church

I love my church. It’s relatively small, but there are a lot of talented, passionate people. We hear a lot of wisdom from the pulpit, our services are full of praise, and people serve each other without prompting.

Sometimes, though, doing church can get messy. Most of the time that only affects me when I’m involved in the mess. Sometimes I speak my mind in ways that don’t seem loving to everyone who hears. Sometimes I opt out instead of step up. Sometimes I’m reluctant to accept leadership that takes me in a different direction. On those occasions, my church accomplishes ministry anyway, but I don’t make it easier.

Because getting church right is hard, I like to read about successful church experiences, especially from the Bible. Most of those come from the New Testament, but this morning I read this cool one from Exodus 35, which describes the first church-building project I know of. Here are excerpts from verses 4-21:

“Moses said to the whole Israelite community, ‘This is what the Lord has commanded: From what you have, take an offering for the Lord. Everyone who is willing is to bring to the Lord an offering of gold, silver and bronze; blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen; goat hair; ram skins dyed red and another type of durable leather; acacia wood; olive oil for the light; spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense; and onyx stones and other gems to be mounted on the ephod and breastpiece.
‘All who are skilled among you are to come and make everything the Lord has commanded . . . .’  Then the whole Israelite community withdrew from Moses' presence, and everyone who was willing and whose heart moved them came and brought an offering to the Lord for the work on the tent of meeting, for all its service, and for the sacred garments.”

There are a couple of things that seem like good examples here. First, Moses laid out the need but called only on the willing. No coercion, just a call for volunteers.

Next, Moses outlined a variety of ways to contribute. People could give gold, or cloth, or animal hair, or wood or oil or spices. They could contribute their time and skills. A wide variety of materials and work was needed, so a wide spectrum of people could participate.

Finally, willing people stepped up and the need was met. This passage said “their hearts moved them,” which I understand to mean God nudged the right ones here and there. But he didn’t nudge everyone. That suggests I can sometimes sit out if my circumstances make it hard to participate.

There’s so much here of good leadership and willing response. And the results were phenomenal. I know because I’ve read Exodus before. God designed this beautiful tabernacle, but he invited his people to build it.