Democracy and Church Governance
From the Mecca of Mormonism, Salt Lake City, Utah, this is HEART of the MATTER Short, where we are learning together how to walk as Christians in the AGE OF FULFILLMENT. I am your host Shawn McCraney. Show 7L Church Demo-crazy, November 15th 2020.
We have spent a month or so and have taken from secular perspectives like Classical Liberalism, Christian Anarchy, and Totalitarianism and have used some of the principles that they are built upon to examine modern Christianity. Before we move on to other vistas, I need to approach just one more facet of governing people that people like to talk about – democracy. But of course, I want to talk about it relative to if it ever applies to church.
Let me jump right to the point – it shouldn’t, ever, apply to Church governance – and I will explain my reasons for this in a minute. Before we talk about what I call “demo-crazy” in the church, (which in my estimation is as insidious as Totalitarianism in a church) let’s talk about democracy in general.
Understanding Democracy
The word democracy is derived from a set of Greek terms, demos and kratos, with demos meaning, “people” and “kratos” meaning rule. So, democracy means, the people rule, which, when it first appeared around the 5th Century BC, stood in opposition to aristocracy, which means the rule of an elite group or individual. But it was also very different from an oligarchy, (which is rule by a small number of people) or an absolute monarchy, which is rule by one person. Here in the United States, people often cite democracy as our form of government, but from what I understand, we are more of a republic than a democracy.
What’s the difference? A Republic is a country in which supreme power is held by the people AND their elected representatives, but a true Democracy is a system of government by the whole population of a country or state, which is typically through elected representatives. I am not going to take a stand on what we ought to be as a country; I am not educated enough to even make a guess. But I do want to take the topic of the governance of religion and suggest that religious democrazy is as ludicrous as Christian Totalitarianism. And I am going to use the writings of Socrates (provided us by way of Plato) to explain this view.
Interestingly enough, while Democracy was the product of Greek thinking, especially among the Athenians, Socrates was not a fan of democracy as a form of reasonable government. Always insightful, even when it wasn’t popular, Socrates pushed against the idea that the masses should be invited or involved in governing, instead promoting that governance ought to be left in the hands of those who were prepared and trained for the job.
Socrates uses the example of a ship crossing the sea to prove his point. Few would agree that just anyone ought to captain a ship across the rough waters of an ocean, but would instead say that the job should be given to someone who has been trained to know the craft, to navigate, to map-read, and to captain a ship as a means to ensure the safety of all on board. We would say the same today about someone who drills our teeth, operates on our bodies, or flies our airplanes. In order to ensure the safety of all involved, such people ought to be properly educated, informed, and prepared.
Socrates extended this logic not only to those who ran for office, but he took it even further and said it ought to be applied to those who are allowed to vote for those who are running for office. To him, giving the right to vote to an individual who is ill-prepared and uneducated on the facts is as irresponsible as it would be to give someone the helm of a ship who has zero knowledge or experience with what is required to operate it. In some respects, Plato echoes Socrates' stance in his book called "The Republic," a read I highly recommend.
Governance of Religion
So now to our purposes – this thing we call church. When it comes to governing religion (in the spirit of a democracy, that expression is called, the congregational approach. I call it “democrazy.” I have a dear friend who serves as a pastor back east. She is a lover of God and Christ and a student of the Word. She was hired to be the pastor over a church that had been around for quite some time but with the job came…
Church Governance Systems
An established Congregational church governance. A system where everyone in the congregation has a say (a vote) on everything. She recently told me that they almost had a church split over . . . drapes. And while I certainly agree that all are equal in Christ and there is no difference between any believer in any way, to justify church governance by committee is really just an excuse to embrace mediocrity, to introduce politics to the body, and to provide every church who embraces such a reason to split.
So, not Church Totalitarianism. Not Church Democracy. Not Church Aristocracy. Not a Church Republic. And not a Church Monarchy. (beat) What’s left? Because all of these systems have been and are being attempted.
Christian Anarchism
And it is here where I will wrap up this short series. What needs to exist in the faith are the principles of Classic Liberalism for every soul, and the means to get there will be the two-fold approach of Christian Anarchism, which are
- Calling the authority claim of all religious leaders to be justified, and two, when their authority cannot be justified,
- Dismantling and replacing the current people and systems with something better, which again, I maintain are the principles of Christian Liberalism – nothing else.
The basis for this approach is understood through reasonable, biblical contextual eschatology, and trusting what God said he would do in this age.
Faith Solutions
What I am describing is the singular solution to the divisions in the faith today. It is the solution to the decline of Christianity in the United States. And it is the solution to the abuses that pastors and priests and bishops have heaped upon people who simply want to know and please Christ.
That wraps my insights on ecclesiology in the faith today. Next week we are going to embark on new views of scripture.
Let’s go to YOUR comments from last week.
