Voting On The Will Of God
Posted By Aaron Marcelli on January 15, 2010
A couple months ago Perry Noble posted on his blog a list of ways to kill the vision of your church. Number nine was simply “Vote!” Just reading that struck a nerve and made me want to write about it. Actually I’m surprised I have gone this long without blogging on congregational voting before as I believe there is nothing more irresponsible or unspiritual that many of our American churches do as a practice.
Even when I was a part of the kind of churches that vote I was baffled by the idea. It actually makes me angry when I think about the service in which I was voted on in joining a church staff. I had gone through extensive interviews with the pastor, the staff, the deacons, the youth I would be working with, the parents of the youth I would be working with, the search committee, the Wednesday night dinner committee, the party planning committee, and anyone else who wanted to throw a right wing theological question my way. I had also worked at the church in an interim capacity for several months, so they knew me quite well by this time. In a Sunday service the chair of the church committee read a recommendation for me to join the staff as well as some of the stories from my already existing ministry there. The pastor then spoke highly of me and said how God had given him peace that I was to be a part of the church staff. I then shared my testimony and told about my desire for ministry and to serve at such a great church. And then…………they took a vote. I cannot believe this actually happened! Literally hundreds of people I had never met or who would never be affected by my ministry area were able to reject or approve my joining the staff there. When a church conducts business in such a manor it’s pretty much saying, “we know this is the will of God, He has told us what to do, but because we want you to like us and we know that you want to feel important in the church, it’s up to you”.
Voting on the will of God may be the reason God is unable to speak in many churches. Doing so sure shows we have little gratitude or respect for when God speaks. I remember even asking my pastor at that church why we vote on the will of God. His response was a look of powerlessness and a shrug of the shoulders followed by something about people would get upset if the church didn’t let them vote on everything.
We tie the hands of God when we put His words through the filtering of approval by every non-committed Christian who sits on a pew and claims a church membership. Churches should be willing to provided account as far as financial records and other areas of stewardship to the involved, giving members who request to see such data. But to take every decision that has been intently thought about, prayed through, and agonized over by the equipped leadership of the church who are paid to do and lead ministry and then vote on it by the person who just showed up on Sunday is ridiculous!
While at a clergy retreat held by denominational leaders, one speaker was addressing the situation of pastors fresh out of seminary who get plugged into smaller, family type churches. He said that when such pastors fail to recognize (meaning accept) that culture and try to do more outreach or not approve his decisions through the “heritage” church members, they are being foolish. Those where the actual words he used! So getting to the point where you hear from the Almighty and then want to take Him at His word and act in faith is foolish!
Yes there must be accountability and trusted leadership, but the day churches start seeking the applause of their congregation in pursuing their God-given vision, a cap is put on the potential of that church and a precedence is set as to who is the head of that body.
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The “accountability and trusted leadership” is the pastoral and deacon hierarchy that exists in churches as set up by the bible– if lay members of the church were supposed to provide the accountability and leadership, there wouldn’t be a specific governing body set up by God. Churches voting on every issue would be like Americans voting on every bill that goes through government. Also, the voting is really poorly done– no one ever votes no, because who wants to be that one “nay” voice ringing through the crowd? It’s a formality that undermines our supposed faith in our church leaders to make decisions based on what God is saying to them.