Only a few verses into my annual read through Exodus and I sense that we, the Body of Christ are called to be the midwives for what God is doing upon the earth.
Just as the Hebrew women were assisted by appointed aids in order to control the birthing process, which from the Pharoah's perspective had gotten out of hand, we have been placed strategically to care for the spiritual birthing of our own and future generations, though in many minds this religious thing in America has gotten out of hand.
It seems that our core apparatus, religious institutions and nonprofits, both which have mushroomed in the last couple decades have failed at their mission, if one considers the state of our nation.
The Church as a whole is struggling with mission drift, their very disciples malaligned with those of the early church.
"I know thy works and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich)...Rev. 2:9.
More than ever, I am convinced of a Word that came to me December 28, 2009, "My Church is in foreclosure."
Scripture seldom speaks of food pantries and clothing closets, though both are necessary in the wealth gap of our day; in the apostles day it was more of the "silver and gold have I none, but such as I have I given unto you, in the name if Jesus, stand up and walk!"
That would get the attention of not only the hungry and the cold, but the well heeled one percent who could really make a difference in the lives of the aforementioned unfortunate.
Back to the midwives, they were skilled at birthing and empowered by the King of Egypt, but moreso, "the midwives feared God and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive."
Their mission drift was toward the Kingdom of God, not the kingdoms of this world.
Somehow the Hebrew's hardship (to me representatives of a people adrift) had penetrated the hearts of those assigned to limit their population. Those midwives then followed their hearts regardless of pushback from those in power. Grassroots leadership is powerful and that's what I see emerging in the Gen Z population.
"And the midwives said unto Pharoah, Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are lively and deliver ere the midwives come in unto them."
Bottom line, these Hebrew people of God had such favor upon them that they were not limited by government regulators and even those assigned to impose limits were blessed, "and it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he made them houses."
It wasn't until out of fear (Moses' mother) of Pharoah's household, that they ran into trouble, though even in that God was going before them, preparing for an Exodus in the heart of young Moses.
Now in my fourth quarter, having spent the last 25 years both in the institutional church and in the marketplace, it seems the former has lost influence in the latter, yet God has been preparing not one but numerous Moses (plural) in Gen Z entrepreneurs.
While the Boomers die off and the churches they endow face demise, God is raising up entrepreneurs that have a vision for the marketplace, one less responsive to congregational norms, even economic success but bent upon discovering a life that blesses others by adding value where the rubber meets the road and blessed by way of a deeply known vocational calling that both draws favor and demonstrates the glory of God.
Midwives of the Kingdom.