A clearly not so correct example
I attended a talk on bribery and corruption conducted by BGST and Gracework at FMC earlier in the evening with Ps Jo. During the QnA, there was an incident when a brother stood up and told us about his dilemma in his current business, offered us three options and told us that we will vote on this and he will adopt the majority vote.
I felt a bit disgusted by the approach at the beginning and I almost wanted to walk away. Luckily the moderator took a stand and explained that they will not take the vote here, after offering him some advice.
Ok, we shouldn't be judgemental about this brother, yet there are a lot of things to learn about decision making and seeking the will of God in this example. This is clearly a not so correct and negative demonstration for many reasons. My reason (I didn't want to vote in any case) is that the method used was frivolous. It was obvious to the whole room that God was not moving in the room and this brother is trying to seek the easy way out. Sometimes, we do make decision in such a manner and want to take the easy way out, so that when the decision proves to be wrong, we can point the finger somewhere. This is what I call 'escaping from responsibility'.
Other reasons that are explained to the brother are that there are a lot more questions that have to be answered before the crowd can take a more informed vote, and that the crowd got the vote thrusted unto them, which they may not agree.
I seriously hope that this provides us some food for thought on how to make godly decision. Have the brother prayed about the situation and choices? He offered us three choices but perhaps that also limited God's ability to work in him and limited his capability to explore more choices. Does that sound familiar?
Food for thought, food for thought!
I felt a bit disgusted by the approach at the beginning and I almost wanted to walk away. Luckily the moderator took a stand and explained that they will not take the vote here, after offering him some advice.
Ok, we shouldn't be judgemental about this brother, yet there are a lot of things to learn about decision making and seeking the will of God in this example. This is clearly a not so correct and negative demonstration for many reasons. My reason (I didn't want to vote in any case) is that the method used was frivolous. It was obvious to the whole room that God was not moving in the room and this brother is trying to seek the easy way out. Sometimes, we do make decision in such a manner and want to take the easy way out, so that when the decision proves to be wrong, we can point the finger somewhere. This is what I call 'escaping from responsibility'.
Other reasons that are explained to the brother are that there are a lot more questions that have to be answered before the crowd can take a more informed vote, and that the crowd got the vote thrusted unto them, which they may not agree.
I seriously hope that this provides us some food for thought on how to make godly decision. Have the brother prayed about the situation and choices? He offered us three choices but perhaps that also limited God's ability to work in him and limited his capability to explore more choices. Does that sound familiar?
Food for thought, food for thought!
good food for thot... did u ask Ps Jo for his perspective on it btw?
ReplyDeleteBtw wat were the 3 choices the bro offered?
good question! I think people on the ground have agreed that we should not vote and that was not the right way. He was quite silent but agreed with the moderator.
ReplyDeletei tend to give ppl i dunno the benefit of the doubt..
ReplyDeleteperhaps he is at his wit's end? To even stand up and ask fellow believers, the method might have been 'wrong' but surely he had a desire to want to do the right thing.
I agree that he has the onus to seek God himself, but at the same time, asking fellow believers for counsel (calling for a vote is perhaps ill-advised) can hardly be a bad thing.
I wasn't there and know nothing, so these are thoughts in the general. :)
yo, good thoughts.
ReplyDeleteI think there is a difference between asking for counsel and imposing forcefully something into our hands which we have to take responsility for. The situation that night was such that he doesn't want to give us a choice. He was at his wits' end, but while he might have believe that asking for vote is seeking God's will, I would have deemed it as an ill-informed choice and the choice of the crowd may not be that appropriate for him to consult.
I have based my conclusion on what he said and the principles I have learned over the years.