At a ministerial training, a group was asked, “if you see a piece of paper on the floor in the church hallway, whose job is it to pick it up?” Some answers focused on the janitor who obviously neglected his job. Others replied they thought it would be responsibility of the person who dropped it. The trainer said, “It’s your job. You saw it. Pick it up.” If we truly say we care about the church, it is no longer about the responsibility of others, but about our duty to do what is best for the church.
I think Moses could have done a training on having a heart for his church, his flock, the Israelites. We see him often intercede for the nation. The Lord even affirms the heart of Moses for the people they both loved.
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt. They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol… (Exodus 32:7-8a, emphasis added)
In this passage, God calls the Israelites “your people”. Yet, in previous passages, God refers to them as “My people”. We see this in the calling of Moses to Egypt in Exodus 3.
So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring My people the Israelites out of Egypt.” (Exodus 3:10, emphasis added)
The heart of God beats for people. When we press into His heart, the concerns for “His people” become our concerns. They become “our people”. Ministry is not about a leader being lifted up but instead being humbled to serve in good times as well as the bad. Moses shared in the Israelite’s struggles (the plagues of Egypt) and in their triumphs (parting of the Red Sea). God’s people now are Moses’s people. The Lord recognized the heart of Moses toward Israel.
Because of His gracious ways, God allowed Moses to know what was taking place at the foot of the mountain. God told him how the people had created an idol to worship. The Lord knew Moses would intervene; he would take the difficult task in partnering with God to deal with the sin of idolatry. Ministry is hard! But to love people as God loves people is to confront the sins that keep others from their relationship with the Lord.
The Lord could have destroyed the people with holy justification. But because God’s people had become Moses’s people, the leader interceded for the sinners.
But Moses sought the favor of the LORD his God. “LORD,” he said, “why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that he brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to wipe them off the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster on your people. Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be their inheritance forever.’” Then the LORD relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened. (Exodus 32:11-14)
The greatest level of ministry is demonstrated by Moses as he interceded for the people. His intercession focused not on the protection of the people but on the promises of God to the people as well as preserving the Name and the glory of God in front of others. Ministry to people promotes God’s glory. May we as leaders whether it be in the home, church, or business world do the same for those under our care. God’s people are our people.
Whose job is it to pick up the mess in the lives of others? Yours and mine.