Some of my favorite childhood Sunday School songs revolved around the idea of being involved in God’s eternal Kingdom construction projects– Arky-Arky, Sandyland, Kids Under Construction, etc. I loved hearing the stories and looking at the pictures of Noah building the ark, Nehemiah building his wall, and that poor idiot building his house on the sand.
Building metaphors abound in the Scriptures. Jesus said he would build his church (Matthew 16:18) and Peter and Paul describe the church as a building (1 Peter 2:5, Ephesians 2:19-22, and 1 Corinthians 3:9-17). I don’t typically like packages that come with the label “some assembly required,” but Scripture seems to have that label pasted throughout.
When it comes to creating community, making disciples, and doing ministry, there is always some assembly required.
Let’s look at some of the things required to build a stable structure.
Blueprints
Before you break ground or hammer the first nail into place, there must be a blueprint. Blueprints are detailed drawings to document an architectural or engineering design. A typical blueprint package for any structure contains a number of different drawings- floor plans to give an overall picture, orthographic projections to represent the structure in three dimensions from a number of different perspectives, section drawings to reveal characteristics not visible on the exterior of the structure, detail drawings to bring clarity to smaller but significant characteristics, and assembly drawings which show how all the pieces fit together.
Blueprints are drafted at the beginning of the project, but their value does not end there. The entire project depends on the blueprints. The blueprints are referred to often by many people, and they are critical at every stage of the construction. They are the ultimate reference and authority for the project.
In God’s architecture, the Scripture is our blueprint. It gives us the big picture, examines issues from all sides, enlarges and clarifies issues, uncovers the hidden things, and shows us how to put together all the pieces. It is the standard to which we must build.
In everything we do, we must hold tightly to our blueprint. We must carry it with us, refer to it often, and make it the ultimate authority for our leadership and ministry.
Schedules and Plans
Construction projects don’t just spring up from the ground. Even though the blueprints may be perfect and throroughly studied, a detailed schedule and plan must be created and followed for construction to progress adequately.
If you think God isn’t concerned with timelines or detailed planning, just take some time to read the 15 chapters he wrote detailing the construction of the tabernacle.
Too often, we assume that community, discipleship, and ministry will just happen. Some of us go a step further and assume that if we diligently study God’s Word (the blueprint), then ministry will naturally happen. But there must be a second step– an intentional plan for carrying out the work.
In our leadership, we should think in terms of timelines. How do we harness the momentum of the semester to recruit ministry team members? How do we consider the life stages and life cycles of community within our groups? Where do we want to take our group members in their spiritual growth journeys over the course of the year? We must create schedules and timelines and think intentionally about how we do community, ministry, and discipleship. It’s part of the assembly process.
Skilled Craftsmen
You can have perfect blueprints and a reasonable construction schedule, but if you put the hammer into my hands, that building will look more like a trash pile. Skilled craftsmanship is absolutely essential to any construction project. In the middle ages, tradesmen would complete an apprenticeship and then work as journeymen before being given the opportunity to open their own shop as a master craftsman. The best craftsmen realized that they must invest their entire lives into honing and perfecting their skills.
In describing the construction workers of the tabernacle, God used the word “skilled” about 20 times. Paul encouraged the young pastor Timothy “train yourself to be godly” (1 Timothy 4:7). Paul describes the duty of the pastor in Ephesians 4:12: “Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work.”
The Bible encourages us to be skilled in our ministries, and training is invaluable. That’s why we do things like Leadership 101, the Annual Leadership Retreat, Summits, zones, and even this Thursday Leadership Lesson. We can never just assume that we’ve “arrived” as leaders– that’s irresponsible. We must continue to grow in our leadership and in spiritual maturity.
Tools
No construction worker goes without their toolbelt and their toolbox. Great blueprints, good schedules, and skilled craftsmen are useless without the tools to do the job. The Bible tells us that we all have tools given to us by the Holy Spirit. We typically call them spiritual gifts.
In 1 Corinthians 12:7, Paul says, “A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other.” Peter agreed, “God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another.” (1 Peter 4:10). Paul also encouraged his readers to “try to excel in gifts that build up the church.” (1 Corinthians 14:12) He also reminds Timothy to use his gifts in 1 Timothy 4:14 and 2 Timothy 1:6.
We need to understand what tools the Holy Spirit has given us, how to access them, and the proper way to use them. It takes practice.
Personal Protective Equipment
To be honest, this next piece of equipment could be left out and construction could still take place. But it would be foolish. Clothing, helmets, goggles, gloves, and other equipment are specially designed to protect the body from injury associated with various hazards encountered in the work environment.
God has given us personal protective equipment, and we can find it in Ephesians 6:11-17:
Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
We can try to do ministry without it, but God’s personal protective equipment will certainly be helpful when we face workplace hazards. I would say that standing “against the devil’s schemes” definitely constitutes a workplace hazard. Every morning, we should spend some time “praying on” the belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, shoes of the Gospel, helmet of salvation, shield of faith, and sword of the spirit.
Next week, we will continue this topic by looking at the different phases of construction projects. Community, discipleship, and ministry don’t happen overnight, and we need to understand the phases of assembly.
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