You know, there’s a lot of talk in our age about the constitutional separation of Church and State. Most of the time, what’s talked about really doesn’t have anything to do with what was written in the constitution; and in fact the phrase “separation of church and state” isn’t in the constitution; it came from a letter written by Thomas Jefferson.
But, that’s not what I want to spout off about right now. Christians can and should be involved in our political system; if in no other way, than at least as informed voters. We owe that to our country.
But, what about the politics that exists in the church itself? I’m not talking about informing church members of the issues, nor am I talking about animating people to vote. Maybe a better way of expressing it would be to say the “office politics” in the church. You know, the maneuverings and games people play to gain a position, or even more importantly gain a title to impress their friends and family.
The Bible doesn’t talk about democracy in the church; it presents the church as a theocracy. Yet, in many denominations, there is voting for department heads, deacons, and even for whether or not the church keeps the same pastor.
I have to say, none of this is biblical. The biblical example is to seek out the people who God has chosen and prepared to fulfill whatever position, or complete such-and-such a task. The closest we come to seeing a vote in the early church was when they chose Mathias to replace Judas Iscariot as one of the original 12 apostles. Even then, they didn’t vote, but sought out the two best candidates and asked God to show them which one of the two was the correct one (through casting lots).
When politics enters into the church, spirituality, the Bible and God’s will tend to get kicked out. Oh, people might talk about them, twisting them to their own purpose, but that isn’t the same as allowing God to be sovereign in the church.
Yes, we live in a democratic country, and I realize that most Americans would say that democracy is a godly system; but I have to disagree. While I am perfectly willing to agree that democracy is the best political system for running our country, that doesn’t make it the best for our church.
The moment we start voting for people, we invite the process of the political campaign; along with all its lies, manipulation, and posturing. Now, I realize that most churches don’t have any sort of overt political campaign for deacons, there is still a hidden campaign going on in the background. How is that? Because we are unknowingly inviting that person who wants to be a deacon to put on a mask and pretend he is something other than what he is, so that he can be voted in as a deacon.
It becomes even worse than that when we take this same problem out of the local church and put it into the context of a Christian organization. It doesn’t matter if we are talking about a denomination, a para-church organization, or a ministerial alliance. There are always factions, differences of opinion, and differences of agenda to deal with. By voting in leaders, we set the stage for all the political manipulations and posturing that one could imagine.
Oh, I know, everyone says that they are voting to seek God’s will, and it would be great if that was the truth. But, let’s be hones with ourselves. How many times do we say we are seeking God’s will, but really seeking our own? Or, how many times do we say that something is God’s will, because it is our own; convincing ourselves that our will is also God’s will?
If godly men and women get together and seek God’s will, then use a system of voting to poll the opinion of what is God’s will, that can be helpful. Even then, we must take into account that God only has one will; if John and Susan think that two opposing opinions are both God’s will, one of them isn’t hearing God too good. The only way this kind of vote can work is that everyone continues praying and seeking God, until all come into agreement that so-and-so is God’s choice, or that such-and-such is God’s plan. Then, and only then, does a vote truly mean something in the church.
Something you failed to mention, possibly because you have no experience with it and therefore are unaware of it, Is the influence that a member of a government can have over a congregation.
ReplyDeleteI know of a congregation that has rallied behind a certain member who has been elected to public office. The problem is that the official stand of the denomination on certain key issues is in opposition to the party's platform and at least one elder who formerly was working diligently to undue the damage that the party's policies were doing in the community has appeared to do an about face and is now a supporter of the said politician.
I realise that this is a bit of a tangent from your primary point but I think it fits, the Church being unduly influenced by secular politics. But before I close I should mention that most of the congregation is probably supporting the politician out of conscience, but I would argue they are doing so because they are either ignorant or indifferent to the issues the denomination has taken a stand against.