Seeing God work

by Edwin Lehman

"Mark your ballots."

With those words, people are asked to make decisions. They decide a particular course of action. They select people to positions of responsibility. That will happen more than a few times when our denomination gathers in convention. It is worth giving some careful attention to what really happens when delegates carry out the duties entrusted to them by congregations.

Some see it all as an exercise in power. By giving their yes or no, speaking on an issue or marking a ballot, they believe they can tell the church what it ought to be doing, or determine who ought to be entrusted with office. As they see it, there will be winners and there will be losers, and if you come away from the convention having been on the winning side on most issues, then you have had your way. You have won.

On the other extreme are those who see the whole thing as an exercise in futility. To them, "church politics" are determined by a few people who know how to work the system and use delegates as pawns in achieving certain goals and seeing that certain persons are elected. Those who see it this way, resign themselves to the probability that they will not get their way, that they will end up on the losing side of most votes. For them, the whole process is just a front to give the appearance of legitimacy to decisions made behind closed doors. They're bound to think of themselves as losers.

As different as these two views are, one is as mistaken as the other. Either view is equally damaging to the church. Both are insults to the intelligence and dedication of the delegates.

There are few recorded accounts of church meetings in Scripture. Two that come immediately to mind are the gathering of the disciples after the death of Judas, when it was necessary to fill the vacancy that had occurred in their number (Acts 1). The other is the Council of Jerusalem, in which the early church was faced with some important decisions regarding the requirements to be placed on Gentiles who were converting to the Christian faith (Acts 15). In both cases there were delegates; in both cases there were speeches; in both cases there was a decision to be made.

In both cases there was also a stong awareness that the delegates were instruments of the Holy Spirit. God would use them, their speeches and their actions to arrive at decisions which would profoundly impact the church. God was actually willing to trust them with determining what was best. What an amazing tribute to the delegates! How different from suggesting that the delegates were useless pawns in an unseen process.

In both cases there was also a desire to do what was right for the kingdom and the gospel. None of those present would go home as either winners or losers. God's kingdom was to win; the devil would be the loser. They may not have known exactly how or to what extent their actions would be a blessing for the kingdom, but they had faith and confidence in the Lord who had called them, who had placed His Spirit within them and who would direct them to know and do His will. Small wonder, then, that in both accounts there was fervent prayer for the Spirit's guidance and a joyful surrender to His decision at work in their lives.

Neither meeting, however, would have been worth having if it were not for the fact that the disciples knew they were called to proclaim the message of Christ's resurrection. When the time came to replace Judas, Peter summed it up: "One of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection."

As we prepare for our convention, let none see it as an exercise in power. Let none dismiss it as an exercise in futility. Rather, may all of us--whether delegates or not--see it as an opportunity for God to do His work through us and and an opportunity for us to become witnesses of Christ's resurrection.

This article was written in preparation for the convention of the Lutheran Church--Canada, of which Edwin Lehman is the outgoing president. Reprinted, with permission, from The Canadian Lutheran.