Soon, my church body will gather in convention. And while many important things will occur there, one is being talked about more than any other. Who will be President? Will the current president win or will the main opponent sneak in to take the position? Well, I will tell you exactly what will happen. Yes. While others wonder, I know. So what will happen?
One of the men will win. And then about half of the synod will disregard the authority given to him. They will blame the win on the politics of the other sides. The emails they sent. The voter’s guides they produced. The websites they created. Yes, they will claim the election a fraud and therefore feel justified in not yielding to the elected man’s authority.
It has happened at each convention since I knew enough to care. And it has not yielded good things for the Synod. Those of us who believe that leaders have God-given authority and that those who find themselves under their care are to submit to their authority need to lead a charge to do something different.
Here is my suggestion:
WHEREAS the Synod has begun to resemble many secular organizations in its dealings, particularly in its conventions; and
WHEREAS, many of the individuals and members of Synod are concerned with the level of politicking apparent in the Synod; and
WHEREAS, the Synod’s direction should not be solely controlled by certain organized groups who produce voting guides and the like; and
WHEREAS, much time, money, and effort is spent on the promotion of certain individuals for president and vice president of synod; and
WHEREAS, casting of lots was used by God people for such important actions as determining the sacrificial animal on the Day of Atonement [Lev 16:7-10] and dividing the promised land into tribal regions [Numbers 26:56]; and,
WHEREAS, the apostles of the Lord approved a list of men capable of fulfilling the role of the twelfth apostle and then cast lots to discern the Lord’s will [Acts 1:26] ; and
WHEREAS, such action if applied to synodical offices would remove the election of these important positions of authority in our church from the hands of those seeking particular ends; and
WHEREAS, the nominations process allows for all capable men to be set forth for consideration; and
WHEREAS, democracy is not an implicit value to Christianity and nowhere mentioned in the Scriptures; therefore be it
RESOLVED that bylaw 3.12.1.4 be stricken and replaced with the following:
Prayer shall be led by the chaplain of the convention. Silence will be maintained. An object having the number of sides corresponding to the number of candidates slated for election shall be rolled. The nominee corresponding to the number rolled shall be declared elected.
Let’s give God a vote. In fact, let’s give Him the only vote. And then let us yield to his choice with proper submission.
Phil for President!