Decisions, decisions, decisions. They seem to be the problem that causes most confusion and disagreements in a church. There is a not-so-nice joke that Asian churches have too many “big heads”, “too many PhD’s”, too many people who are doing quite well in secular professions, who bring secular decision-making approaches into the church. In curiosity, I looked around one time during a church committee meeting, and was surprised that indeed, about half of the members were PhDs, which sounds quite weird, as if we were on a college campus. I guess it is so common we don’t really even pay any attention to it.
决定，决定，决定。这似乎是造成教会混乱和分歧最多的问题。有一个不太好的笑话，亚洲教会有太多“大人物”，“太多博士”，太多在世俗职业中表现非常出色的人，他们将世俗的决策方法带入教会。出于好奇，一次我曾在教会委员会会议期间环顾过，并且感到惊讶的是，确实其中大约一半的成员是博士，听起来很奇怪，好像我们在大学校园一样。我想这很常见, 所以我们甚至都没有注意到它。

There is also a rumor that splits in Asian churches are quite common, and usually related to unhappiness with church decisions. Whether this is true or not, I’m not totally sure, but I certainly know of many splits that occurred in cities near us, seemingly like practically every Chinese-speaking church, so we know that definitely there are many problems that we should pay attention to, big heads or not.
还有传言说亚洲教会的分裂是相当普遍的，通常与不满教会决定有关。不管这是否真实，我并不完全确定，但我当然听说过我们附近城市的很多教会分裂，看起来像几乎每个讲中文的教会，所以我们知道肯定有很多问题需要注意，不管是不是教会有大人物。

One misunderstanding is indeed common: many Asians, or maybe even average Americans, unconsciously simply think that churches are like USA society, a democracy. Many have migrated here to live in a “free society” that was born of “Christian principles”, so therefore they think they can just bring some of the ways of US society into their churches also, assuming somehow that many principles of US society are Christian principles. For example, a simple logic is, of course, we vote in a democracy, so in church we will simply vote and decide on issues, just like US elections, which “somehow” relate to the Christian foundations of our society.
一个确实很普遍的误解是：许多亚洲人，或者甚至是普通美国人，在不知不觉中，简单地认为教会就像美国社会一样是民主国家, 很多亚洲人以为来到了一个以基督原则为根基的自由社会。所以他们认为他们也可以将美国社会的一些方式带入他们的教堂，假设这些也差不多是基督教原则。例如，一个简单的逻辑就是我们在民主国家要投票，所以在教会中我们也理所当然的投票决定问题，就像美国的选举一样，它“某种程度上”与我们社会的基督基础有关。

And, yet, on simple reflection, we know how complicated, unsatisfactory and, frankly, chaotic US elections are! Definitely, it is not a good model for church decisions. And, surprise, it is definitely not biblical! The biblical model for church management is, to be emphatic, actually not democracy! And that’s one of the first myths we should dispel.
然而，简单想想我们就知道美国的选举是多么复杂，令人不满意，坦率地说是多么混乱的！这肯定不是教会做决定的好榜样。而且，令人惊讶的是，这绝对也不是符合圣经原则的！教会管理的圣经模式实际上不是民主！这是我们应该消除的其中第一个谬见。

Acts 13:1-4 (NIV) 1 Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul. 2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off. 4 The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus.
使徒行传13：1-4 1在安提阿的教会中有几位先知和教师，就是巴拿巴和称呼尼结的西面、古利奈人路求、与分封之王希律同养的马念并扫罗。 2 他们侍奉主、禁食的时候，圣灵说：“要为我分派巴拿巴和扫罗，去做我召他们所做的工。” 3 于是禁食、祷告，按手在他们头上，就打发他们去了。4他们既被圣灵差遣，就下到西流基，从那里坐船往塞浦路斯去。

In fact, possibly to some people’s great surprise, the basic driving principle of church management, according to the Bible, is to simply seriously seek God’s will. In this passage, the leadership group of prophets and teachers worshipped, fasted and prayed, and were guided by the Spirit of God in their decision. And decisions were always group decisions; i.e., there were always several elders, and never a decision made alone by a single “dictator like” type of pastor. In the bible, elders and pastors are the same, though in today’s usage pastors are usually financially supported by the church, whereas elders generally have a separate profession in addition to serving the church.
事实上，可能让很多人惊讶的是，根据圣经，教会管理的基本驱动原则，只是认真地寻求神的旨意。在这段经文中，教会领导团队、先知和教师的团队集体崇拜，禁食和祷告，并在圣灵的指导下做出决定。决定总是集体决定; 例如总是有多位长老，决不会由一位“独裁者”式的牧师作出决定。在圣经中，长老和牧师是相同的，虽然现在牧师通常由教会提供财政支持，而长老一般除了服事教会外，还有其他职业。

In effect, the leadership of the church is given the main responsibility to seek God’s will. That sounds very ancient, and even very abstract, and people might think that that is impossible! But don’t we believe that God is the God of the impossible? Meaning, I think God’s ways are not meant to be “just like what happens naturally in the world”, especially not the secular world or the western world. We definitely should try to follow biblical principles first, and not the “natural way” or the “American way”.
实际上，教会领导的主要责任去寻求上帝的旨意。这听起来很古老，甚至很抽象，人们可能会认为这是不可能的！但我们是不是信一个无所不能的上帝呢？意思是，我认为上帝的方式并不意味着“就像世界上自然发生的事情”，尤其不是世俗世界，也不是西方世界。我们绝对应该首先遵循圣经原则，而不是“自然的方式”，也不是“美国的方式”。

Some people also like to say the bible doesn’t really lay out how a church is to run. Surprise! There are actually lots of principles in the Bible, principles about how to work with people and how to deal with issues. And church management means we have to deal with people and issues. So, it’s not true that we are just left to devise our own system without clear guidance. Plus, what about all those verses about elders and deacons, the key components of any church management. There certainly are a lot of descriptions of qualifications and responsibilities for them, and therefore the expectations for proper church management.
有些人也喜欢说圣经并没有真正展示教堂将如何运行。奇怪！圣经中实际上有很多原则，关于如何与人合作以及如何处理问题。教会管理意味着我们必须与人和问题打交道。所以，我们不能说没有明确指导而自己设计教会体系。另外，还有关于长老和执事的所有经文呢？它们是教会管理的关键组成部分。当然有很多关于他们的资格和责任的描述，因此也是对合理教会管理的期望。

And, there is another secret, that even though there are no titles of bible chapters which say, “How to organize a church,” we actually even have a pretty detailed description of what happened in the first church. So, we can definitely learn from the practical example of the early church, and especially the letters from Paul, which especially often deal with practical issues within the church. So, there is plenty of material to work with. It’s just whether we want to follow it or not.
还有另外一个秘密就是，尽管圣经章节的题目没有说“如何管理教会”， 我们实际上甚至有非常详细的描述关于第一个教会发生了什么。 所以， 我们当然可以从早期教会的实际例子中学习， 尤其是从保罗书信里，里面经常处理教会发生的实际事情，所以有很多材料可以参考。只是我们是否愿意效法。

As a first step, I think, therefore, every responsible person in the church should read how the early church managed its problems, as a model. The principles that derive from the early church are extremely instructive, even though they were 2,000 years ago. Or maybe we should say, it is so valuable especially since it has a 2,000-year history that has been tested and used, again and again. Just like we are all reminded by the Christian Reformation, we need to go back to the bible, and not just follow the traditions accumulated over the years in western denominational structure.
因此我认为第一步，教会中的每个负责人都应该阅读了解早期教会如何处理自己的问题，以此作为一个榜样。尽管早在两千年前，但从早期教会衍生出来的原则是非常具有启发性的。或者我们应该说，这是非常有价值的，特别是因为它已有两千多年的历史，一次又一次被检验和使用。就像我们都从宗教改革中所受到的提醒那样，我们需要回归圣经，而不仅仅是遵循多年来在西方教派结构中积累下来的传统。

Remember the church is a living organism, so it is not just theory and philosophy. And don’t give me this modern spin, and say, “Oh, the bible is such an old book, can we trust it for modern society and modern churches?” This response is probably why there are so many problems in today’s churches: we forget to check what the Good Book clearly tells us we can and should do, from the very beginning of the church.
记住教会是一个活的有机体，所以它不仅仅是理论和哲学。不要给我说这个现代的节奏，然后说，“哦，圣经太古老了，我们可以相信它适用现代社会和现代教会吗？”这种反应可能是为什么在今天的教会中存在如此多问题的原因：我们忘了检查圣经从教会一开始就清楚告诉我们，我们能做什么，该做什么。

Traditions that have been started and added down through the centuries are interesting, and may be helpful, especially during their time and culture, but these traditions may not be the most helpful for our specific church. It’s better to check with the original and go from there, as the “main frame” of reference, considering some other traditions that have come along as “add-ons”, since they could be helpful, instead of using traditions as main frame.
已经开始，并且延续了几个世纪的传统很有趣，并且可能会有所帮助，尤其是在他们的文化和时期，但这些传统对我们特定的教会可能并不是最有帮助的。最好检查圣经原文并从那里出发，原文作为“主要框架”，将其他可能有用或需要的传统作为“附件”，而不是反过来。

Read Acts 15 especially carefully please. In this chapter there is a detailed example of how the early church dealt with a controversial issue about the gentiles’ salvation. The leaders did not focus on advantages or disadvantages, like we commonly do, or what the majority wanted, or even what was best for the gentiles. They did not vote. And the leaders were given the responsibility to make the main decision. From principles that are clearly in the scriptures, and from personal experience, here are some guiding thoughts that should help us in making decisions for our “modern” church, using these “case studies” as a start.
请仔细阅读使徒行传十五章。在这一章中，有一个关于早期教会如何处理有关外邦人救赎的争议问题的详细例子。领导者没有把重点放在优点或缺点上，就像我们通常所做的那样，或者多数人想要的，或者甚至是对外邦人来说最好的。他们没有投票。领导者有责任做出主要决定。从圣经中明确的原则和个人经验，这里有一些指导思想，应该帮助我们为我们的“现代”教会作出决定，并以这些“案例研究”为出发点。

1.Prayer
1.祷告

Prayer works! Again, you might think, of course, everyone says that, and anyway, that’s too abstract and too theoretic! But in reality, that’s the best way. It’s biblical. It has a 6,000-year history. It is highly regarded by all believers. And, I don’t mean the rather perfunctory prayer of a quick blessing at the beginning and/or end of the meeting, like, “Lord, bless us for a decision we have already made.” Or, “Lord, just stamp this ‘OK,’” the typical “rubber stamp prayer” churches love. That doesn’t seem to be the original biblical “style”.
祷告起作用！你可能又会想，当然，人人都这么说，但无论如何，这太抽象了，太理论了！但实际上，这是最好的方法。这是符合圣经的。它有6000年的历史。它受到所有信徒的高度重视。而且，我并不是指在会议开始和/或结束时相当快速祝福的祈祷，就像“主啊，祝福我们已经做出的决定”。或者，“主啊，请盖章同意！”典型的“盖章”式的祷告及教会的爱。这似乎不是最初的圣经“风格”。

How about starting with serious prayer from each of the members of the meeting? That way, each person has a fully vested involvement. How about really spending some time praying and focusing on sincerely finding out God’s will? How about keeping on praying during the discussions, by stopping and praying intermittently and especially when there is an impasse. That is novel, and yet should not be novel, since it seems more consistent with the Book.
从会议的每个成员的严肃祷告开始好吗？这样，每个人都有完全的既得参与。真的花些时间祷告，专注于真诚地寻找上帝的旨意好吗？在讨论期间也祷告，即间歇地停下来祷告，特别是当出现僵局时。这是新颖的，但不应该是新颖的，因为它看起来更符合圣经。

And reminding ourselves we should never say, “There’s not enough time to pray.” If we ever say that, please stop!! And pray! One time, a senior member of the leadership said that, and instantly everyone froze, since we all realized that something was indeed wrong. And pray seriously just before you are to make a decision, instead of after the decision!! You will find that, amazingly, it works. God helps us to direct our thoughts towards Him and what His specific will is for the subject at hand, and surprisingly, we can come to some kind of better agreement for our decision.
提醒我们自己绝不应该说“我们没时间祷 告。如果我们这样说，请停止！并祷告！有一次，领导层的一位资深者这样说，立即所有人愕然，因为我们都意识到的确我们出了问题。并且在你做出决定之前严肃地祷告，而不是在决定之后！你会发现，令人惊讶的是，它有效。神帮助我们带领我们的思想转向祂，明白神对这个问题的具体旨意是什么，令人惊讶的是我们可以达成某种更好的决议。

If you still think that prayer is too abstract, I’ll give you many good “side effects” to encourage you. Haven’t you always found that when you pray together, instantly you actually feel humbled, because you are praying to God! Your temper immediately changes, and you might even be quietly reminded to consider your fellow colleagues in a more gentle way! Which quite changes the dynamic, mainly because I think you’re reminded that we are all focused on God, and therefore this is a serious matter, and not just an argument between two or three people!
如果你仍然认为祷告太抽象了，我会给你许多很好的“副作用”，这可能会鼓励你。难道你不总是会发现当你们一起祷告时，立刻你会感到谦卑下来，因为你在向上帝祈祷！你的脾气也会立即改变，你甚至可能会被平静地提醒以更温柔的方式考虑你的同工们的意见！这会改变当时的情况，我认为主要是因为你被提醒我们都要聚焦上帝，因此这是一个严重的事情，而不仅仅是两三人之间的争论！

The biggest practical reason God’s will needs to be prayerfully sought, however, is that Jesus modeled it dramatically Himself, in the historic “not my will” passage, the moment of His greatest decision, to commit His greatest act. Matthew 26:39 And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.” If the Lord Himself modeled it for us, who are we to doubt it?
然而，上帝的意志需要虔诚地寻求的最大的实际理由是，耶稣在历史性的“不是我的意志”的段落中，即他做最大决定的时刻，为我们做了榜样，以实现祂最大的行为。马太福音26:39 – 他就稍往前走，俯伏在地，祷告说：“我父啊！倘若可行，求你叫这杯离开我！然而，不要照我的意思，只要照你的意思。” “如果主自己为我们做榜样，我们是谁还要怀疑呢？

Note that even for Jesus, He had to pray with tremendous fervor. He sought the will of God always, even when He knew it would mean His own struggle, anguish and death. He was submissive to the greater will of God and did not seek the easy way out, the simplest solution. So should we.
请注意，即使对于耶稣，他也必须以巨大的热情祷告。他始终追求上帝的旨意，即使他知道这意味着他自己的挣扎，痛苦和死亡。他顺服上帝的更大意愿，并没有寻求简单的解决方法，最简单的解决方案。我们也应当如此。

If I have whetted your appetite, see part 2 and 3 for the rest, and the conclusion of this theme…..
如果我激发了你读下去的欲望，请期待第二部分和第三部分以及这个主题的结论部分……