Good Intentions Can Kill

Volunteering in ministry has been one of the most rewarding and fulfilling things I’ve done in my life. I fully enjoy showing the love of God to others, while using my gifts and talents to build God’s kingdom. However, while talking to a friend one day I realized there can be a very daunting side to serving in ministry. What happens when you think you’re doing a good thing and it leads to death?

In II Samuel 6 (NLT) titled “Moving the Arc Jerusalem” you’ll read how David and the elite troops of Israel went to Balaah of Judah to retrieve the Arc of God and bring it back into his care. It was placed on a new cart and guided from Abinidab’s house by his sons Uzzah and Ahio. What comes next is where it became challenging for me to process the first time I read it.

II Samuel 6:5-7 (NLT)

5 David and all the people of Israel were celebrating before the Lord, singing songs and playing all kinds of musical instruments—lyres, harps, tambourines, castanets, and cymbals. 6 But when they arrived at the threshing floor of Nacon, the oxen stumbled, and Uzzah reached out his hand and steadied the Ark of God. 7 Then the Lord’s anger was aroused against Uzzah, and God struck him dead because of this. So Uzzah died right there beside the Ark of God.

Can we just pause and acknowledge what happened? Uzzah was assisting with bringing the presence of God back to the city of David. To prevent the ark from falling onto the ground off of the cart it was on he reached out his hand to secure it. As a result, he was struck dead. BUT WHY?

1 Chronicles 15:11-13 (NLT)

11 Then David summoned the priests, Zadok and Abiathar, and these Levite leaders: Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab. 12 He said to them, “You are the leaders of the Levite families. You must purify yourselves and all your fellow Levites, so you can bring the Ark of the Lord, the God of Israel, to the place I have prepared for it. 13 Because you Levites did not carry the Ark the first time, the anger of the Lord our God burst out against us. We failed to ask God how to move it properly.”

My takeaway is this: just because you have intentions to do things for God doesn’t mean you’re doing things in HIS will. The good intentions of David and his men led to the death of one because they didn’t know the instructions for how to move the Ark of God. To tie this in with the conversation I had with my friend, I can see in many instances where saints get involved in ministry-related work and may be doing a job they were not called to do. David said they failed to ask God… Do we ask God before volunteering for ministry teams? Do our spiritual leaders seek God before assigning/inviting people to work in ministry? If not, how did that work out for you or others? What if anything is no longer existing or has suffered as a result of being involved in ministry work God has not called someone to do? I have witnessed friendships/relationships end, leaders and members suffer abuse, members get burned out, ministry teams become stifled, and church memberships become terminated. In all of these instances, it was a result of people being out of position.

This is a call to alarm for churches that are doing things in the name of the Lord but are not in alignment with His design or will for the body of Christ. We have to protect people from dying like Uzzah as a result of man’s good intentions. I don’t merely mean dying physically but dying figuratively. Let’s take the time to ask God as David did. In the end, we’ll be much more successful overall in our service to the Lord.

Selah