Significance

It has been described in many ways – climbing the corporate ladder, improving oneself, getting ahead, reaching for the gold ring. All of these phrases can be boiled down to one word – ambition. Just about everyone desires to improve their lot in life. Most people establish goals for themselves and set about working toward those goals through education, experience, or whatever means are appropriate for the situation. They are driven by an inner urging for self-fulfillment. Others have different motives and methods. These are the people who are looking for recognition. They see themselves as insignificant and the goal is to attain significance – to elevate themselves. To them, the ends justify the means and there is no shortcut they will not take and no tactic they will not use to attain their goal. The problem is that, once they have arrived, they are seldom satisfied.

Numbers 16
⁸ Then Moses spoke again to Korah: “Now listen, you Levites! ⁹ Does it seem a small thing to you that the God of Israel has chosen you from among all the people of Israel to be near him as you serve in the Lord’s Tabernacle and to stand before the people to minister to them? ¹⁰ He has given this special ministry only to you and your fellow Levites, but now you are demanding the priesthood as well! ¹¹ The one you are really revolting against is the Lord! And who is Aaron that you are complaining about him?”

Aaron and his family had been chosen by God to be His interface with the people. Up to this point, all of God’s direction for the people had come through Moses. Even after the Tabernacle was completed, God continued to meet with Moses. Theirs was a special relationship. However, the time had come for some of the duties of service to be spread out. Aaron and his sons were ordained to serve in the office of the priesthood. You can imagine the enormity of this task when you think that there were over 600,000 men over the age of 20 to take care of, not to mention the women and children. God then appointed the tribe of Levi as the ones selected to assist the priests in the performance of their duties.

In this chapter we read about an insurrection of sorts within the Levites. One of them decided that it was time that the Levites moved up the ladder a bit. Korah got several of the leaders of the assembly to back him and he went to Moses with his demands. Here is how he presented his argument, “You have gone too far! Everyone in Israel has been set apart by the Lord, and he is with all of us. What right do you have to act as though you are greater than anyone else among all these people of the Lord?” Notice how he uses bits and pieces of the truth to aid in his attempt to elevate himself among the people. The Bible tells us that Moses was the most humble man God created, so we know that he would never act as if he were more important than anyone else.

In this passage, we read God’s response through Moses. If this were happening today, you can almost hear Moses saying, “Are you crazy? God has picked you and your relatives out of the whole nation of Israel for the special purpose of serving in His house and you are complaining! Don’t you realize that your accusations against Aaron and his family are just a smokescreen? Your are rebelling against God Himself!” We would probably react the same way. How could anyone be dissatisfied with what God has called them to do?

Events like the revolt of Korah are still happening in the Church today. Even though God has given each of His children special gifts and ministries, some are not satisfied. It seems that there is an abundance of ambition even among God’s family members. It seldom manifests itself as open revolt, but it can cause the same kind of division that Korah did. When you boil it all down, the root of the issue is not a search for significance in one’s ministry, but the elevation of self.

There are no insignificant ministries in God’s house. There are no insignificant servants. Our significance as Christians is gained in doing everything we do to the glory of God.

We serve an awesome God!!!!