Wait! Wait! I'm here!

Wow! That was the month that was (for those of you that remember Laugh In). First, I procrastinated. Then, life happened! Finally, I flew to Houston. It seemed like the thing to do, since my wonderful wife was there, and I missed her terribly. But my aim is getting better. Joke!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, we were talking about levels of involvement as a prelude to a discussion of vision for ministry. Most of you have heard Proverbs 29:18 quoted, "Where there is no vision, the people perish; but he that keepeth the law, happy is he." Well, what does that mean? You see, English is not the most precise language; many of our words are used synonymously with little negative impact, because they are not specific enough in the first place. Other languages, like Hebrew, the language the Old Testament was originally written in, and Greek, the language of the New Testament, use words with very specific meaning for a very specific purpose. God's gift to me is a prodigious vocabulary and the ability to use it effectively. It's just the way he wired me, and I'm learning daily how to use it better. However, anyone can discover what I'm going to share here with time and the right reference tools. In fact, I agree with some other Biblical teachers who feel we should all be able to dig into the original versions (with help) rather than be spoon fed by everyone who occupies a pulpit or has a TV ministry (not that those are bad). (Squirrel!)

Anyway, according to Strong's Hebrew Dictionary, the Hebrew word for "vision" in this passage is chazon. I'm not going to try to use Hebrew or Greek characters here, so if you are a scholar of Hebrew and/or Greek, please forgive my simplicity. It means "a sight (mentally), that is, a dream, revelation, or oracle." The word here for "perish" is para', meaning "to loosen; by implication to expose, dismiss; figuratively absolve, begin: - avenge, avoid, bare, go back, let, (make) naked, set at nought, perish, refuse, uncover." Finally, the word "law" is the Hebrew word "torah" which is the written law found in the books of Moses.

I think we would all recognize God's Law as the epitome of order in creation. It gives sight to our spiritual blindness caused by original sin. It is an external revelation of what God wants to grow in us internally through his Spirit. It is like a mirror that shows us our true condition reflected in God's just nature. Without this picture, we would perish in our ignorance, even as millions of people do every day.

Vision for ministry is not given to spectators or even participants. They are essentially two different levels of observers, one passive, the other active, but both observers nonetheless. Nor is vision for ministry given to the next level, the contributor; yet, without the contributor, nothing would happen to bring the vision to fruition.

The contributor is one who fulfills a responsibility that leads to others participating; he is one who adds to the activity for the benefit of others. Contributors are like the Levites in the Temple, who assisted the priests in conducting the worship and assisted the people in participating in the worship. Contributors are a necessary element, a catalyst, in fulfilling the vision as they take care of many "mundane" efforts, like ushering, greeting, visitation, music, sound, and cleaning. Many of these efforts go on behind the scene, but without them the whole effort would suffer. However, as much as the contributor facilitates the fulfillment of the vision, it is the next level, the Motivator, that is the linchpin in connecting the spiritual and the natural aspects that make up the vision. That will be our topic for the next posting. Hopefully, it won't be as long in coming as this one was! See ya!

And now, the continuing saga...

So, spectators like to watch, sometimes from a safe distance and usually without comment. But at least they're watching and gathering information and knowledge on which to make a decision about whether or not to step up to the next level, participator.

Participators join in with others while they observe; sometimes they even respond or make comments on what they see or hear. They are engaging in practical application of what they have observed while they were spectators. Unfortunately, many people often feel this is sufficient and go no further; they feel at least they are doing more than just watching! They frequently feel this is all that is necessary or required of them for involvement.

Unfortunately, this is far short of what God has in store for them. (Remember, we're looking at this from a Biblical perspective.) They are still loitering on the periphery of their potential in Christ (remember, I can do all things, through Christ who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13). So why fall short of the calling? Remember, many are called; one of the reasons they aren't chosen is because they fail to step up and become a contributor, the next step in the progression of levels of involvement.