At the core of democracy is the freedom to say “no.” This freedom is also at the core of Christianity, without which democracy the way we know it today would not exist.
Jesus taught His followers to sort out the demands of the various authorities in everyday ancient Mediterranean life—and they were many—local, religious, tribal, class, Roman. Jesus gave his followers license to say “no.” Yes, it got some of them in trouble. Saying “no” calls for some bravery, some chance-taking.
Every now and then, the Church forgets that “no” is an option, even in Church life. The Church is then taking itself more seriously than its mission.
There is always a temptation to worship the leaders whom we can see and hear rather than the nebulous God they serve but come to represent in people’s minds. The temptation of leaders is to first accept the attention and then to expect the attention. Obedience to man is substituted for obedience to God.
Things can go badly for many for a very long time until one or a few brave souls put their tongues to the roof of their mouths and say “NO.”
Many of these are remembered today as saints. Others are featured in history books. Two of them have similar names — Martin Luther and Martin Luther King, Jr.
Still we easily forget the power of the simplest and most necessary word in almost any language. Wrong will prevail without the ability to say “no.”
We are in one of these unfortunate eras. We have church leaders who look at any controversy in the Church and say. “I’d better not comment.” No response appears to be safe, a ticket to popularity (and reelection and a continuing paycheck).
No response is a devil’s playground.
We have clergy who protect their status in the Church by saying nothing to abuses of power.
We have church members who follow suit and attempt to create an easy-going congregational life where everyone just gets along and never considers taking a stand on anything that might disrupt the good life.
Shun the naysayer.
Substituting for the simple word “no” are laborious Social Statements that committees slave over until everyone can agree . . . and that collect cyberdust on the national bodies’ websites.
The Church then stands for nothing and people of conviction rightly conclude that passions are of more value outside the Church.
The Church, without the word “no” in its vocabulary, will continue to decline.
Do something about this? It’s our choice: Yes or No.
