A firm grasp of the obvious

I know that I have a firm grasp of the obvious but I have noticed something over the years. Those who hold most closely to the idea of majority rule inevitably are those who are, or feel that they are in the majority. Over the years I have watched politics, both in government and in church, and have been told over and over that democracy will work when it is done properly. Supposedly it is at its best when everyone gets his say, a vote is taken, and everyone accepts the result and the will of the majority because the process is so fair. The problem is that I have never seen it work that way, either in government or in church. The majority feel they are right because of their numbers. The minority feels it is right because of its principles. So when the vote is taken, it just serves as a marker so the minority knows how much work it has ahead to attain a majority and overturn the most recent vote.

Our government was set up precisely to work that way. The two party system guarantees that one party will set the agenda and the other party will oppose it. I've seen both parties in control. The names change but the process remains the same. The majority party speaks of their mandate, and the minority sees it as its responsibility to protect the country we love from the unwise decisions of the majority party. If you look at decades instead of election cycles, this process works okay for the country. Very little of substance really happens, and the nation wobbles slightly right and left down a fairly narrow path.

My question is this: When we know that democracy is built on taking sides and defending or opposing the majority depending on our side of issues, why is it that we would want anything to do with democracy in local church governance? Christ is the head of the church, and God is the head of Christ. Our "majorities" really don't have the critical mass to overturn Christ's leadership. He isn't 51% or 76% sure of anything he does. (He isn't even 99.3% sure of what he wants.) Let's realize that our voting occurs because we like to exert control. I could go on for hours on this topic but today I just want to throw out the possibility that voting isn't necessarily the best way to determine God's direction for a local church.