Based on the United Church of God doctrinal paper "Godly Governance" and other statements made by UCG ministers and defenders, UCG's justification for overturning Mr. Armstrong's doctrine on government in the Church and for retaining ballot-box governance to this time, seems to be as follows:
1) In the Bible, God does not specify one form or structure of governance to be used in the Church, so any form of governance is ok.
2) God specifies character required of those who lead, so that is the only thing that matters. If the men who lead are righteous, then any form of government will work. If not, then no form of government will work.
3) Christ controls everything that happens because He is the head of the Church, so whatever decisions are made in UCG, it is God's will.
4) Christ therefore must be guiding not only the voting to lead UCG, but He must have guided the decision by UCG ministers to set up UCG with ballot-box governance in the first place.
5) The decision was made fifteen years ago to set up ballot-box governance in order to avoid the kind of problems that existed before (in Worldwide).
The above reasoning contains a number of fallacies.
1) In the Bible, God does not specify one form or structure of governance to be used in the Church, so any form of governance is ok.
Although the examples of government God shows us in the Bible vary in their details, the examples of government structure God gives His people are always from the top down, never by balloting. To say that God uses a variety of forms is misleading and it clouds the issue. There are only two basic forms or structures of government: a) government with authority flowing from the top down, with leaders appointed by those in greater authority over them, and b) self-government by consent of those governed, with leaders elected or chosen by those whom they will lead, in effect, the people deciding who their leaders will be. Now, within those two forms you can have details that vary from one instance to another. But there are still only the two basic forms.
There is not even one example in the entire Bible of God using a system of balloting to rule His people or giving them such a system so they can rule themselves.
The commands to love God (Matthew 22:37-38) and to live by every word of God (Matthew 4:4) require that we study the examples in the Bible that show how God thinks in order to seek His will to please Him in every decision we make. The examples of government in the Bible show that it is NOT God's will that we govern ourselves through balloting but that we submit to God's government from the top down. Therefore any form of governances is NOT ok.
2) God specifies character required of those who lead, so that is the only thing that matters. If the men who lead are righteous, then any form of government will work. If not, then no form of government will work.
God certainly specifies in the Bible what the character should be of those who lead, but that is NOT the only thing that matters. It is fine to teach that leaders must practice righteousness, love, patience, humility, wisdom, etc. but the key issue of governances is, who decides who is qualified and should hold a position? Every teaching in the Bible that specifies the character the leaders should have must be applied by those who choose the leaders. The question is, who chooses? Who has the responsibility to exercise judgment to decide who has the qualifications for leadership and who does not, and who exactly should fill what offices? Will these things be decided by those in higher authority or by those in lower authority? This is important.
The examples in the Bible indicate that the leaders in the Church should be chosen by those higher in authority, ultimately by Jesus Christ and God the Father, not by the people who will be under the leaders.
In fact, in the very passage that gives qualifications for an elder is proof that the New Testament Church of God did not ballot to choose their leaders. Notice what Paul wrote regarding the qualifications for an elder: "if a man is blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of dissipation or insubordination. For a bishop must be blameless, as a steward of God, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but hospitable, a lover of what is good, sober-minded, just, holy, self-controlled, holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict" (Titus 1:6-9). These verses are referenced many times in the UCG paper on governance. But the context of this passage proves that these leaders were to be appointed from the top down. Paul didn't write this to everyone in the Church or even to all the ministry, though God made sure the letter became part of the Bible. Paul addressed this list of qualifications SPECIFICALLY TO TITUS. "To Titus, a true son in our common faith" (Titus 1:4). Why? "For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are lacking, and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you" (Titus 1:5). Who was to decide who had these qualifications? Not all the elders so they would know who to vote for. It was Titus who was to APPOINT men who had these qualifications.
If they were practicing balloting, Paul would have written a letter to all those who would be voting giving them the qualifications they should look for in a candidate.
Also, to say that righteous character of leaders is the only thing that matters and that the structure of government does not matter ignores the fact that the choice of unbiblical form of government is itself an unrighteous choice.
3) Christ controls everything that happens because He is the head of the Church, so whatever decisions are made in UCG, it is God's will.
Although number three above is not a primary teaching of the doctrinal paper on Godly Governance, it is a strong implication of many statements in letters and sermons that come out of UCG. And it is wrong. Christ allows us to make bad decisions and lets us see the consequences of our mistakes. Christ leads the Church, but He does not force us to follow Him. So decisions that are made in the Church are not necessarily right decisions that are pleasing to Him.
4) Christ therefore must be guiding not only the voting to lead UCG, but He must have guided the decision by UCG ministers to set up UCG with ballot-box governance in the first place.
I do not think that Christ led the decision to set up UCG governance by ballot, and I think that decision was a mistake, but Christ allowed it. I think He is letting UCG ministers and members see the results of that decision, which are not good.
I also do not think Christ necessarily inspires ministers to vote correctly in UCG elections. I don't think Christ is pleased with UCG's decision to set up voting in any case, and if He is not pleased with that, I do not know why He would guide a process He doesn't approve of.
To say that the form or structure doesn't matter because Christ is head of the Church and He controls everything anyway is false reasoning. There is still a right and a wrong way to do things. We are commanded to live by every word of God, and we should seek His will from the Bible in all major decisions, including the decision about the structure of governance.
5) The decision was made fifteen years ago to set up ballot-box governance in order to avoid the kind of problems that existed before (in Worldwide).
This is a human reason for the decision fifteen years ago, but the results are showing that it was a bad decision, yet UCG leaders will not consider changing that decision.
The UCG doctrinal paper on Godly Governance tries to frame the governance issue as being a question of righteousness of leaders or the structure of governance, as if either one or the other is important, but not both. That is wrong and a smokescreen. You need BOTH. You need right structure and you need righteousness in the leaders who hold offices in that structure. And the right structure ensures that those who are most qualified to judge the righteousness and personal qualifications of men who might hold office are the ones who make that decision, the men who already hold higher office, right up to Jesus Christ and God the Father. The wrong structure ensures that those who are LEAST qualified to judge the righteousness and qualifications of leaders make the decisions about who those leaders will be - those who hold lesser offices.
More to come...
Here are links to related sections in Preaching the Gospel:
Government in the Church, Chapter 5
Following the Bible -- Pattern of Government, Chapter 6
Church Government, Chapter 7
How Is the Church Organized?, Chapter 7
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