Parliamentary Law (Tyler Murphy)

I believe that if the main point of this restructuring of parliamentary law is that all people believe the same thing because the Spirit is guiding them as one, you must look at how the Spirit is sought.

So Step 1 of the new restructuring of the law is: Seeking the Spirit as One:
Unless everyone prays together, it is very difficult to know where the Spirit is leading collectively. So, Step 1 is pray collectively.

Step 2: Share Collectively
Everyone who feels as if they feel the Spirit moving a certain direction should be permitted to share, but also realize that unity is being sought.

Step 3: Listen Collectively
While God may not speak the same language to everyone, he certainly does remain unwaivering in His thoughts and actions. So listen for themes that may connect all thoughts and movements together.

Step 4: Discuss Collectively
After everyone who shares has shared and all have listened. Discuss what you heard as common themes amongst the group. If there are apparent common themes, then clearly these are the ones to be followed. If not, then you must discuss further or pray further until a theme or resolution is found. Often times, it seems as if there is no resolution to be found, and if that is the case, then a "mistrial" is called and the case is closed. In this belief, if God does not speak absolutely clearly about a particular issue, then it must not be important enough to stress about and can be dropped without worry.

Step 5: Elder Confirmation
The Elders of the church must confirm every theme and thought to be true and possibly "of God". The Elders are chosen by God and are Biblically responsible for the furthering of the church. Thereby, they should hold the most responsibility in deciding whether or not the perceived leadings are truly of God and should be followed.

Step 6: Action
Regardless of previous belief or opinion, after a decision is made, all must follow and see it through to success. If we are one body, we must act as one body and make sure that we work as one Body. This is the final and most important step in the process.

Three Problems:
1) The Elders: Leaving the final decision up to the Elders is a dangerous one, because you are putting an enormous amount of faith and responsibility into the hands of broken people. While they do hold high positions in the church, they are still just as human as every single congregation member present. So potentially, you have a human making a decision against what the divine has declared.

2) The "Dropped" Process: If a consensus is not made, then the problem is dropped and a "mistrial" is called. This could happen often and as a result, there could be an array of important issues that are simply put to the wayside and never talked about again. This is how a budget crisis could turn into a scandal or an incompetent pastor could turn into the Achilles heel or the church. Perhaps there should be no issue that goes unresolved.

3) Allowing All People to Speak: While this is certainly good, it could take a long time. If every single person is hearing from God and have a variety of thoughts and words from Him, it is possible that nothing ever gets past the talking stage and essentially the "bill" sits in congress and does nothing. It is good that all get to speak, but potentially bad because of the simply logistical time issues involved.