Hijacked by American Democracy & Robert's Rules of Order

What ever happened to the guidance of the Holy Spirit when it comes to making decisions in the church? Why do so many churches believe that voting on something is the way to go?  Shouldn’t we be trying to discern God’s will rather than the will of the congregation? Are academic credentials really more important than Spirit filled leadership?

Modern church structures and govement are so far removed from what is seen in the Bible that one wonders how we could have strayed so far from the path.  Here are my suggestions:

• Throw Robert’s Rule of Order out the door and never allow it back in
• Place more emphasis on determining God’s will rather than the will of the congregation
• Be more organic in nature where spontaneous response to what God is really up to is possible, rather than voting on what the majority wants to do
• Establish flexible structures and job descriptions that are fluid enough to allow the Holy Spirit to redirect our actions, like it did with Stephen when it shifted his job from waiting tables to preaching the Gospel.
• Those in leadership would only be those who were demonstrating serious servant hood, are Biblically qualified, and lead by example, rather than issuing decrees from on high (i.e., the board room).
• Rather than being a democracy, oversight and authority would be invested in a few godly people because they were trusted by the congregation based upon how they lived.
• Prayer would be a form of collective listening by the leadership team
• Ripened and disciplined leaders who have loving relationships with the congregation would replace academically trained leaders.