I'd like to discuss this from a broader perspective. For instance, Paul and Barnabas disagreed very strongly about including John Mark on their next missionary journey. Was Paul directed by the Spirit and Barnabas simply mislead by his empathy?Wayne in Maine wrote:Voting just demonstrates to me once again that most of us who believe we are being led by the Holy Spirit are not, in fact, being led by the Holy Spirit. If we were then all Christians lead by the Holy Spirit would vote for the same candidates. So if we can't honestly say the Holy Spirit can be depended on as a guide for voting, then we have to admit that it's really just our own personal political inclinations leading us to exercise our franchise along partisan, not spiritual lines.
The very act of voting divides the church.
If so, how can we avoid his mistake? And if not, how can we handle this kind of incident without destroying other Christians or dividing a church.
I'm sure you can think of your own illustrations. But I'm worried about the kind of assumptions that Wayne is making in his post. This is the kind of thing that has destroyed congregations in the past. Can we judge the direction of the spirit by the unity in the church on issues? If I nominate a brother for minister and God chooses someone else, was I then not Spirit led?
Etc.