Judges 17:6 In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes
Unity and communication among a group of people are hampered by three things: size, distance, and time. For example, the children of Israel went into Egypt as a family and came out as a much larger nation. They left Egypt as a nation unified by a common experience and hardship. They entered Canaan and became twelve different tribes very much distant from each other, and in the case of two and a half tribes, they were separated from the other tribes by the Jordan River.
So, the size of the nation made communication and unity difficult. The distance between the tribes once they got to Canaan made that communication more difficult. Then there was time. Joseph had died generations before, and now they were the children of the children of the children of Joseph and of Moses. What you read in Judges is exactly what you would expect to find, chaos.
Judges 17:6 gives the general principle of what caused this chaos. It says, “In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” So, a unified people need a common cause. In size, they had grown. In distance, they were spread out one from another. God had made them into a nation years before, but time had elapsed so chaos was the natural gravity they faced. A unified people, whether a church or a nation, need a common cause.
This morning I told my neighbors, “It is amazing how little we know about the Bill Rice Ranch.” I serve and live on the Bill Rice Ranch as do many other people. I asked a series of questions to my neighbors on the Ranch this morning. I asked, “How many of you know my schedule when I am on the road in revival meetings?” No one does because I am not there. I asked, “How many of you know every person who will join us as summer staff this summer?” No one does.
I asked, “How many of you have been to New York?” We have a neighbor here who is from New York. A lot of us have been to New York, but a lot of us have not been. I asked, “How many of you have worked on the Hobart dishwashing machine in the dining hall and how many of you have taught kindergarten?” A lot of them had not done either. Only one person had done both and that was a unique person indeed. I asked, “How many of you know what a latigo is?” Only the people who have served as cowboys knew what a latigo is.
What scares me at the Bill Rice Ranch has to do with time, distance, and size. We started in 1953. Our West Branch of the Bill Rice Ranch is in Williams, Arizona over 1,600 miles from here and two time zones away in the summer. We have a college, a school, two camps, and a number of other things. It frightens me that we could be siloed and be a ragtag collection of people who generally do the same thing.
More important than all this is your church. Do you know the skills needed to do what some of the people in your church do? Probably not. Do you know the hardship and heartache of what people in your church do in order to serve as they do? Maybe you do not. Do you know where they are coming from? Maybe you do not. The point is that a unified people, whether a nation or church, need a common cause. God’s people had gone from searching out the land generally as a nation to being tribes, and specifically families, looking for places to live. Chaos ruled. A unified people need a common cause.
If you are going to have a common cause, it demands a couple of things. It demands a sacrifice of sovereignty. For me at the Ranch it means there are a lot of things I could do, things that are legal and okay with the Lord, but I don’t do them because I serve on the Ranch. There are a lot of things my neighbors could do and would not be wrong, but they don’t do them because they serve on the Ranch. This does not mean putting your mind on hold, but it does mean there are things we sacrifice for a bigger, larger purpose. Are there things that are not wicked, but are not helpful? Yes, and this was a problem.
Judges 18:30 says, “And the children of Dan set up the graven image: and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priest to the tribe of Dan until the day of captivity of the land.” Now there is an absurd and crazy story here. There was a man named Micah who made his own gods, hired his own priest, yet still acknowledged Jehovah. Then the tribe of Dan stole Micah’s gods and priest.
All of them were doing whatever seemed right in their own eyes. There was no sacrifice of sovereignty. What they did was absurd and wicked on the face of it, but beyond all that they were people who were not unified because they thought of themselves as tribal. Dan was a tribe; Ephraim was a tribe; Judah was a tribe. They weren’t working together. So, the sacrifice of sovereignty to some extent is imperative if you are going to do something that is worth more than you yourself can do on your own.
Second, it also demands sympathy with others. That clearly is lacking in the book of Judges. For example, Dan stole the priest personally hired by and the gods made by Micah. Their reasoning was that it was better for the priest to serve an entire tribe than just one man. Later, when Micah protested, they said, “You’d better not complain too loudly. I’m not sure we can hold back the ruffians among us if you complain too much.” Now, Micah and Dan were both wrong. This was wickedness and rebellion against God, but it is also a case of no sympathy one for another. They were tribal at this point.
Many nations of the world may be sovereign, but not as much as you think. Many nations are actually a geographical area comprised of many warring tribes with their own individual agendas, priorities, and selfishness. American is becoming less of united states and more a ragtag collection of tribes. I am thankful for federalism. That can solve a lot of problems, but our nature is to be tribal, to think only of ourselves.
For me at the Ranch, the Ranch is two camps, a college, day school, and a lot of other things, but you cannot think, “I am working for the school.” No, you are serving at the Ranch. You cannot think, “I am working with the college.” No, you are serving with the Ranch. You are serving people by serving the Lord at the Ranch. In your church, which is the important application here, there may be Sunday School and different ministries, but if you are going to be unified, you need to have sympathy with others.
Finally, a unified people need a common cause and that demands a submission to God. Judges 18:31 says, “And they set them up Micah’s graven image, which he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh.” Why was the house of God in Shiloh? It was by God’s direction. Why were these gods and hired priest with Dan? It was because Dan was living their own religion and was not submissive to God. There was no submission or common theology. Every man did that which was right in his own eyes; there was no king in Israel.
If you are going to do something that outlives you and is bigger than you while you are alive, it requires unifying with other good and godly people around a common cause. A church needs a common cause, a leader, direction, and theology. Any group of people needs those things to prevent chaos. A unified people need a common cause. That will require a sacrifice of some sovereignty. Is what you are doing unifying, helpful, and pleasing to God? It will require a sympathy with others. Am I being tribal, looking out for myself only, or am I seeing the work I do in the context of a bigger picture and grander mission? And am I living in submission to God? Am I living the life God has outlined for me in the Bible?
Today, live for what matters, live beyond yourself, and live united behind a common cause that is worth living for.