Politicians have a reputation for talking. Some people think they talk too much. Some people think they say too little. Some people think that when a politician is talking, it’s a sure sign he’s lying.

Some politicians promise the moon, but after the election, they have all kinds of excuses why they were not able to produce the results they promised. Some politicians have promised terrible things—promises they should never have kept. More abortions, legalized pot and higher carbon taxes come to mind . . .

Some politicians intentionally use language that is vague and deceptive. They have a reputation for beating around the bush, changing the topic and refusing to answer the question. We, in the CHP, do not want to be that type of politician. We want to be clear in our statements, cautious in our promises, and honest in our assessment of the challenges Canada is facing. Unfortunately, being honest about the difficulties ahead and truthful about limited resources does not always win votes the way it should. Most people would rather have their ears tickled.

Winston Churchill, when he took up the challenge of leading Britain through World War 2, told the people honestly, “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.” The people of Britain accepted that grim assessment of their situation, because they understood the severity of the conditions and the urgency and necessity of personal sacrifice.

In Canada today, much of what passes for political discourse between party leaders and the voters whom they wish to influence falls into the category of lofty promises and dire threats. Party leaders and their candidates promise to spend money they don’t have on things people don’t need. And they warn voters that failing to elect them and allowing “the other party” to lead the government will certainly result in hardship, poverty and disaster.

In these circumstances, voters bear a huge responsibility—whether they know it or not—to determine which promises and threats are true and which are false . . . and to vote accordingly. The leaders of both major parties in this country cannot both be right. As Abraham Lincoln said during the US Civil War, “In great contests each party claims to act in accordance with the will of God. Both may be, and one must be, wrong. God cannot be for and against the same thing at the same time.”

One of the great challenges of our day, for Christians, and especially for Christian politicians, is that a large segment of our population does not understand our words. The great majority of adult voters in Canada grew up under the influence of a public school system that rejects God and promotes a secular, humanistic approach to life. These same voters attended colleges and universities where a godless philosophy prevails. The shaping and crystallization of their world view continues under the daily analysis and op-eds of the CBC, the Globe and Mail and CTV.

And now, when news happens anywhere in the world, it is interpreted through the lens of socialistic secular humanism. As a result, when a Christian . . . and especially a Christian politician . . . speaks about any issue, whether it be abortion, gender identity, climate change, immigration, deficit spending, tariffs and border issues, taxpayer funded childcare, pipelines, or national defence, we find ourselves attempting to communicate with people who do not speak our language, who do not share our values, and who cannot understand the points we’re making, however well they are articulated. They simply do not have the basic building blocks of logic to be able to absorb and process our views on these matters.

The Bible records an amazing historical event that underscores the difficulty of communicating with people who speak a different language. When the people in the land of Shinar set out to build the tower of Babel (trying to reach Heaven by human efforts without involving God), they had to abandon their globalist agenda when God confused their languages so that they were no longer able to communicate with one another. The same thing is happening today. Atheistic social planners are attempting to establish global government without God. They ignore God’s commands, trusting in their own wisdom. And when Christians seek to introduce God’s wisdom into the political issues of our day, many of those to whom we are speaking, simply cannot hear us.

When we say, “pro-life” they hear, “anti choice.” When we say, “male and female,” they hear, “hateful and bigoted.” When we say, “defend our borders” they hear, “racist.” When we talk about “balanced budgets,” they hear, “deprive poor people of essential services.” When we say, “energy independence, pipelines, oil and gas,” they hear, “pollution and environmental degradation.” When we say, “the best childcare is provided by the mother and the father,” they hear, “insulting single parents.”

The apostle Paul discovered this spiritual and intellectual divide when he spoke to the intellectual philosophers at Athens. He used a creative gospel approach to engage his listeners by referring to their Unknown God. Some of his listeners were puzzled and some were intrigued and said to one another that he seemed to be a “setter forth of strange gods.” He was, in fact, telling them about the one true God, Creator of heaven and earth. He used their language and their superstitions to open a small door of understanding through which he could convey spiritual truth.

As we—CHP candidates, fellow believers and fellow advocates of moral and biblical policies—seek to influence our society, may God help us to find points of connection with voters in our districts that will allow us to convey biblical truth to a secular audience. They all desperately need the truth, but many do not know it and are content with lies and half-truths. Our neighbours deserve the unvarnished truth—political, spiritual, historical and scientific. Let us seek to be winsome witnesses and bold truth-tellers for our nation, for our children and for our God.