“Heads Or Tails?”

Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Our church recently had to make a major decision.  One man mentioned that we should consider Scriptural examples of how the disciples made major decisions, and the most similar example he could think of was when the apostles cast lots in Acts 1 to choose who would replace Judas.  Some people dismissed this instantly, saying that we don't have the Holy Spirit the way the apostles did.  Another person said we shouldn't have to resort to casting lots; we could work this out logically.  Is casting lots an appropriate way for churches to make decisions today, and if so, what does casting lots look like?

Sincerely,
Luck Of The Draw

Dear Luck Of The Draw,

Casting lots was an ancient way of randomly deciding on something.  It is akin to flipping a coin or drawing the short straw in today’s culture.  Historically, what little we know of casting lots involved using dark and light colored stones and blindly choosing them, with each colored stone representing some aspect of the decision that needed to be made.  In Acts 1:26, they cast lots to decide who would replace Judas the traitor and be numbered as one of the twelve apostles.  There are several key ideas that need to be understood before we make this a common practice in the church.

1. All logic had already been applied to the situation.  The apostles had already consulted Scriptures (Acts 1:15-16, Acts 1:20).  They had also used wisdom in setting up the minimum criteria for becoming an apostle (Acts 1:21-22).  This decision was not made randomly and without prior thought.  They came to the conclusion of two potential candidates using Scriptural guidance and wisdom (Acts 1:23).
2. This was a decision between two perfectly Biblical and healthy choices.  Both Joseph and Matthias were godly, faithful, competent, and qualified men.  Either one would have been a good decision.  Once again, all logic had been applied already.  The only reason they had to choose between these two men was because there was only one slot to fill in the apostleship.  Casting lots left the decision to random chance because there was no downside.
3. The power was in the prayer, not the casting of lots.  Before they cast lots, they prayed (Acts 1:24-25).  There is only one time in the entire New Testament that we see casting lots used in a decision-making process… but we see prayer involved in hundreds of decisions.  The common denominator throughout the New Testament is prayer.  They prayed for wisdom and then “flipped a coin” because they honestly couldn’t choose between these two godly men, and God blessed their decision because they prayed and asked for the blessing.

In short (as if this was a short answer!), casting lots is as applicable as drawing straws – you can do it, but it really isn’t going to do you any good in and of itself.  Prayer (Jas 1:5), searching the Scriptures (Acts 17:11), and a multitude of wise counselors (Pr 11:14) are the real keys to good decision-making.

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