It is true that Christian political activism has an influence on politics and does influence politicians, but it is not always to the activists' liking, particularly if the activist is part of the Christian Right. When there is a controversial political bill, it brings out the worst in people on both sides, particularly social conservatives. In New Zealand, where I live, we have passed a Civil Union Act - a Government bill that has been described by the Christian Right as gay marriage in all but name. Four New Zealand Parliamentarians are gay - one is in the executive and another is the world's first transgender MP. Most supporters of bills on moral issues come across as tolerant and appreciating diversity, and many opponents came across as homophobic and intolerant. Both groups lobby hard. I watched from the sidelines and noted that most opponents were Christian groups.

During deliberations on a bill allowing for civil unions, a Christian Member of Parliament decided to fast to see if God might intervene. He didn't, of course, but the reaction to his fast spawned a group called Gay Eaters for Jesus who put out numerous media releases detailing how much they were eating in support of the bill. One church pastor organized a march of about 6000 people from his denomination to Parliament to oppose the legislation. That is a big march by New Zealand standards. They'd had enough of this "Godless liberal government", but it hadn't occurred to this group that some people had had enough of them. Streets were blocked off; all members dressed in black, raised their fists in the air and chanted "enough is enough". They were publicly compared to the Nazis and at least one Member of Parliament changed his vote to support the bill as a result of the "hate march" as they called it. This fairly new but significant denomination is now widely known for its intolerance rather than its charity.

Some political activism can be a turn off. Christians who concentrate on the morals, the sex or the homosexuality - rather than the legislation they are opposing conduct much of this activism. Consequently this paints a picture of the kind of people Christians are perceived to be. These groups, although often small in number, are getting more and more media coverage and turning people right off the God they believe in. Controversy gets media coverage. Those in the gay community look at them and ask, "As God loves homosexuals, why do his followers hate them so much"?

You see, the biggest turn off about Christianity is not God. It is not the Christian faith. It is not the church - in fact it is not even religion. The biggest turn off is the Christians themselves - " I don't want to be like THEM."

I don't either- and I am already a Christian. Many Christians have this strong conviction that they are right. The problem is, they often go about communicating this "rightness" in completely the wrong way, which ends up being counterproductive. Christians who are not social conservatives or social liberals are not vocal and so their voice is not heard - even though this group is the majority. It is said that in the church twenty percent of the people do eighty percent of the work, and that is also true in political activism - fewer than one percent of the church does ninety percent of the political lobbying.

And the majority of the one percent appear to lack skills in communicating to politicians they do not know personally, about the godless lives of people they do not know personally, and about issues that do not affect them personally. Perhaps if more socially conservative Christians were to have close friends with gay people, politicians, prostitutes and others who have a different worldview, they would be able to understand and maybe even appreciate their points of view a little more.

The following points may assist people, especially pastoral types, who want to be politically active and find it difficult in getting their message through to liberal politicians.

• Don't have senior pastors front political activism. - Most pastors are not political activists any more than political activists are pastors. Lay people tend to have better skills, research capabilities, know-how and the ability to communicate without Christian jargon. Pastors spend all day with Christians, and they need to admit that this is an occupational hazard. Pastors also represent their church and any inferior or ignorant activism reflects not on them, but on their church and denomination.
• Don't moralize - This leads to irrelevance and wastes everyone's time. Some people don’t seem to realize that if you are irrelevant, you are not relevant.
• Do your research and provide good arguments - If you don't know what you are talking about, or the views of the person you are lobbing or talking to, it will show. Next time you want to be an agent of change, you'll end up being a victim of the system
• Do not criticize. If you criticize or condemn people, it will backfire. "Judge not lest you be judged" is as relevant as ever.
• If you are addressing a moral issue, forget about "loving the sinner and hating the sin". "Loving your neighbor as you would love yourself," is a much better motto. Don’t push "God's righteous laws" or quote Bible verses - or you'll come across as homophobic or a prude. Nobody likes prudes, even Christian prudes. Well…except other prudes.
• If you are addressing legislation you disagree with, concentrate on the legislation, not the issue - particularly when morals are involved. Rather than dismissing and condemning the direction your political leaders are taking, work with them to either change the direction or suggest amendments to legislation, instead of opposing it outright. This approach is particularly valuable if your view is a minority view. Outright opposition is usually counter-productive.

With a little bit of tolerance and understanding, as well as a little less emotion and conservatism, Christians can make a difference in the political realm. The trouble is that the very people who want to make a difference are not adequately equipped to do so, and those more equipped to do so are not prepared to make a difference. It is up to the various groups in within the Christian community to pool their resources, put aside political ideologies, and to make that difference.

Dave Crampton writes from New Zealand. He is a father of two kids, a writer, worker and student, and blogs at http://big-news.blogspot.com. He listens to Eminem, Coldplay, U2, and drum and bass music, and is also known to attend church occasionally.