Qualified by Grace

When Camilla and I took over the pastoring of a church back in 1999, everyone thought it was a good idea – everyone, that is, except me. I thought picking me was a terrible idea for many reasons. For starters, I had never been to Bible School. But it all worked out, and in hindsight, I can see God was training me for everything that followed.

When God calls us in a certain direction, it’s natural to come up with reasons why it’s a bad idea:

Moses: “I stutter” (Ex. 4:10)
Gideon: “I’m a nobody” (Jdg. 6:15)
Jeremiah: “I’m just a kid” (Jer. 1:6)
Peter: “I’m a sinner” (Luke 5:8)

It seems that God delights in picking unqualified people. He chooses the wrong guy or girl, and then he shows us what he can accomplish through the wrong guy or girl.

Surely, the best example of picking “the wrong guy” was Saul the Pharisee. Saul hunted Christians for a living, yet God picked him to build the church. Amazing.

Sidebar: Some of the disciples Jesus picked were the wrong gender, yet God chose them to be the first evangelists of the resurrection and leaders in the early church.

These days, there is a lot of pressure for would-be ministers to get educational qualifications. You gotta have a Ph.D or a D.Div. You gotta be certified. A good education is important if you want to be a surgeon or an engineer, but ask yourself which of the following sentences is in the Bible:

“I was made a minister, because I earned a certificate.”
“I was made a minister, according to the gift of God’s grace.”

The second sentence comes from Ephesians 3:7. Paul was an educated man but when it came to ministry he relied solely on God’s grace.

By the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me. (1 Corinthians 15:10)

Paul never said, “I studied for years under the original apostles until they taught me everything they knew.” Instead, he said the leaders in the Jerusalem church “recognized the grace that had been given to me” (Gal. 2:9).

(Incidentally, this is what leaders do. They recognize and call out the gifts God has given to every believer. They help others work out the dreams God has placed in their hearts. More here.)

Training is valuable and learning from others will help you avoid repeating their mistakes. But don’t let anyone tell you that you cannot exercise your gifts unless you have the right education, the right connections, and the right gender. Such a mindset would have been totally foreign to the early church.

For we are God’s fellow workers… according to the grace of God which was given to me (1 Corinthians 3:9–10)

In the old covenant, only Levites could serve as priests. But in the new covenant we are all royal priests.

In the old covenant, only some were anointed to serve. But in the new covenant, we are all anointed and his anointing teaches us all things (1 John 2:20–27).

In the old covenant, the priestly caste was recognized by their outer adornments. But in the new covenant, we have the indwelling Holy Spirit to lead and guide us.

As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. (1 Peter 4:10)

Let no one disqualify those whom God has qualified. Let no one tell you that you must earn their approval before you heed the call of God.

Get trained and learn all you can, but don’t ever think you are qualified on account of your effort or disqualified by your reputation, pedigree or gender.

Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly (Romans 12:6)

What a privilege it is to be called and qualified by God! From our limited understanding, it may seem that God sometimes picks the wrong people. I certainly thought that when I found myself leading a church in Hong Kong, and I’m sure there went plenty who thought Saul was a terrible choice for apostle.

Truly, God knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows the gifts he’s given us and all he asks is that we trust him to reveal himself through us to others. Don’t look for the approval of people. Fix your eyes on the Lord and rest. He will do the rest.

You are qualified by the Lord. And the same grace of God that empowered the apostles, empowers you (Rom. 12:6).

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Next week I will be wrapping up my series on the Patriarchs with a link to a Classic Sermon – my first in three years.

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