Leviticus 4:27-31 is similar to 4:22-26: with the difference that the former concerns sins of rulers or leaders, the second concerns sins of ordinary people. God provided people in the time of leviticus: for rulers or leaders, as discussed here, a way for them to be forgiven and restored to God is a huge relief, since they can’t achieve it on their own.
In Leviticus 4:27-31, God’s provision for forgiveness is the same for ordinary people, you and me.
Such spiritual provision, it’s up to us to take it. we might be too sorry for our sins, or too proud, or too loving the “crying baggage” that we are hanging in on the hate or grudge for as long as we want. Such an investment does nothing for our health; it might help with our pride, but in the long run, we gain nothing. Refusing to be forgiven is not at the “standstill” position (waiting to be forgiven) – such a position recalls Babel. We are digging our grudge, fear, sorrow and anger in the wrong direction; it drives our mental, physical and spiritual selfs to the ground. God desires us to grow, to prosper and enjoy life to the full.
God desires his church to grow, to bless all of us, and his world. What are our part in this? What do we know about God’s desire in his reaching out to folks in our area?
With church growth, we need to be more proactive about who might be leaders in our midst who will lead the next generation. By this, it means the Next Generation People, and Next Generation Ideas. NG People inhering Ideas of the previous generation and not developing their own is not likely to see much growth.
Why do the younger people of our family no longer coming to church? That’s a risky business to deal with; if we start adapting the services and prayer meetings to be more “young people like”, we are likely to fall in the middle and lose connection with everyone.
A more worthwhile question is what can we do to help the Next Generation People to lead their own programmes that meet their needs? They need to discover the glory of forgiveness that is in Jesus Christ, as that set out in Leviticus 4:27-31. And they can understand how this provision is available for the rulers and leaders (Leviticus 4:22-26), who represent the older generation. Handing over leadership is continuity.
Growth by interruption has its place – this is where something unplanned and unexpected that leads directly to growth. Online church is one example, where in 2 or 3 weeks many churches have begun using technologies for church services without walls or boundaries for anyone to attend, anytime, anywhere. Another example maybe newcomers to our church who decide to stay and contribute in gifts and responsibilities.
Growth by interruption, unplanned and unexpected, might come very sparingly. If we do nothing and wait for interruption, we won’t recognise it when we come. If we have the ways of thinking about developing leaders, we will recognise when their programme works. We will also recognise when it is growth by interruption.
