Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Voting on the Truth

I mentioned in my post on the disastrous decision of the ELCA last week that I'd say more about putting God's Word and his truth to a vote. Hey, we're a democratic nation and that's what we do, right? Voting gives us a sense of empowerment as we participate in our own governance. It's a great privilege to have a say in who represents us and the ballot box should, ultimately, hold them accountable to those they represent. But here's the problem when it comes to the church...God isn't our representative.

God is the sovereign Lord, Creator and Owner of the universe. All of heaven and earth are His. That includes all that we possess, even our very bodies. How, then, can we subject the maker and owner of our bodies and all of heaven and earth to a democratic vote? Is it just me, or is that concept ludicrous on the face of it. Yet, in denomination after denomination we see votes being taken to validate or invalidate the core truths of Scripture.

Don't get me wrong. I think there are most certainly things that an assembled body of believers can vote on. Church budgets, building renovations, hiring and firing staff, missions contributions, and the list goes on. The same kind of accountability we ostensibly have with our elected officials can be exercised over volunteer leadership in the church. It's when the democratic vote runs amok that the whole system starts to tumble down. It's when we begin to use our vote for the purpose of giving ourselves favors that the inevitable slide into anarchy has begun.

A dear friend of mine, Harry Wendt, has worked passionately against Biblical illiteracy around the world for most of his 79 years. He's still working tirelessly through his Crossways! ministry to see a true understanding of scripture continue to spread. Recently he sent me some wonderful papers he's written. In one he offers this quote from Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor written in 1787:

"A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship.

The average age of the worlds greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence:

1. From bondage to spiritual faith;
2. From spiritual faith to great courage;
3. From courage to liberty;
4. From liberty to abundance;
5. From abundance to complacency;
6. From complacency to apathy;
7. From apathy to dependence;
8. From dependence back into bondage "


I would propose a paraphrase of this very insightful quote that applies to the church going back to the first century church described in the book of Acts. It goes something like this:

A church body is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of organization. A church will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover they can vote themselves a different sort of truth than that found in Scripture. From that moment on, the majority always votes for a god who makes them comfortable, never confronts their sinful nature, never challenges them to put their resources to the service of the poor, naked, imprisoned, hungry or homeless and never asks them to endure hardship or peril in his name. The result is that every organized church will finally collapse due to loose morals, a weak grasp of Biblical truth and a surrender to the loudest voices of public opinion. This is always followed by dissolution and division.

The average span of an effective church organization is about 500 years. The last such great disruption in church history was the Reformation most notably triggered by Martin Luther. I believe we are in another such upheaval now. It goes something like this:

1. From zeal to explosive growth;
2. From explosive growth to great opposition;
3. From great opposition to social acceptance;
4. From social acceptance to comfort;
5. From comfort to complacency;
6. From complacency to cultural integration;
7. From cultural integration to scriptural relativism;
8. From scriptural relativism to collapse
9. From collapse to reformation


When we reach the point of putting God's truth to a vote according to what makes us comfortable or even makes sense to us we are very near the end of the cycle. I pray the new day of Reformation comes quickly.

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