the various challenges of the position?

Recommendations

Political work has often been characterized by corruption, favoritism, and an allegiance not to God. But the children of God, who are inhabited by the Holy Spirit, are not afraid of external influences, rather bringing with them God’s Kingdom wherever they may be. If the people of God remain hidden within the walls of the church, how can we contribute to the extension of the Kingdom to those places in need of correction in accordance with what is just and right? God’s Kingdom encompasses all aspects of social, economic, and political life. In no way do we deny that the church is responsible for caring for its people, teaching the word of God and promoting spiritual growth, as pursued throughout history in accordance with the tradition of “leaving what is Caesar’s to Caesar and giving what is God’s to God.” Though it is worth being reminded that all things rightfully belong to God. God chose to be embodied within the world, with all its challenges and problems, in order to teach a new law different from the laws of this world. Therefore, how do we walk today according to the model of Christ in such a way that our presence in the world would be a support for those who have no support? (Luke 4:18)