166. Alignment, Not Agreement

Through previous blog posts (Refer to blog post 11, 16, 108), I have mentioned multiple times that the Church is not a democracy. The “Church” is a spiritual institution, not a political one. It is a model of God’s “Kingdom”, not a reflection of human government. Indeed, there are democratic elements in church governance to reflect members’ opinions and wishes. But the Church ultimately exists to obey its head, Christ.

That is why the goal of a church meeting is not to gather members’ opinions but to discern God’s will together. God has appointed leaders to lead the Church according to his will, but there is safety in multitude (Proverbs 11:14). And if the ultimate goal of every meeting is to discern God’s will, then the decision should be unanimous. If a church has to vote for every decision, it indicates that members are not able to find God’s will together. It is a sign of disunity. (or even immaturity)

That is why our Leadership Team has been practicing this in every meeting. After enough discussions, instead of voting for a decision, we strive to align ourselves to what we collectively sense as God’s will for our Church. Though not everyone agreed on every detail, we were able to make unanimous decisions on important matters that surprisingly helped our Church to move forward in the right direction.

So, we ask the same from our members. We are not asking for agreement, but alignment in every church decisions. Of course, there will be times we will have to vote for major decisions, but in the majority of our church meetings, we pursue unanimous decision. It is not to disregard each member’s voice, but to practice discerning God’s will and aligning ourselves to it in trust and obedience, regardless of our personal opinions. Above all, it is a sign of maturity and unity. If there is no unanimous decision, we will delay our decision. We will have another meeting until everyone can discern what God’s will is and align with it.

If you have any opinions or concerns, you can speak to your shepherd or team leaders first. If it is a big issue, they will bring it up to the leadership team. But the majority of problems in the Church can get solved through these channels without having to gather every member’s opinion on every matter if there is trust between leadership and members.