Spiritual Schizophrenia

Can you imagine being assigned building projects by Yahweh? Yahweh, who empowered Moses to stand against Pharaoh, assigns you work to be done. If your heart is open to the reality of God and His true work in the world then receiving assignments from Him must be staggering. Someone like you being assigned from someone like Him.  

Whoa.  

At various points in your life or career someone in a position of authority and respect assigned you projects. Remember how that made you feel? How much more should we, who embrace God’s assignments, experience tremendous confidence and worth, being energized for each day?  

You wake each day to BE a son of your Father and to put your hand to His assignments.  

You are a servant of Yahweh.  

Whatever we do in the LORD we do in awe and wonder that we are the ones doing it!  

This is the mentality of Jotham. At 25 years old he steps into his identity as King of Judah for this is who the LORD created him to BE. And he gets to work BUILDing his assigned projects. While he builds, he must FIGHT those who oppose his work.  

Be 

Build 

Fight 

2 Chronicles 27:3-4 says, “He built the upper gate of the house of the Lord, and he built extensively the wall of Ophel. Moreover, he built cities in the hill country of Judah, and he built fortresses and towers on the wooded hills.” Jotham did not separate his BE from his BUILD. He did not receive his new identity and then give his life to doing what he wanted to do. Jotham’s building flowed from his being. “If the LORD has called me King, then I need to be about the LORD’s work.”  

So Jotham dedicated himself to Yahweh’s building projects. The upper gate was the northern gate that controlled access to Solomon’s temple. Ophel literally means “bump” and was a portion of land just south of the temple and north of the city of David. Jotham was busy further securing Jerusalem and providing controlled access to the temple.  

The cities, fortresses, and towers would be used to further secure Judah’s strength in their land. Cities were placed strategically for agriculture, defense, and storage. Then they would be fortified to protect Judean interests against foreign invaders. Cities had judges, priests, warriors, and farmers. Everyone contributed to community strength.  

Yahweh’s building assignments served to solidify His people and advance His Kingdom.  

I find the contrast between Jotham’s and Jesus’s building to be fascinating. Jotham worked to build a geo-political entity, Judah. He built physical walls and gates, cities and towers. But Jesus came to build the supernatural Kingdom of God. Luke 4:43 says, “I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, for I was sent for this purpose.”  

The next thing Jesus does is recruit his original twelve disciples, none of whom were general contractors or building experts (Each disciple was a spectacularly odd choice for the mission.). Nevertheless, Jesus is clear that His assignment is to build the kingdom on earth. Among other things, the kingdom would be the vehicle through which men and women would be rescued from His enemy, healed, and then, like Jotham, given building assignments.   

It seems the Kingdom would be about building people and communities of people called churches.  

I have spent a lot of time with men in their late 40’s to early 60’s. Oftentimes these men are struggling with feeling like their life matters. Even though they have experienced good degrees of business success, something is missing. I ask them the same question, “When you began your career in your early to mid-20’s, did you ask our Father to lead you in the career decisions you made?” The usual response is a blank stare.  

Most of the men have spent their careers being good employees/ers but their energy has been devoted to building their wealth and prestige. Little to none of their effort has been dedicated to intentionally building the projects for which they were created.  

Thankfully, we serve a merciful and gracious Father who is quick to forgive and restore when we repent, reconnect, and re-engage.  

Does building in the way of Jotham and Jesus mean that each one of us is called to vocational ministry? No. Not at all. God our Father calls men and women to all sorts of vocations. But, for those in the kingdom, our purposes and goals are different. For the kingdom-minded, our vocations give us access to people! And people are what Jesus was after. The true “win” is not closing the deal or maximizing profit but a co-worker being prayed for, led to the Lord, or freed from some form of bondage.  

As those who have been made sons and daughters of our Father through Jesus, as those baptized in and filled with the Holy Spirit, our energy for building belongs to God. We BUILD in the overflow of our BE. To BE a son or daughter but to BUILD what you want, or think is best, is to suffer from split identities. On the one hand I am Christian, on the other I am…me? This is a withering place. 

Our building should flow seamlessly from our being. And our projects should align with the priorities of Jesus. Any read of Jesus’s life shows His priority is reaching people. People were His passion. Pick a New Testament individual and consider how Jesus took them from where He found them and built them into something new. Consider those in the New Testament who rejected Jesus’s invitation and what became of their lives.  

In the Kingdom, our primary assignment is to build people. God our Father empowers us to love, counsel, and train people in the power of His Holy Spirit just as Jesus modeled.  

We will continue to unpack what building people means in the next OVERFLOW. For today, consider the degree to which you are clear and passionate about your building assignments. As the Holy Spirit convicts you, repent. As He sharpens you, say thanks. As He empowers you, go!