Acts 1:15-26
In today's passage, we find what arguably is the first group of people who started the Church. There were about 120 of them, and they were meeting in an upper room of a house in town. Peter, one of the bolder ones, stood up among them and said, "You all know what happened to Judas. He took the bribe from the religious leaders which led to the arrest of Jesus. With that bribe, he bought a small farm. There, he killed himself. Now, we must find a replacement for Judas, and he must be someone who has been with us since the beginning."
Noticeably, the first thing that had to be done in order to find the replacement was to get everyone in the same room. And, there were 120 people meeting on a regular basis in this room.
Next, all of them put their heads together and nominated two people: Justus and Matthias.
Then, they prayed.
Then, they drew straws.
And, Matthias won.
Everybody had a say. Everybody was part of the election process. Matthias represented the decision of the 120 people standing in the room that day. There's no mention of an inner group of elders making the decision. The author clearly states that the candidates were nominated by the people of the Church.
And this brings me to an important point: The Church of Acts was not a business. There was not a president, CEO, or hiring staff. There was not a behind the scenes meeting with the paid staff of the Church, in which they chose a handful of candidates and then brought them out to the people to let them select the best. No, the entire process was done in the open with everyone involved. From point A to point B, 120 people nominated and elected a replacement for Judas.
So, this is how we should elect leadership positions according to Acts:
1. Get everyone (even if it's over 100 people) into the same room.
2. Let everyone (even if it's over 100 people) nominate the best two candidates; by the way, they were picking from among and not from outside.
3. Pray.
4. Draw straws (in other words, have everyone do a secret ballot and then do a tally).
5. Introduce the winner.
So, my question is: Is this how churches do it today?
In today's passage, we find what arguably is the first group of people who started the Church. There were about 120 of them, and they were meeting in an upper room of a house in town. Peter, one of the bolder ones, stood up among them and said, "You all know what happened to Judas. He took the bribe from the religious leaders which led to the arrest of Jesus. With that bribe, he bought a small farm. There, he killed himself. Now, we must find a replacement for Judas, and he must be someone who has been with us since the beginning."
Noticeably, the first thing that had to be done in order to find the replacement was to get everyone in the same room. And, there were 120 people meeting on a regular basis in this room.
Next, all of them put their heads together and nominated two people: Justus and Matthias.
Then, they prayed.
Then, they drew straws.
And, Matthias won.
Everybody had a say. Everybody was part of the election process. Matthias represented the decision of the 120 people standing in the room that day. There's no mention of an inner group of elders making the decision. The author clearly states that the candidates were nominated by the people of the Church.
And this brings me to an important point: The Church of Acts was not a business. There was not a president, CEO, or hiring staff. There was not a behind the scenes meeting with the paid staff of the Church, in which they chose a handful of candidates and then brought them out to the people to let them select the best. No, the entire process was done in the open with everyone involved. From point A to point B, 120 people nominated and elected a replacement for Judas.
So, this is how we should elect leadership positions according to Acts:
1. Get everyone (even if it's over 100 people) into the same room.
2. Let everyone (even if it's over 100 people) nominate the best two candidates; by the way, they were picking from among and not from outside.
3. Pray.
4. Draw straws (in other words, have everyone do a secret ballot and then do a tally).
5. Introduce the winner.
So, my question is: Is this how churches do it today?
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