IN HIS NAME Original Title: QUESTIONS YOUNG PEOPLE ASK REGARDING THE GROUND OF GATHERING FOR CHRISTIANS GOOD QUESTIONS THAT DESERVE GOOD ANSWERS VOLUMES 1 AND 2 Author: BRUCE ANSTEY Translation: MARIO PERSONA — page 38

“But the brothers were not all present to decide!” Once again this is nothing but a democratic idea. The assembly acting within its administrative capacity without everyone being present is not an idea foreign to the Scriptures. We see the principle recorded in 1 Corinthians 15:5, in connection with the office of the apostleship. There it says: “And that he was seen by Cephas, and after that by the twelve”. When we compare the passage with Luke 24:34-48 and John 20:19:24 we discover that when the Lord appeared to them only ten of the apostles were present, yet they are called “the twelve”. Judas had hanged himself and Thomas was not there. According to Acts 1, Matthias was not yet part of the “twelve”. His choice did not happen until after the Lord had completed all his appearances as resurrected (during the 40 days) and had ascended to heaven. Yet those gathered are, even so, called “the twelve”. From this we learn that “the twelve” is a term used to designate the administrative office they exercised and the authority they had to act as such. In the epistles to the Corinthians, where the function and order of the assembly are presented to us, the principle taught there is in full agreement. It is also worthy of note that the Lord's appearances to the women are not cited in 1 Corinthians 15, for the administration of the assembly is given to the responsible brothers. This demonstrates that the assembly, when it acts in its administrative capacity, does not need to count on the presence of all for its decisions to be made.

The assembly is not a democratic institution that makes its decisions by majority vote, allowing each person to participate in the decision with respect to the matter involved. We once heard a younger brother say: “I have as much right to express myself here as he does”, referring to an older and serious brother, who had devoted himself to the care of the assembly for 50 years. We were obliged to tell the young man that it was not so. There is such a thing as ‘moral weight’, and this is obtained through years of walking in faithfulness to the Lord and caring for the saints. Those who occupy a position of leadership and guide the assembly bear upon themselves the weight of the assembly in administrative matters. For example, it could be the case that six or seven younger brothers desire something, but three or four older and serious brothers think the opposite. Since the judgment of the older brothers must be respected, for they bear the moral weight in the assembly, what the Lord desires is that the young ones submit to such judgment, should they have a contrary opinion. They should be satisfied to follow the spiritual leadership of their older brothers.

IN SUMMARY: The brief answer to this question, of when not all agree in an assembly, is that the assembly is not a democracy, and unanimity is not necessary to make a decision in an assembly. Those who lead bear upon themselves the weight of responsibility in the administrative actions of the assembly. They are responsible for ensuring that the assembly continues to walk in a biblical way, whether all agree or not with a given decision.