PerryDox – BeJustAChristian

Is it right or wrong to (you fill in the blank)?  That’s a good question, always.  In fact it needs to be asked more, as individual Christians, families of God, and churches of Christ.  In Numbers 1:2, God commands Moses to number the people.   There are several occasions in the Bible where God’s people are counted and numbered. In fact, there is an entire book named Numbers. Even in the N.T. we see in the book of Acts where the Holy Spirit Himself counts the people:

Acts 2:41 NASB – So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls.

In David’s reign, however, when he numbered the people, God became angry and punished David through a pestilence on Israel (2 Samuel 24; 1 Chronicles 21).

So is it right or wrong to number the people?  The answer simply is…, yes and no.  In the case of Moses, it was right.  In David’s situation it was wrong.  So-called “situation ethics?”  No.  Then what’s the difference?  I would like to point out one obvious difference, one probable difference, and then make an application.

Obvious Difference – God commands Moses, but does not command David, to number the people.  So obviously, one acts without authority, while the other with divine approval.  That is a huge difference which teaches us a valuable lesson.  Sometimes – if not often – a morally neutral action, or even a morally positive behavior, is right or wrong only because God commands it or does not command it to be done.  If God commands it, then obviously it is right.  If God however is silent on the subject and therefore does not authorize the action, it is wrong.  The wrong is not the action itself but rather or not we have the authority of God.  God’s approval is essential to making an action right or wrong.  Read that last sentence again.  That is respecting the sovereignty of God.

Probable Difference – If God had commanded Moses, but had not commanded David, to number the people, then why did David do it?  Isn’t that an important question?  Most likely personal pride or personal reliance is David’s motivating factor.  The difference between those two are:

• Personal Pride – Look at what I can do for myself!
• Personal Reliance – Look at what I must do for myself!

Again, the wrong is not the action itself, but rather the motivation behind the action.  If I do the right thing for the wrong reason, then it becomes wrong.  I have nullified any good through my bad.

Application – Is it right or wrong for a church to (you fill in the blank)? 

First, we must ask whether or not the action itself is morally right, wrong, or neutral.  But we can’t stop there.  Numbering the people in and of itself was not ethically right or wrong.  Numbering the people was a neutral action. 

Second, we also must ask the question as to whether or not the idea for such an action is authorized by God or not.  In David’s case it was not.

Third, we must look at our motivation.  Let’s look at three areas in which we have to check our motivation:

1. When our motivation is obeying God.

2. When our motivation is good when wanting to do good.

3. When our motivation is questionable when wanting to do good.

1. Even when obeying God, we must always check our motivation.  The Pharisees were very good at obeying God with wrong motivation.  Jesus warned, “Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them (Matthew 6:1)

2. Let’s look at the second situation.  David wanted to build a temple for the Lord, and his intentions were good.  However, God had not commanded David to take on such an endeavor and therefore did not authorize such action and in the end forbade David (2 Samuel 7).  Never is there any hint that David’s incentive was sinful.  The problem simply was that God had not given divine sanction to David building the temple.  That made David building the temple wrong.

3. Numbering the people had been a useful tool used by God in the past.  However, my guess is that David’s motivation was questionable.  Here is a warning for us all.  At times, when trying to be innovative, our motivation might be as pure as David’s in wanting to build a house for God.  And at times, when again trying to be innovative, our motivation might be questionable.  Maybe, and this is hard for us to hear, maybe God has not commanded the church to do certain things because He knew and knows that such actions lead to glorifying man, not God.  Man can want to do things bigger and better than man’s ego can handle, leading to pride.

So if we want the church to engage in an activity that in and of itself is not wrong – and might even be good – and if we cannot find authority for such church sponsored activity, we must question our own motivation.  Even if it is pure and sincere, maybe God has His reasons for not commanding the church to engage in such behavior.  God’s approval is essential to making an action right or wrong.

Tags: Authority, Denominationalism, Institutionalism, Work of the Church

This entry was posted by PHall on Monday, October 5th, 2009 at 10:28 pm and is filed under Matthew, Acts, Numbers, II Samuel, I Chronicles, Hermeneutics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.