No, You Don't Have to Decide.

Recently in my church world I have heard this many times: “to not decide is to decide.” Specifically, to not make a conscious decision about whether to leave the UMC, or stay in, is to somehow abandon your responsibility to take a stand on whatever it is you don't like, or like, about United Methodism.

Now this is actually just nonsense. God does not expect us to re-examine every commitment we’ve made every time our circumstances change slightly. I’m married. I see a pretty woman. Oops now I’m going to have to go through a process of discernment to decide whether I stay married or not because, to not decide is to decide. I’m an American citizen traveling abroad. I see that there are other countries and cultures. So now I must go through a process of discernment to decide whether or not I want to remain an American. Because to not decide is to decide. I read about a new religious faith. It seems attractive. So I’m now obliged to reevaluate my faith in Christ. Because although He has been faithful. To not decide is to decide.
This nonsense has an origin, and it’s an origin in the kind of evangelical movement that is promoting discernment and decision-making by United Methodist congregations. It goes back to the days of revival that many of us have already lived through: emotionalism seeking to fuel urgency in order to create a crisis. Then: "Make a decision for Jesus Christ tonight." "To not decide is to decide." "Choose Jesus or you are choosing Satan, and after all, you could die on your way home from the revival."
Contemporary version: "Current provisions for leaving the denomination will end soon. So you must decide now."  "Last chance to buy your freedom at this low price."  "To not decide is to decide." 

It’s just the old American evangelical hucksterism with a new product to sell: disaffiliation instead of salvation.

And it's still just manipulation: emotionalism fueling false urgency to create a sense of crisis that forces a decision.
To repeat. Just because circumstances change doesn’t mean that we are obliged to reevaluate the commitments that we have made and have been made to us over the centuries. 

There actually is a word for not deciding, or even considering the options. That word is faithfulness.

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