Congregational Authority pt 3 of 7

How Should We Exercise Congregational Authority?

Democracy brings direct choice, and with choice comes the dubious legitimacy of lobbying. If the will of the majority is that which rules, then directly related to majority rule is the freedom to coalition build—the freedom to majority-build. Under democracy, I can think of no credible argument to delegitimize attempts to persuade others of one’s own deeply held convictions. Again, no scripture exists to deny this. In fact, what we see in scripture are continual exhortations to sharpen brothers, hold them accountable, teach them, and unify. None of these things can occur without discussion, genial argument, and persuasion.

But coalition-building can present a sticky situation in spiritual matters, and this is not without reason. Far too often have churches seen the power of democracy used with vindictiveness and capriciousness to turn out pastors. Vocal members may rally others to their cause with false accusations, sensational claims, and dire predictions about the state of the church. After one has lived through one or two of these church power plays, he may be easily persuaded that anyone who questions a pastor’s decisions or governing style is on dangerous ground. One also tends to become hyper-sensitive to coalition building, seeing such activity as a sign that the troops are being rallied against God’s man. Once one is exposed to these sorts of power-plays, it’s all too easy to say that the abuse of power makes it necessary to never exercise such power for fear of its abuse.

This well-intentioned reluctance to exercise authority feels right but ultimately doesn’t stand up to reason. After all, Congressmen may abuse their offices, but we don’t revoke Congress’ authority. Patrolmen may overstep their bounds, but we do not disband the police. The electorate may make bad decisions from time to time, but we do not abandon our way of government. Bad church decisions do not perhaps reflect flaws so much in churches’ forms of government as in the church bodies themselves.