The Story of Eldad and Medad
[Moses] gathered seventy elders of the people, and placed them all around the tent. Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and took some of the spirit that was on Moses and put it on the seventy elders; and when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. But they did not do so again.
Two men remained in the camp, one named Eldad, and the other named Medad, and the spirit rested on them; they were among those registered, but they had not gone out to the tent, and so they prophesied in the camp. And a young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.”
And Joshua son of Nun, the assistant of Moses, one of his chosen men, said, “My lord Moses, stop them!”
But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the LORD’s people were prophets, and that the LORD would put his spirit on all of them!” (Numbers 11:24b-29)
Two men remained in the camp, one named Eldad, and the other named Medad, and the spirit rested on them; they were among those registered, but they had not gone out to the tent, and so they prophesied in the camp. And a young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.”
And Joshua son of Nun, the assistant of Moses, one of his chosen men, said, “My lord Moses, stop them!”
But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the LORD’s people were prophets, and that the LORD would put his spirit on all of them!” (Numbers 11:24b-29)
Called To Be Eldad and Medad
There are many people—laic and cleric—for whom the so-called "big church" way of "doing church" works and there are churches on almost every street corner [at least here in New England] where folks who enjoy the big church way can find a possible church home.
But, in the modern age, there are also many folks who, for a large variety of reasons, no longer feel that they are being fed spiritually via the big church model. Some sociologists refer to these folks as the "unaffiliated." Some of these folks rather have opted to call themselves "spiritual but not religious." Whatever one calls them, or they call themselves, they are a population of folks seeking to follow God but doing so “like sheep without a shepherd”—often like sheep who DO NOT WANT a shepherd.
Ministering to these folks requires more than the Big Church invitation "come to church." Most of these folk will not enter a church, do not want to enter a church, and often have very bad memories of the last time they entered a church. So the invitation falls on deaf ears and the ones extending the invitation either get frustrated beyond belief or write these folks off as “not worthy of our attention.”
But, this does not mean that these folks do not want God in their lives and are not open to some kind of non-traditional ministry. And this is where I feel our particular call catches a glimpse of that call to minister that grasped Eldad and Medad.
While many of us do not feel that we have been called to serve in the traditional way, we do nevertheless feel that we have been called.
Many of us have spent our time in the tent—the Big Church—but have realized that that isn't the place we are called to serve. We have also spent our time working in the world—and have found that that is where we feel the most at home in ministry. But, this discerning of where we best serve hasn’t been instantaneous—often it took years before we finally got it.
My personal story illustrates this. When I was growing up I just assumed that what I was sensing as a call from God was to be a priest in the Roman Catholic Church—the church of my youth. When that didn’t work out—but the sense of call remained—I assumed I would follow the call in a different kind of church, a traditional church but just not the Roman one. But, I believed in my heart of hearts that it would still resemble the church of my youth—some kind of parish with a church and a rectory and perhaps even a school and convent. I was convinced that God would fulfill this desire of my heart. And—with apologies to the writers behind A Field of Dreams—I was convinced that if I built it "they would come."
The funny thing is there are those for whom this approach has worked—and, I believe it has worked because that is their call. But, I am equally convinced that that ISN’T my call. I struggled for many years trying to reinvent the tent … but "they" did not come in the numbers that I expected. It has taken many years for me to realize that my call—and the call of others like me—is not to reinvent the big church wheel. Rather, I am on the cusp of something else.
I now realize that my call is to bring "the tent" to the people rather than waiting for the people to come out to the tent. Part of this is the realization that some who desperately want to go out to the tent can no longer do so—e.g., elders in nursing homes and senior living centers—and no provisions are being made by the tent to go out and transport those who want to attend things and then bring them back home.
I have also come to realize that I need to bring “the tent” to where the people are. One of my sad realizations has been that the majority of the people who are served best by me look warily at buildings with bell towers and stained-glass windows and pews and altars and all that other "church stuff." And, this isn't because they don't like church; rather, it is because they have been convinced that church people don't like them!
I have had some success in this “new” ministry but, I now need more Eldads and Medads to help bring the “tent” to the people. I need individuals as well as small groups who are set in their careers and “day jobs” and may even identity as "church," but nevertheless feel called by God to prepare for a new and unique ministry among folks who will no longer come into the tent.
I need religious entrepreneurs who will bring their creativity to new ways of ministry in what the main stream might call unusual if not unorthodox places.
I need folks who will continually prepare themselves even while working to get the word out that they exist as a new way of doing church—or whatever you feel called to call it—but without sounding like the very churches the folks they seek hold with great disdain.
And, I need people who worry more about service than membership numbers, more about the number of people cared for than the number of people filling the Offertory plate.
And, of course, I need folks who never forget that this is God's work and not ours—we are called to help God but not to be God. The inspiration for our call to this new form of “church” must come from God; otherwise, it will fail.
But, in the modern age, there are also many folks who, for a large variety of reasons, no longer feel that they are being fed spiritually via the big church model. Some sociologists refer to these folks as the "unaffiliated." Some of these folks rather have opted to call themselves "spiritual but not religious." Whatever one calls them, or they call themselves, they are a population of folks seeking to follow God but doing so “like sheep without a shepherd”—often like sheep who DO NOT WANT a shepherd.
Ministering to these folks requires more than the Big Church invitation "come to church." Most of these folk will not enter a church, do not want to enter a church, and often have very bad memories of the last time they entered a church. So the invitation falls on deaf ears and the ones extending the invitation either get frustrated beyond belief or write these folks off as “not worthy of our attention.”
But, this does not mean that these folks do not want God in their lives and are not open to some kind of non-traditional ministry. And this is where I feel our particular call catches a glimpse of that call to minister that grasped Eldad and Medad.
While many of us do not feel that we have been called to serve in the traditional way, we do nevertheless feel that we have been called.
Many of us have spent our time in the tent—the Big Church—but have realized that that isn't the place we are called to serve. We have also spent our time working in the world—and have found that that is where we feel the most at home in ministry. But, this discerning of where we best serve hasn’t been instantaneous—often it took years before we finally got it.
My personal story illustrates this. When I was growing up I just assumed that what I was sensing as a call from God was to be a priest in the Roman Catholic Church—the church of my youth. When that didn’t work out—but the sense of call remained—I assumed I would follow the call in a different kind of church, a traditional church but just not the Roman one. But, I believed in my heart of hearts that it would still resemble the church of my youth—some kind of parish with a church and a rectory and perhaps even a school and convent. I was convinced that God would fulfill this desire of my heart. And—with apologies to the writers behind A Field of Dreams—I was convinced that if I built it "they would come."
The funny thing is there are those for whom this approach has worked—and, I believe it has worked because that is their call. But, I am equally convinced that that ISN’T my call. I struggled for many years trying to reinvent the tent … but "they" did not come in the numbers that I expected. It has taken many years for me to realize that my call—and the call of others like me—is not to reinvent the big church wheel. Rather, I am on the cusp of something else.
I now realize that my call is to bring "the tent" to the people rather than waiting for the people to come out to the tent. Part of this is the realization that some who desperately want to go out to the tent can no longer do so—e.g., elders in nursing homes and senior living centers—and no provisions are being made by the tent to go out and transport those who want to attend things and then bring them back home.
I have also come to realize that I need to bring “the tent” to where the people are. One of my sad realizations has been that the majority of the people who are served best by me look warily at buildings with bell towers and stained-glass windows and pews and altars and all that other "church stuff." And, this isn't because they don't like church; rather, it is because they have been convinced that church people don't like them!
I have had some success in this “new” ministry but, I now need more Eldads and Medads to help bring the “tent” to the people. I need individuals as well as small groups who are set in their careers and “day jobs” and may even identity as "church," but nevertheless feel called by God to prepare for a new and unique ministry among folks who will no longer come into the tent.
I need religious entrepreneurs who will bring their creativity to new ways of ministry in what the main stream might call unusual if not unorthodox places.
I need folks who will continually prepare themselves even while working to get the word out that they exist as a new way of doing church—or whatever you feel called to call it—but without sounding like the very churches the folks they seek hold with great disdain.
And, I need people who worry more about service than membership numbers, more about the number of people cared for than the number of people filling the Offertory plate.
And, of course, I need folks who never forget that this is God's work and not ours—we are called to help God but not to be God. The inspiration for our call to this new form of “church” must come from God; otherwise, it will fail.