Year 5, Day 10: 2 Kings 12

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Calling, Competency

• Calling asks whether or not God has called the person to the particular work at this point in their life.
• Competency: Being able to accomplish what one is called to do.

One of my favorite parts of this story is the turn of events in the middle of the chapter.  We are told that there is a plan to repair the temple and the priests are put in charge of the repairs.  And then we are told that nothing happens.  We don’t know why the repairs don’t get done; see my blog post from three years back to hear a couple of theories.

But then we are told that the king comes in and appoints construction workers – think general contractors – to oversee the project.  Almost immediately the repairs are begun and they are finished in good order.

This teaches us a really good lesson in human affairs: put people in charge over tasks about which they are both called and competent.

The priests were not trained in making repairs.  They didn’t know how to do most of the repairs and they wouldn’t know how much it would cost.  The priests were trained in things like sacrifice and maintaining the religious order in the temple.  When they were put in charge of the physical building, the repairs don’t get done.  The wrong people are in charge!  That doesn’t make the priests bad, it just means they were put in charge of something about which they were neither called nor competent!

How many times do we do this in life?  Or even, how many times do we do this in church?  We assume that just because someone is good in teaching theology that they could also be on a property team or a finance committee.  Or we assume that just because someone is a great greeter that they would make a good spiritual leader for a church council or board of elders.  No, we should all stop thinking that way.  Let people do what God has called them to do.  And let’s give people permission to have places of both lack of calling and lack of competency and therefore set other people up in those areas to allow them to not participate in those areas.

When the priests were allowed to just be priests and called and competent contractors were called upon to do the work, the work got done!  What an incredible lesson about allowing people to just do the task that God has called them to do.

<><