Why do I do what I do?
There was some unnecessary frustration due to confusion about how I obtain authority for ministry. I'm glad to be rid of that! But I can't form ministry referenced out of a perfect vacumn. My zeal will be contexualized to other ministries out there, for better or for worse. I do those things which God has wired me sensitive and responsive. Yet because of Huldah, I unconditionally can say I do what I do because I am called.
I can imagine someone asking, "You say you lead when you see things that are overlooked. Why do you focus on what is not being done?" My answer: Somebody is called to spaces that haven't gotten the same attention, and that somebody is me if I am to walk in the Light.
Frame it differently, like God did to King Josiah; 2 Kings 22:19,
He was 26 when he bypassed both Jeremiah and Zephaniah to ask Huldah. He needed assurance before he implemented what he felt God would have him do in response to the text.
Why in the world would a man choose a woman when two men were available? I can only conclude that it is because gender simply does not matter. What mattered is that they exhibited tender hearts toward the disobeyed portion of God's commands.
AUTHORITY - WHERE DOES IT COME FROM?
But wait - she uses authority over a man. Paul forbade that. Where did she get this from?
I've heard that question before. The leaders of the temple questioned Jesus where He got His authority. "By what authority do you do these things?" they asked Jesus. He said, "Where did John the Baptist get his authority?" They could not. Here John was, doing righteousness without being raised through the channels provided in the local assembly.
There are two sources for authority. One comes from overseers, another from God Himself.
Overseers are God-empowered leaders over His people. That is what the temple system was set up for in the giving of the laws of Moses. It is also what we find in the New Testament as a mandatory feature to any body of believers calling themselves a "church" - there must be elders, spiritual overseers, who we submit to as those who will give account for our souls.
Therefore it makes sense that the leaders of the temple ask for Jesus' "church-community pedigree." In simple English they might have said, "We ought to know who you are, and you ought to want our approval. Because God gave us to be the leaders of righteousness."
But they are not the only leaders ordained by God for ministry. God can do whatever He wants, and He also chooses people outside His own structures of ordained overseers.
In what context does God appoint leaders outside of His own leadership structures? When there is righteousness undone, authority comes directly from God, Himself, to His servants. Matt. 5:19-20,
Where are the gap-standers of this generation? I want to meet tender hearts like Josiah, eager for God's will. Where are those who are ready to enter into tension because God has called them to stand up for "the least commandments" in our culture?
How do we navigate conflict with God-appointed leaders as we embrace our calling? Part 4.
There was some unnecessary frustration due to confusion about how I obtain authority for ministry. I'm glad to be rid of that! But I can't form ministry referenced out of a perfect vacumn. My zeal will be contexualized to other ministries out there, for better or for worse. I do those things which God has wired me sensitive and responsive. Yet because of Huldah, I unconditionally can say I do what I do because I am called.
I can imagine someone asking, "You say you lead when you see things that are overlooked. Why do you focus on what is not being done?" My answer: Somebody is called to spaces that haven't gotten the same attention, and that somebody is me if I am to walk in the Light.
Frame it differently, like God did to King Josiah; 2 Kings 22:19,
"... because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they would become a desolation and a curse, and you tore your clothes and wept before Me, I also have heard you," says the LORD.Josiah's men found a scroll of unattended commands while they restored the temple. King Josiah took one crucial step before gathering all the people and making vows to obey God. That step was consulting someone with the gift of prophecy. Those with the gift of prophecy are most deeply concerned that people know and do God's will. They are ambassadors of reform and change and godly growth.
He was 26 when he bypassed both Jeremiah and Zephaniah to ask Huldah. He needed assurance before he implemented what he felt God would have him do in response to the text.
Why in the world would a man choose a woman when two men were available? I can only conclude that it is because gender simply does not matter. What mattered is that they exhibited tender hearts toward the disobeyed portion of God's commands.
AUTHORITY - WHERE DOES IT COME FROM?
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| if you hear it, it's your authority in God |
But wait - she uses authority over a man. Paul forbade that. Where did she get this from?
I've heard that question before. The leaders of the temple questioned Jesus where He got His authority. "By what authority do you do these things?" they asked Jesus. He said, "Where did John the Baptist get his authority?" They could not. Here John was, doing righteousness without being raised through the channels provided in the local assembly.
There are two sources for authority. One comes from overseers, another from God Himself.
Overseers are God-empowered leaders over His people. That is what the temple system was set up for in the giving of the laws of Moses. It is also what we find in the New Testament as a mandatory feature to any body of believers calling themselves a "church" - there must be elders, spiritual overseers, who we submit to as those who will give account for our souls.
Therefore it makes sense that the leaders of the temple ask for Jesus' "church-community pedigree." In simple English they might have said, "We ought to know who you are, and you ought to want our approval. Because God gave us to be the leaders of righteousness."
But they are not the only leaders ordained by God for ministry. God can do whatever He wants, and He also chooses people outside His own structures of ordained overseers.
In what context does God appoint leaders outside of His own leadership structures? When there is righteousness undone, authority comes directly from God, Himself, to His servants. Matt. 5:19-20,
Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven."Who knows if you were appointed for such a time as this?" Esther was asked. Only David looked out from his home of cedar to the tarp covering the Ark of God and said it should not be, and planned the Temple. Nobody told Moses to intercede for Israel when they angered God, but Moses begged God to relent from His wrath. Nobody told them to do it. No other person in authority gave them the job. But there these saints are, standing in the gap.
Where are the gap-standers of this generation? I want to meet tender hearts like Josiah, eager for God's will. Where are those who are ready to enter into tension because God has called them to stand up for "the least commandments" in our culture?
How do we navigate conflict with God-appointed leaders as we embrace our calling? Part 4.
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