Wrong Place

"This will be the holy portion of the land for the priests, who minister in the sanctuary and who come near to minister to the LORD. It will be a place for their houses and a holy area for the sanctuary." (Ezekiel 45:4)

It once happened during my ministry travels by train that two passengers in front of me were arguing over a single seat number that both had on their tickets. I thought, how could this happen? Only after the train official arrived did the issue become clear. It turned out that although the numbers were the same, one of the tickets was for a different train car.

Similarly, it once happened that the Lord separated what was to be the inheritance of the priests who served the Lord in His holy Temple. It was also regulated what were the duties of God's people and the responsibilities of the king toward his subjects. Offerings and holy days were also regulated. What was the purpose of all this? Surely to prevent misplaced understanding of what constituted rights, inheritance, and obligations. This was so that the people of Israel would not repeat the same mistakes that led them to become exiles in a foreign land.

The issue of rights and responsibilities in ministry in some specific churches sometimes becomes a crucial and complex problem that cannot be resolved well. Why? Because there are no clear regulations for it yet.

A servant of God who wished to retire from pastoring once intended to sell the church he pastored to anyone interested in buying and continuing his ministry. How could a church be sold? Because even though the church was indeed built by the congregation's self-funding, he felt he had an absolute share in the effort to establish the church. Consequently, anyone wishing to replace him as pastor would have to pay compensation, merely hoping for a deposit for his retirement in old age. Was his action wrong? It's not clear either. Because his church organization did not regulate matters related to such issues in their church governance rules.

Reflection: God provided regulations for the management of the priests' rights and duties with the intention of preserving the purity of their conscience in serving the people and providing a clear future so they would not need to worry about their families' tomorrow.

It is better to be a businessman with the heart of a pastor than a pastor with the heart of a businessman.