Want to Complain? GO VOTE!

One of the values that I hold very strongly to is, “If you didn’t participate, then you don’t get to complain.”  The one caveat to this being if you are not allowed to participate… then you get to complain about being kept out of the process.  But, generally speaking, if the process is fair, you have a chance to participate, and you decline to participate, you don’t get to complain about the results.

For me, this will take the form of me delegating a task or responsibility to someone else and that person doing that task/responsibility differently than I would have (or would have liked it to be done).  In that case, the price for me not having to do it is that I don’t get to criticize how it gets done.  If Logan takes on a chore in our household, does it in a way I deem inefficient (or simply it doesn’t conform to how I do that chore), and I don’t have to take care of that chore, I don’t get to complain about how it gets done.  Other times, I delegate tasks to members of Session or to committees.  To be honest with you, I can often do those delegated tasks faster if I do them myself.  The price I pay for not doing those delegated tasks myself is that it will likely involve more steps, it will take longer, and I am not in control of the results.  But then again, I didn’t have to do them.

I maintain this opinion when it comes to group decision making.  This is why we have had so many town hall discussions over the past few years about the budget, our committee structure, and the ministry focus; so that as many people as possible had an opportunity to learn, understand, and voice their opinions.  By not participating in those discussions, it is a cue to me that you have delegated your opinion to the resulting opinion of the majority.

In all of this, what will get under my skin faster than anything are people who complain about our government and the decisions it makes but have not participated in the most basic level of choosing who comprises our government leadership.

So, if you want to be able to complain about the choices that government officials are making, GO OUT AND VOTE TODAY.  I know that many people would not consider this a major election year, but policy begins at a local level.

After I wrap up here at church, I will be going to my polling station and voting for one City commissioner and one person to sit on the board of the Library.  Just two items, but they are still important.  AND I want to maintain my right to complain about the city I live in.

Blessings,
Pastor Chris