11. Why pure democracy is just a dream
I’m sure many of you heard the term “Brexit”, which is combination of “Britain” and “exit”. This word describes Britan’s decision to exit the EU (European Union). There was strong political propaganda to push for this decision and entire nation decided to vote, instead of leaders making the decision. To many people’s dismay, more people voted for “yes” and the decision was made. The world went into shock because many economists already predicted huge global economic downturn if this ever happens.
It is funny how it was reported that google search “what is EU?” increased dramatically right after the decision. That could mean many people voted “yes” without knowing exactly what the situation was and its consequences.
When leaders transfer the responsibility to make important decisions to general population, it is not pure democracy – it is “irresponsiblity”. It was actually initiated by former London Mayor who wanted to use this to work in favor for his political campaign. As a result, people of Britain made a decision that put the world in shock.
The fallacy of democracy lies in innate “self-centeredness” of human being. The decision to exit EU mainly came from desire to make trade more favorable for themselves and accept less immigrants for less competition in job market, not being limited by EU policy. When a group makes a selfish decision, at first it seems like a good decision for the group but it eventually harms the group. After Brexit, their currency “pound” decreased in value, making people of Britain pay more for imports, making them poorer than before.
Some people think church should be democracy. In theory, it sounds great and it is true that people’s opinion should be heard. But Church is the earthly model of God’s “Kingdom”. It is ironical that United “Kingdom” believed in the false promise of pure democracy. Many churches split and fight because many of them believe that church should be democracy, when God made it a “Kingdom”.
The big reason why this referendum won in favor of leaving EU is this: Nostalgia of the great Britain. People were looking “back” in their glorious days where they could have everything their ways. This shows that without clear leadership who casts vision for the “future”, general populace tend to make self-serving decisions, based on what they used to enjoy or seen in the past.
Leaders are not special people. They simply have special “role” of looking into the future God has in store for the church. Church leadership becomes healthy and strong through prayer and trust. I’m very grateful and humbled to be part of leading God’s church with wonderful people who are willing to trust and support an imperfect, inexperienced, fragile leader like me.
