‘You have gone too far!’ (Numbers 16:3, 7)

Day 10: ‘You have gone too far!’

 

 

 

 

“They came as a group to oppose Moses and Aaron and said to them, "You have gone too far! The whole community is holy, every one of them, and the LORD is with them. Why then do you set yourselves above the LORD's assembly?  …  and tomorrow put fire and incense in them before the LORD. The man the LORD chooses will be the one who is holy. You Levites have gone too far!” (Numbers 16:3, 7)

 

 

 

 

 

The church is hindering evangelism.  The church is failing to fulfill its role as the light and salt of this dark world.  Instead of showing God's love to the world, jealousy, rivalry, fighting, and disputes are rampant within the church.  The church, which should be reflecting God's holiness, is becoming increasingly worldly.  What could be the cause of such strife within a church that is heading down a worldly path?  I found one answer in today's passage, Numbers 16:3, 7.  The answer lies in excessive ambition.

In Numbers 16, we see Korah, a descendant of Levi, along with Dathan, Abiram, and On, descendants of Reuben, forming a faction (v. 1).  They, along with 250 prominent leaders chosen by the Israelite assembly, rose up against Moses (v. 2) and Aaron, challenging their authority (v. 3).  They gathered together and confronted Moses and Aaron, saying, "You Levites have gone too far! ... Why then do you set yourselves above the Lord’s assembly?" (v. 3).  Their rebellion stemmed from their envy of Aaron and his sons' priestly duties, as the Levites coveted the role of priests (Park).  Why did the Levites covet the priestly duties of Aaron and his sons?  The reason was that they regarded their own roles as insignificant.  Listen to what Moses told the Levites: “Isn't it enough for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the rest of the Israelite community and brought you near himself to do the work at the LORD's tabernacle and to stand before the community and minister to them?” (v. 9).  The duties of the Levites were by no means small, yet they considered them as such.  Due to this perception, they envied the priestly duties of Aaron and his sons, which seemed more significant.  Despite each having their own honorable role, the Levites, because they viewed their own roles as small, displayed excessive ambition in both words and actions.

 

When we entertain excessive ambitions, there is a high risk of speaking with excessive fervor.  One of these fervent expressions, akin to what the Levites said to Moses and Aaron, is "You …  have gone too far" (v. 3).  When we harbor overflowing sentiments, we are prone to manifesting them through our words and actions.  One of these exuberant actions is resisting leaders.  Those who resist leaders, while harboring excessive thoughts, end up forming factions.  Similar to how the Levites, Korah, Dathan, Abiram, and On, along with 250 renowned leaders chosen by the Israelite assembly, rose against Moses and Aaron, creating a faction (vv. 1-2), individuals within the church who hold overflowing sentiments may, after forming factions, rise against church leaders along with prominent figures or influential individuals within the church.  Why do those with excessive sentiments resist church leaders?  The reason lies in their desire to exalt themselves (v. 3).  They aspire to elevate themselves within the church, so they form factions.  After forming these factions, they gather influential individuals within the church, creating a resistance against the church leadership.  Eventually, this leads to conflicts within the church.  They are not peacemakers, but rather, they are ones who disrupt peace and stir up disputes.  As a result, the church endures reproach from the world.

 

In the church, conflicts seem to primarily occur among leaders, especially between the head pastor and the elders.  Of course, within these conflicts, there also seem to be contributions from the pastor's wives, as well as the wives and the elders’ wives.  However, lately, when we hear news of conflicts within the church, we also see the assistant pastors taking sides and becoming embroiled in the disputes.  These conflicts within the church mostly involve leaders who are fervently serving the church.  Why are we fighting, arguing, and causing disputes?  The reason lies in pride.  Instead of exalting the Lord who is the head of the church, we seek to exalt ourselves.  If we were to humble ourselves in the Lord, He would exalt us in due time.  However, because we desire to exalt ourselves, we create conflicts within the church.  The desire to exalt oneself is an excessive ambition.  We must be sober-minded (Rom. 12:3) and think according to the measure of faith (v. 6).  Moreover, we must never consider the responsibilities given to us as small.  If we start to belittle the responsibilities entrusted to us, we will eventually view them more as positions.  Consequently, we will become envious and covet positions that appear more prominent.  It seems like everyone is in a frenzy to become an elder or deacon.  It's bewildering how elections for elders in the church seem to resemble worldly politics.  Moreover, wives often take the lead in trying to make their husbands elders.  Due to these wives' efforts to promote their husbands as elders, these elections appear even more chaotic and disorderly.  Additionally, it seems that money and material possessions are also involved in these elections.  What's even more perplexing is that during elder elections in the church, it's said that regionalism and factionalism, reminiscent of the politics of Gyeong-sang and Jeon-la provinces, also come into play.   If the chosen elder hails from a certain region, it appears that congregants from that same region predominantly vote for them.  I'm not entirely sure if these things truly happen within the church.  These are just stories I've heard, but somehow, they don't seem entirely fabricated.  Observing such absurd occurrences taking place within the sacred church of the Lord, one cannot help but contemplate how I, and we, should serve the Lord's church.  In our contemplation, we must take this matter very seriously.

 

Indeed, how should you and I serve the Lord's church?  Firstly, we must serve with humility.  It brings to mind the hymn, "O Master, Let Me Walk With Thee".  The first verse goes like this: “O Master, let me walk with Thee In lowly paths of service free; Tell me Thy secret, help me bear The strain of toil, the fret of care.”  When we serve the Lord's church humbly, there may indeed be many trials.  However, we must continue to serve His church with the strength the Lord provides.  How should we serve with this strength?  We must serve the Lord's church faithfully with the power of grace that the Lord bestows upon us.  We should serve with the power of grace.  We have no merit of our own.  It is solely through the merit of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross.  As we serve the Lord's church, we must cast aside any sense of merit.  We must continually let it go.  Instead, we should humbly serve His church with faithfulness through the power of the grace given by God.  We must never consider the responsibilities entrusted to us lightly.  Instead, may we, through esteeming our holy responsibilities, progress in faithful service to the Lord's church with the strength of His great grace.

 

 

 

Guarding against excessive ambition,

 

James Kim

(Praying that we may humbly serve His church with the power of grace given by the Lord)