In the church life, we often say we want to be useful to the Lord. But practically speaking, when it comes to matters of building the church, what does being useful mean? In what ways do we need to be useful?
In Exodus 31, when it came time to physically put their hands on the materials to build the tabernacle, there were two skilled craftsmen selected to take the lead, for they were filled “with the Spirit of God, with wisdom and with understanding and with knowledge and with all kinds of workmanship” (v. 3). These men knew how to shape gold, silver, and bronze, how to embroider and weave fine linen, how to carve wood and cut stones. Although today we’re not building a physical tabernacle, we, too, have been given specific materials to work with. And our understanding and ability to use them is what makes us useful.
But are we skilled? Like a construction worker, we should have a toolbox filled with various “tools” that we can pull out at each opportune moment to serve the saints. For example, singing a hymn with someone can lead them to touch their spirit. Or, creatively cooking a dish can help broaden someone from their pickiness. With eyes to serve, anything can be useful in aiding a brother or sister in their transformation, refining their humanity, and shaping their character if we have this workmanship.
If our toolbox is empty or sparse, it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t serve. Rather, we should gain more! We don’t need to “know” how to serve, but we do need to follow our spirit and let the Spirit walk in us, filling us with a true wisdom, understanding, knowledge, and workmanship. These are not “skillsets” or dead information; their reality is a Person Who lives in us, in our spirit, and Who wishes to expand, saturate, and reign in us. The more we let Him gain that ground in us, the more we will be those who can operate a true and powerful serving life. The difference between someone who is useful and not useful is simply this: Have you allowed Christ to move, work, and reign in you? Is there a transforming work happening in you now? Saints, if we care about God’s dwelling place, we will submit ourselves to this transformation process to be useful. And in the spirit, we find that any and every means is at our disposal for the building work. Armed with the wisdom, understanding, knowledge, and workmanship of the Spirit, we have such freedom to realize the vision of God’s dwelling place on the earth today!
(Above are notes of fellowship taken from a gathering on 12/8/2024, not reviewed by the speaker.)