The way we do church, or understand our obligations to a congregation, sometimes requires that decisions must be made as to how we spend our time. It is in this area that the faithful are often torn, because we must make a choice between church work and the work of the church. A definition of the terms might be necessary, so that no confusion cloud the issue at hand.

Church work involves the internal administrative, managerial, executive, ecclesiastical, perfunctory, departmental, congregational, denominational, district, and religious obligations that serve as the engine for the organization. More often than not, those who are pegged to lead in these areas are vetted for their commitment to the doctrine, dogma, policies, and theology of the organization. Without a proper alignment of mission and vision by those who are selected to lead, or participate, chaos develops, and the door is left ajar for distasteful debates about dissenters, and those who do not subscribe to a corporate fidelity.

On the other hand, there is the work of the church. Much has been written lately about the outward focused church and the need for congregations to reconnect with the neighborhood and reengage community. Reggie McNeal states, "The church that wants to partner with God on his redemptive mission in the world has a very different target: the community. In the past, if a church had any resources left over after staffing Sunday school, and so on, then it went to the community. In the future, the church that 'gets it' will staff to and spend its resources on strategies for community transformation."¹ The work of the church is that which the church does to transform community and attend to the felt needs of those who might not be necessarily associated with the congregation through membership.

These two activities of the church are not, or should not, be diametrically opposed to each other. One should not have to choose between one or the other, for both are necessary functions of the body of Christ, based on the gifts that God has generously bestowed upon the disciples. The task of the church is to recognize the variety of giftedness and to facilitate those who feel God's call to a particular area of service.

Bob Linthicum has written extensively on the responsibility of the congregation to live out God's intention for the world in what he calls the Deuteronomic vision. The ancient book of Deuteronomy, in a very peculiar manner, provides a prototype for the work of the church as God intended it. It is an acknowledged, sociological reality that three systems make up a society: religious, political, and economic.

• The religious system (Deut. 6:1-12; 20-25; 10:12–22) was so designed that the people understood the values that gave purpose, direction, and meaning to the newly formed community. Worship of Jehovah was to be central in the woof and warp of their everyday existence, in contrast to the polytheistic practices of their neighbors.
• The political system (Deut. 16:18-20; 17:14-20) dictated how the new community was to shape and make communal decisions that ordered their life together. Justice was intended to be the cornerstone of their dealings with each other.
• The economic system (Deut. 6:10-12; 15:1-11) set the parameters as to how the community was to generate and distribute its goods and services. Inherent in this system was a clear intention that there would be an equitable distribution of the resources so that there be "no poor among you."

Linthicum suggests that this is probably the closest that Israel came to writing a governing constitution. This was the blueprint that God gave to an emerging community. If these three systems worked efficiently, society would be as God intended it to be. However, the responsibility to ensure that the systems would be held accountable rested on two groups: prophets and people.

The primary mission of the religious prophets (Deut. 18:15-19) was to ensure that the stewards of the three systems were held accountable. The religious leaders were not expected to disconnect the religious obligation from the secular, but their task was to ensure a corporate balance between all three systems. Having a clear blueprint of what God intended for God's people, accountability was crucial. In like manner, the primary responsibility of the people of God was to hold both the systems and the prophets accountable for the deportment of equal justice, proper stewardship, and healthy, communal relationships. This is what "church work" is all about.

However, conformity to these injunctions was to be shortlived. Subsequent Hebrew writers were riled by the culpability of both prophet and people in the lapse of attention to and the abandonment of God's intention for the Shalom community. Nevertheless, it was the prophet Ezekiel who gives us the most lucid historical account of what went wrong within this communal and covenantal arrangement, and how God intended to remedy the situation.

In Ezekiel, the 22^nd chapter, we are given an account of what went wrong with God's plan, as well as God's remedy for restoring God's world. In verse 25, we are told that the political system was broken and injustice widespread. In verse 26, the religious system failed to keep a vital relationship between God and people. And in verses 27 and 12, we notice that the economic system exploited the people through greed and avarice.

In verse 28 we are told that the prophets, whose responsibility it was to hold the systems accountable, were co-opted and seduced by the systems in order to gain the favor of those in authority. Likewise, in verses 29-30, we are reminded that God's people, who were expected to apply justice and equitable distribution of wealth, "aped" the system and themselves became oppressive and controlling. Such dereliction of duty resulted in a chaotic society that created pockets of poverty, distrust in the system, loss of confidence in the religious leaders, apathy towards collective remedial initiatives, and an overall sense of communal anarchy.

The question left unanswered so far is, what would God do with and to a people who have been derelict in their duty? What will God do today, if the people of God become so consumed and preoccupied with "church work" that there is no attention given to the "work of the church?"

Ezekiel 22:28-31 gives us a clue:
28 - Her prophets whitewash these deeds for them by false visions and lying divinations. They say, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says'--when the LORD has not spoken.
29 - The people of the land practice extortion and commit robbery; they oppress the poor and needy and mistreat the alien, denying them justice.
30 - "I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none.
31 - So I will pour out my wrath on them and consume them with my fiery anger, bringing down on their own heads all they have done, declares the Sovereign LORD.

May God help God's people to be committed to both church work and the work of the church. While we are engaged with the legitimate endeavors that are attendant in the liturgical and ecclesiastical Church work, may God give us the courage and the vision to make a difference in our world and community by granting the church permission to once more become the agents of transformation. The work of the church cannot be held captive by preoccupation with church work. They must complement each other in an effort to usher in the Shalom community God intended.