By Faith Part 4 “Moses – The Long Way Home” THRIVE Service Livestream

At a church I once served, we had a gifted Student Minister on our staff. He was young, intelligent, hardworking, thoughtful, and responsible. Did I mention he was young, like 20 years old young?

Which explains what happened when we asked him to give an announcement to the congregation during the worship service on a Sunday morning. He walked up to the pulpit to deliver the announcement and immediately upset a small part of the congregation. It wasn’t anything he said. It was more about what he did, or didn’t do.

He walked up to the pulpit in front of the congregation to give the announcement. He was barefoot. As in no shoes, no socks. I’m sure some people never heard a word he said. All they could think about was his bare feet.

When the service was over and the benediction delivered, I had several people approach me to voice their displeasure over the fact that the Student Minister didn’t bother to wear shoes in church. “Disrespectful!” said one. “Totally inappropriate,” “Bad example for the kids,” others said.

So, I went to the Student Minister and asked the obvious question, “What were you thinking?”

I was ready to chalk it all up to youthful immaturity. A painful lesson about the expectations of appropriate behavior and respectful decorum in church.

I was prepared to tell him never to do that again.

I wasn’t prepared for his response.

He said, “The reason I take off my shoes when I’m at the altar is because I believe I’m standing on Holy Ground.”

Now where did he get such a ridiculous idea?

Oh, that’s right, he got it from the Bible. In particular, the moment Moses approaches the burning bush and hears God tell him, “Take your shoes off, for you are standing on Holy Ground.”

I told him to leave the shoes off. He didn’t need to change. We did.