Who Chooses? God or Majority Vote?
Tuesday, November 29, 2011 at 5:17AM A supporting Michigan church sends their monthly newsletter to me in Niger. In it, I’ve learned that they select their elders by drawing lots from a pre-qualified list of candidates. Apparently, this does not conform to the RCA Book of Church Order, but it is a very biblical method for choosing church leaders. (See Acts 1:15-26) I especially like the text from Acts 1:24 “And they made prayers and said, Lord, having knowledge of the hearts of all men, make clear which of these two has been marked out by you” with verse 26 making clear that “chance” determined the “winner”. The more I’m in church leadership circles, the more appealing this approach becomes.
I’ve encouraged our Nigerien church partners on the mission field to explore using this technique when they have to make some sort of decision between good candidates. Specifically, I’ve discovered that awarding scholarships to worthy individuals to study at a Bible School or a seminary tends to become particularly rancorous and disagreeable affairs for the selection committee. Rather than focusing on the merits of the candidates, the discussions too often degenerate into who has the most political or family leverage to employ in favor of their preferred candidate. In fact, almost no one wants to serve on the church scholarship committee for this very reason. To do so, one risks being placed between a rock and hard place which can jeopardize important relationships. Drawing lots could greatly simplify this task and would neatly conform to Nigeriens’ view of an all-Knowing God.
In taking a distance learning class at Fuller Theological Seminary, I was assigned to read Charles Kraft’s book, Anthropology for Christian Witness1 . He, too, wondered what was the value in trying to teach Robert’s Rules of Order to semi-literate Nigerians church members when he was a missionary there in the late 1950’s. Not only was a majority-vote process contrary to the Nigerians’ indigenous means of decision-making, but he couldn’t find any biblical rationale for it. In fact, Kraft was once challenged by a Kamwe leader who asked “Which is more inspired: the Bible or Robert’s Rules of Order?” Kraft returned the question with “What do you think?” and the Nigerian replied “You people don’t follow the Bible like you do Robert’s Rules of Order”2. Ouch!
Now I know that more and more churches are moving toward consensus-based models of decision-making and that’s certainly been a recent positive development in church leadership and governance. But I wonder if we shouldn’t also consider when the biblical-based tool of casting lots might be best employed in our churches and denominations. Sometimes we have an abundance of good choices and only God could know which one is the best for His work. Besides, I like leaving the heavy-lifting to Him.
1 Charles Kraft. Anthropology for Christian Witness. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis. 1996.
2 Ibid, 131.
Reader Comments (3)
Thanks for your note. Casting lots is mentioned quite a bit in the Old Testament. In fact, the High Priest--with divine sanction--regularly used the "Umin and Thumin"(Exodus 28:30) to determine God's will which may have involved a form of lot casting.
In the New Testament casting lots is mentioned as well...but there is a little less clarity. The practice is mentioned most in the gospels. It is not, however, mentioned in a positive way. "The soldiers cast lots for his clothing...." I'm not so sure that a church would want to emulate that example.
The last New Testament mention of casting lots is found in Acts 1. Following the Ascension, the disciples met to decide who would take Judas Iscariot's place among the disciples. Matthias was selected by lot. There is no reason to assume that God did not act in and through lot casting in that instance.
But I think it is telling that the very last mention of lot casting comes in Acts 1. What happens in Acts 2? Pentecost. The Holy Spirit indwells the church in Acts 2 and from that moment on all those who believe receive the Spirit of God.
In the remainder of Acts, God directs the apostles directly through the Holy Spirit and the various prophetic "gifts" he brings – not through lots. In fact, the passage in Acts in which one would most expect, on the basis of the Acts 1 model, to find lot-casting – Acts 6: the choosing of the seven deacons – a passage that closely parallels the choosing of Matthias by lot – the practice is noticeably absent. Lots, it seems, are no longer necessary for a community indwelled by the Holy Spirit.
The possibility of casting lots to discern God's will is also absent from the epistles, particularly in those sections you would think it would be mentioned. For example, in 1 Corinthians 12-14 when Paul discusses the "gifts of the Spirit" (see also Romans 12) there are a number of gifts that are given precisely for the purpose of helping the church discern the will of God: prophesy, the interpretation of tongues, the word of knowledge. "Lot casting" is never mentioned, discussed or considered.
In addition to its absence among the New Testament gifts explicitly mentioned in 1st Corinthians and Romans 12, there are some key texts that give us insight the ways God expected early believers (and by extension, present day believers) to be "led" by the Holy Spirit.
Look in particular at 1 Corinthians 2:11-15:
Believers are indwelled by the Spirit and have, therefore, the "mind of Christ." We do not need to cast lots to determine the mind of Christ, we are indwelled by the Spirit of the Living God – we have His "mind" already. This fact undergirds Paul's constant prayer for the Philippians: “And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment,” (Philippians 1:9, ESV) Paul assumes that the discernment of the will of God is a spiritual, not a mechanical matter.
You see a very similar assumption underlying Paul's exhortation in 1 Corinthians 6:1-5.
Here Paul tells the Corinthians not to take disputes to secular courts because even believers of "little account" have been equipped by virtue of their standing or status "in Christ" with the capacity, the wisdom, to "judge" between believers.
Does this mean that a Christian or a Christian community, with the "mind of Christ" earnestly employing the natural and spiritual gifts God provides to determine a future course will always make good decisions? Of course not but there seems to be, and I am less certain about this, an understanding on Paul's part that the decision of a community – and I think this would apply individual as well – may be "blessed" by God in so far as the "resolve" is "good." In other words in so far as the decision represents a good faith attempt employing divinely given natural and spiritual resources to discern God's will and follow it. Here's Paul's prayer for the Thessalonians: “To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Thessalonians 1:11–12, ESV)
I don't think you have to be a cessationist (and I am not one) to come to a relatively solid conclusion that believers indwelt by the Holy Spirit are not to "cast lots" to determine God's will. We have the mind of Christ.
The import of all of these considerations leads me to believe that in circumstances not governed by a biblical injunction or instruction, believers are (no shocker here) to use both their natural wisdom and spiritual gifts to make decisions. And in so far as we have sought to be consistent with God's purposes and to bring him glory, it is reasonable to assume that God can and will work through and bless even our mistakes.
Actually, it isn't just the RCA's Book of Church Order that is at issue. This is also a matter mentioned in the confession of faith (the "Belgic"), article 31. Or so it is in terms of the RCA constitution. Which doesn't, of course, mean that it can't be debated.
Al Janssen
Paul and Al,
Thanks for those insightful comments. It's nice when the blog writer can learn from the reader! Since I've never formally studied theology, I wasn't aware of the creedal implications of lot casting.
Paul V, you do a masterful job on questioning whether post-Pentecost, the casting of lots should be seriously considered in the church. My only response is that far too often developing the "mind of Christ" isn't a particular goal of some church leaders. Power and politics enter the church far too often--in almost every context and culture--and sadly sometimes the rules of the world are brought into our spiritual/church bodies. In these cases, casting lots may be the FIRST step into acknowledging our dependence on God and that we should seek His will. That's what I was referring to in my Nigerien example (but I know this problem isn't limited to Niger!).
I THINK I heard once that the Michigan church which casts lots for elders did so because they have several Sunday services and its impossible for all members to know each other. Thus, they believe that casting lots (after qualified nominees are surfaced) is more likely to produce a righteous result than voting for the best known person.