Making a Differencewith Pastor Phil Erickson

May 14th, 2021 Not Just a Little Country Church

Today’s Reading – 1 Chronicles 23 – 25 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)

(Second Milers Read – John 19 – 20; Psalms 66 – 70; Proverbs 14)

Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 61:1 – 3

Read the “0514 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

Read a previous post from this passage – “The Hope of the Future.”

“(3) Now the Levites were numbered from the age of thirty years and upward: and their number by their polls, man by man, was thirty and eight thousand. (4) Of which, twenty and four thousand were to set forward the work of the house of the LORD; and six thousand were officers and judges: (5) Moreover four thousand were porters; and four thousand praised the LORD with the instruments which I made, said David, to praise therewith.” (1 Chronicles 23:3-5)

Here in chapters 23 – 25 of 1 Chronicles (and continuing into chapter 26), we see the final days of David before his death as he transfers the Kingdom of Israel over to his son Solomon. The particular discussion in these four chapters was the organizational structure of the Levites who would serve in what would eventually be the Temple in Jerusalem. The actual Temple would not be complete for a few years, but the Ark of the Covenant was in Jerusalem (in a tent), while the remainder of the Tabernacle was still in Gibeon. 

Did you notice the number of people that were involved in the worship system of Israel? Sometimes when I picture in my mind the Old Testament Temple, I envision just a few people working within the house of God; but, notice that there were 38,000 full-time ministers employed in the service of the Lord. This was quite an elaborate operation, including ministers, scribes, administrators, financiers, custodians, maintenance and repairmen, musicians and singers, and security workers. All of these people and all of the various duties had to be organized, administrated, financed, and scheduled. I have a tough enough time trying to administrate a few part-time staff members and a small group of volunteers.

One thought that God challenged me with from this passage is that the work of God must be done orderly and efficiently, whether it is a small country church with a staff of a few volunteers, or a large organization with many full-time employees. My pastor in Texas used to say, “God’s church should be the best run organization in town.” He was right. All too often, churches are poorly administrated and maintained, which does not reflect the Lord well within the community. Administration is a very important aspect of the ministry within a local church. Administrators provide the structure so that the ministers will have what they need to efficiently do their job. When a church is small, the pastor is the chief administrator and also performs many of the other duties necessary for a church to function. However, as the church grows, people need to be spiritually matured and specifically trained to serve in all of the areas needed to effectively minister to the congregation and community. Every job is equally important.The guy who helps park cars is just as much a minister to the church as the one who teaches an adult Bible study.