How We Learn to Live with the Erosion of God’s Blessing . . .
Drip . . . drip . . . drip. The sound of water leaking from our chimney cap left me uneasy every time it rained. Our chimney runs behind the wall at the head of our bed, so, when it rains and you’re trying to fall asleep, you hear drip . . . drip . . . drip. When I finally decided to fix the problem, I accidentally poked a significant hole in the chimney cap. I had been living with a drip, but I couldn’t live with a stream coming into the house. So, I humbled myself and called in outside help.
It’s amazing what people learn to live with, like me for so long with my drip. The Israelites in Haggai’s day, having returned from Babylonian exile two decades earlier, learned to live with the Jerusalem temple in ruins. They had made an initial effort to rebuild the temple, but quickly got discouraged when the people around them started to make threatening noises. They only got as far as laying the foundation. For the next fifteen years, they started working on their own houses instead. They were content to spend money paneling their homes, while their place of worship remained in ruins.
Worshiping among the ruins may not be that bad. A couple of stacked stones for a pulpit, rocks or old beams for pews, and you can still gather to worship. Sure it’s primitive, but primitive is in. We often feel there’s nobility in “primitive.” Plus, utility and mortgage costs are awfully low when you have no building. “Just make do.” “Live with it.” These become our mottoes when we get used to God’s house being in disrepair. We get used to the mess.
We worship among the ruins in churches today when we tolerate misbehavior, gossip, abuse of leaders or by leaders, splits, cliques, favoritism, misspent funds, petitions passed, rebellions, etc. etc. When painful events find their way into our local assembly —both leaders and lay people— often take the same approach: Live with it. Just make do. Drip . . . drip . . . drip.
And, exactly like the people in Haggai’s day, the erosion of God’s blessing on the ministry ensues. Everyone grows accustomed to worshiping among the ruins of what once may have been a vibrant ministry. We forget what God’s blessing even looks or feels like in the one place we should experience it every time we gather.
Are you living with the equivalent of a drip . . . drip . . . drip in your church or worse? Have you unconsciously chosen to just make do, and continue to worship among ruins?
It need not be the case. God called the Israelites of Haggai’s day to “Considered your ways!” Many of us should consider ours in our churches. Just as they responded to Haggai’s prophetic message in repentance, so can we. Just as God renewed His blessing on the Israelite nation, He can renew His blessing on your church. God encouraged the Jews when they restarted construction on the temple. He says through the prophet, “From this day on I will bless you” (Haggai 2:19). The drip . . . drip . . . drip had finally stopped.
Please, don’t let a slow leak—or worse—erode your ministry to the point where you find yourself worshiping among ruins. Perhaps, sadly, that’s already the case. If so, consider what our Lord is saying to your church through its drip . . . drip . . . drip.
You can start by downloading a FREE Kindle version of our newest book, Diagnosing the Heart of Your Church, between November 5th and November 9th.
Rev. Mark Barnard serves as President of Blessing Point Ministries. Blessing Point works to heal local churches that have been negatively impacted by painful crises. Barnard is the author of the recently released book, Diagnosing the Heart of Your Church – How Church Leaders Can Assess Systemic Corporate Dysfunction.
