“When the circumcising of the whole nation was finished, they remained in their places in the camp until they were healed. And the LORD said to Joshua, ‘Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.’ And so the name of that place is called Gilgal to this day.” — Joshua 5:8–9
Francis Schaeffer once said that in order to experience real fruitfulness the church must once again learn to do “the Lord’s work in the Lord’s way.” He said this on account of our terrible habit of trying to do the Lord’s work in our way. Which, as experience has shown, is a surefire path to making certain the Lord’s work simply doesn’t get done, and that all manner of nonsense, idolatry, and corruption gets smuggled into the Sunday worship service under the guise of “reaching people.” In the 90’s this approach to ministry meant trading pulpits for coffee tables and preachers for life coaches. Today, however, it looks like trading the gospel for political influence and inviting Alex Jones to headline your Christ is King conference. The scenery has changed slightly, but the root is still the same. Unbelief is remarkably versatile.
All of these thoughts were jostling around in the old melon as I was reading Joshua this morning. As you can see from the above, I chose a smashingly relevant text for addressing the subject of biblical ministry. Bill Hybels almost certainly had it on a plaque in his office at one point.
But in all seriousness, this text does have something to teach us, and that lesson simply put is that what God delights to bless is not human strength or boasting, but faith, obedience, humility, and consecration.
We see this pattern all throughout the Scriptures, but it is particularly pronounced in the book of Joshua. Here Joshua is presented as a new Moses (Jos. 4:14), leading a new Israel (5:1–12), into a new creation (Ex. 15:17–18). Like the first Moses, this second exodus will not be achieved by human strength or cunning. Rather, the victory will be given insofar as the people, under Joshua’s leadership, submit themselves to the voice of the Lord. This is the purpose of the first six chapters. This is why, instead of swooping in with a battlecry, we find the people occupied with such trivial “distractions” as circumcision, Passover meals, and altar-building. The message is clear: Israel will conquer through the obedience of faith or not at all. Worship and consecration are Yahweh’s means of victory.
Zooming out from the Joshua narrative, we find this theme weaving its way through the rest of Scripture like a bright and shining thread. Cain is passed over for Abel; Joseph is exalted over his brothers; the strength of Saul is set aside for the faithfulness of David; and Daniel is raised up in Babylon. The culmination of this pattern comes finally in the crucified and risen Christ, whose victory over the enemies of God is achieved, not through the naked exercise of power, but through humble obedience, submission, and faithfulness. Moreover, Christ’s people conquer in the same way. Not by “waging war according to the flesh” (2 Cor. 10:3), but through the foolish “word of the cross”, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles (1 Cor. 1:18–31).
Indeed, as history has shown, the church has often been most potent when she has been the least impressive—when she has been faithful, suffering, and humble. And this, far from being a flaw in the Master’s design, has actually been a feature, a wisely chosen means of ensuring that human boasting is removed and glory, honour, and praise are given to our God and King:
“For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.” (1 Cor. 1:26–29)
What all of this amounts to is that we can and should take heart, even in these dark and discouraging days. We may lack influence, wealth, and cultural respect—indeed, we may lack every conceivable marker of success used by the world to judge such matters. But this is no disadvantage to us. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit and a reverent heart (Ps. 51:16; Isa. 66:2). If we have these we shall do valiantly; if we lack them, nothing else matters.
There were no doubt those in Israel’s camp who scoffed at Joshua’s patient faithfulness, who considered national circumcision and reconsecration a misuse of precious time. The lesson they needed to learn, and the lesson we have yet to learn, was one that Joshua had already mastered: that the path to victory lies in doing the Lord’s work in the Lord’s way.
May we learn from his example.