How "Clean" is your Barn?

Proverbs 14:4 says, “Where no oxen are, the manger is clean, But much revenue comes by the strength of the ox.” (NASB) This verse makes logical sense. If a barn lacks cattle, the barn will stay clean. The smell of the barn is pleasant. The trough is spotless. Everything looks great. In fact, without cattle to care for, a farmer can sit back and enjoy life.

However, the last part of this verse indicates that revenue comes when you have oxen to assist in the work of the farm. Revenue is necessary for a farmer to provide for his family. This means the farmer must work and provide grain for his oxen to sustain them. The farmer must endure a mess in his barn to be successful in life.

What do oxen and a clean manger have in common with the church?
I would say plenty!

If we neglect our mission to go into the world and win people to Christ, our church building will stay “clean.” After all, people are messy! They are infected with sin. Sin makes their lives messy. If people come into our church building, they will mess up our nice clean manger. We do not want a mess here!

I would be in favor of keeping our “manger” clean by not allowing people in, except for the fact that people are important to God! Jesus said that He came to “seek and save what was lost.” (Luke 19:10) If people matter to Jesus, then they should matter to us. People should matter so much that we would be willing to “make a mess in our manger” in order to reach them for Christ.

Always remember that there is “revenue” involved in this. In Revelation 2:10 Jesus says, “Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.” Let’s be faithful to God and seek to reach out to people, even if they make a “mess” in our church.