Many people have neither concern nor call for ministry or mission. They claim ownership or stakes or rights, without any contribution. Sometimes, they want to be involved in jeopardizing the whole project. Godly leaders need to be discerning to see such people and avoid such pitfalls. Here are some examples:
Gideon: When Gideon called Ephraim to fight against Midianites, they obliged him. However, they were upset that they were not called earlier. (Judges 7:24-25; 8:1-3) Gideon called his own tribe of Manasseh, Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali to fight initially. (Judges 6:35) Later, to plunder the spoil he called Ephraim after victory. Men of Ephraim cared more for recognition rather than the good of Israel. Instead of rejoicing, they were envious of others who were recognized. This envy hinders God’s work. Gideon was wise to soothe their ego and pride by saying that he was nothing compared to their greatness and accomplishments and called them to be involved.
Second temple: Cyrus gave an edict to rebuild the temple. Hence the Jewish exile came to Jerusalem from Babylon and began the work of building the temple. However, Samaritans deceitfully wanted to be part of the project to inject their idol practices into the temple. However, Zerubbabel and Joshua the leaders, rejected their help. (Ezra 4:1-3) Hence, they used different tactics of deceit, discouragement, and subtle opposition through bribed counselors, and the building work stopped for twenty years.
Nehemiah: Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem were three enemies who were against Nehemiah and the project of building the walls of Jerusalem. First, they were upset that someone had come to seek the welfare of the Israelites. Second, they mocked and intimidated the Jews for building the wall. Third, they tried to harm Nehemiah. Fourth, they generated false reports and fake news. Five, they sent paid prophets or hired prophets to intimidate Nehemiah. Six, they tried to influence the nobles of Judah to go against Nehemiah. (Nehemiah 2:10; 4:1; 6:2, 5,6, 17-19) In all, they failed miserably.
Do I have concern and call for God’s work?