Non-American yet thoroughly Biblical.
What would you say are core cultural values for us here in the USA? Here are three that immediately come to mind: independence (July 4, 1776 and forever after), competition (our economy is built on it), and entrepreneurship. Would you agree?
All of those have strengths to them. But they also can cause us to totally misread or dismiss so much of the Bible…
Was Joshua the first American?
I reread a super interesting story in Numbers 11 last week that caught my attention in some new ways. The Israelites were still on their way to the Promised Land, and they were “hangry” – hungry and angry. Nothing new there! They grumbled against the leadership and the Lord, and God graciously trained them through their immature temper tantrums. The Lord provided food miraculously, and in the process, Moses commissioned 70 of the elders. Numbers 11:25 is one of many fascinating verses in this little section, “The LORD took of the Spirit that was on Moses and put the Spirit on the 70 elders.”
Two, however, were late to the party – Eldad and Medad. Yet the Spirit rested on them, too. Someone tattled on these two, and Joshua in verse 28 says, “Moses, my Lord, stop them!” Joshua apparently saw this as competition. And competition might decrease Moses’ market share of the Holy Spirit.
Poverty mindset
We can so easily fall into a poverty mindset, because part of being human is having to deal with our limitations. We all get the same amount of time per day, but it’s limited. Energy, money, capacity… almost everything we could name in the earthly realm is limited. If I give some of my ____ to you, then I have less remaining for myself or others.
God, however, is unlimited. The amount of Holy Spirit on Moses wouldn’t decrease if Eldad and Medad shared in the Glory. Moses thoroughly rejected a poverty mindset in verse 29, “Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the LORD would put His Spirit on them!”
Unlocking a Moses insight
Moses was able to recognize what everybody else missed because Numbers 12:3 tells us, “Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.” Proverbs 11:2 says, “When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.” Humility is the secret sauce… to unity and most Kingdom values.
If Moses insisted on being The Man, what would have happened? His uncle Jethro called it out way back in Exodus 18, and Proverbs calls it disgrace. Leadership, I’m learning more and more, is the transition from “doing” to “empowering and releasing.” Hoarding is never from the Lord, whether it’s material items or influence or impact.
Rooting for “Rivals”
Rooting for Rivals is an amazing book by Peter Greer and others. If you’re in leadership and haven’t read it yet, quit reading this article and go get a copy. Churches far too often operate like Burger King and McDonalds, setting up shop at the same intersection in order to increase market share through decreasing the competition’s impact. But what if we saw that other congregation as a teammate? If the low brass section wages war on the woodwinds, the music that results won’t be very pleasing. When a football team’s offense and defense fight each other for recognition while liberally dishing out blame, it isn’t hard to guess that team’s overall losing record.
Most of us know better than to call other Christian congregations or ministries “rivals.” But actions speak louder than words. Do we invest the time and energy in building relationships, sharing resources, joining something the other started, and publicly praising God for their success? Isolation and collaboration are an either/or – we’re either isolating ourselves or we’re building relationships; we’re either competing or we’re collaborating. I’m not sure there’s a middle ground.
Holy Spirit Acceleration
I was on a call with a European friend last week who said to me, “You Americans like things big!” Building our brand is so much a part of the air we breathe that we’ll automatically revert to it unless we’re actively repenting of it.
What excites me like never before is that Holy Spirit is accelerating relational unity and collaboration in breathtaking ways. Jesus gets what He prays for, and the Helper helps… without limitation! Praise the Lord!
Blessings,
Dave Drum, Founder J17 Ministries
