Every Christian aspires to obey God, avoid evil and do good. But some modern-day predicaments are not discussed specifically in the Bible. How, then, can we apply biblical principles to our lives? In this 9-part series, The Methodist Church in Singapore shares reflections on its Social Principles which, more than ever before, can help believers live by God’s firm principles in today’s volatile and complex world. This instalment discusses The Sphere of Politics. Here, Rev Dr Nathanael Goh looks at how the Church can respond to political discourses of the day through a biblical lens, by the grace of the Holy Spirit.

When I was serving as a pastor in a church, I was very much struck by the pastor and author John Piper’s 2002 book, Brothers, We Are Not Professionals. John Piper dramatically argues that pastors “are being killed by the professionalizing of the pastoral ministry”.

“God knows me well,” says Kwan Poh San, 79. She saw that her identity as a Cantonese- speaking Chinese woman who was born in Japanese-occupied Singapore to the secondary wife of a businessman, and the circumstances in which she grew up, were all part of God’s plan for her.