Take resolute action: part I
Resolving to see and take action as Christian communities.
I’ve long been aware of a problem in Christian leadership circles: that it is far too easy for Christian organizations to maintain the status quo, to simply try and maintain equilibrium, to ignore a problem, to turn a blind eye from the evidence that has made clear that the organization is faltering.
It’s why the most common practice in a board or council room is some version of “tabling the motion” such as to “pray about this,” “form a committee,” “study the issue,” or, even worse, to twist theology and “trust God for the issue.” (Note that I am not against spiritual disciplines as part of the leadership process, but when prayer is used as a crutch to avoid ever coming around to action, that’s a problem.) All of these so-called next steps are different degrees of seeing and not acting resolutely: of washing our hands from the dirt of a challenge. This behaviour is often justified by tossing around phrases like Shakespeare’s “discretion is the better part of valour,” meaning “Let’s wait and see what happens.” But that is not good enough! And it’s not biblical, either. The Bible indicates that God sees, God knows and God provides.
Therefore, in this month of resolutions, I wish to offer some encouragement in the opposite direction to those tempted to “table the motion.” The encouragement is rooted in Genesis 22 and the story of God’s provision to Abraham.
A God who sees us
In Genesis 22 we are told God sees – (ראה) ra’ah – and resolves to take action. In the formative moment when Abraham is tested, God sees Abraham’s faith dilemma and ultimately provides the ram. As a result, Abraham named that place “The Lord Will Provide,” or as we more commonly call it Mount Moriah. Do you hear the root word ra’ah (to see) in the word ‘Moriah’?
Although in English Genesis 22 conveys the name God Provides, what the text actually says is this is the mountain where God Sees. The two are synonymous: we can assume that for God to see is to provide. When God sees, he acts in a manner of providing with the best and most godly outcome in mind. This occurs frequently enough in scripture that we rightly call it a pattern.
This year my hope is that Christian communities see and then resolve to action. In other words, get rid of all behaviours that look like stalling and instead look around and then pursue the kind of active response that works toward a better tomorrow. Why do I want this so badly? Because resolute action is not common amongst faith-based communities.
Besides, to stall on a decision is its own decision. I like how, in words attributed to Dietrich Bonhoeffer, but likely coming from Pastor Robert K. Hudnut in 1971, “Not to act is to act. To do nothing when a house is burning is to do something. It is to let the house burn. To say nothing when a [community] is burning is to say something.”
In the 2024 movie Bonhoeffer, Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s character challenges the Bishop of the German Lutheran church who quoted Shakespeare’s “discretion is the better part of valour” phrase as an excuse to allow church hierarchy to capitulate to Nazi influence. Bonhoeffer saw right through that, rightfully retorting: “I choose to be guided by the words of a Jew who said: ‘For God gave us not a spirit of fearfulness; but of power and love and discipline’” (2 Ti 1:7 ASV).
Fear is the heartbeat of maintaining the status quo. To resolve to act is the heartbeat of a powerful, loving, and disciplined God.
So this year, let’s see. Let’s act.
Next month, Part Two: “What should the nature of our actions be?” And the answer, once again, is found on Mount Moriah.
Thank you for this column. In my experiences on boards of Christian organisations, there are far too many occasions when no action has been called ‘sensitivity.’ Many organisations lose credibility, in my experience, not from making decisions but from making none. Soon the organisational structure itself becomes irrelevant members of the group.
While I agree that there is often a pious avoidance of issues that need to be addressed, there is also the danger of acting prematurely and with insufficient information to make a good decision. When I have had the freedom to do so, I have changed the order of agenda items so that those that are urgent and important are dealt with first and those less urgent and less important are at the end. I should state as well that at the beginning of the meeting I have sought a consensus on the time for adjournment. No going into the late hours of the night. Typically, this would mean that we would meet at 7 and adjourn at 9. Anything past that would require a motion.