Admittedly, more than once over the past 35 years or so I have found myself asking the Lord, "Why in the world did you choose me for this role (vocational ministry - I have served on the staff of five Baptist churches)?" My dashing good looks? Hardly. My remarkably keen intellect? Duh, no! My oratorical prowess? That ain't it.
I'm sure that the fellows whom Jesus selected to be the Apostles, the foundational stones of the Christian Church, must have asked themselves the same question. Essentially there was nothing about this unlikely bunch which could have been seen as qualifications for such a critical purpose. Truth be known, nothing about any of these men qualified them to be Apostles except God's own sovereign purpose.
On the subject of our qualifications for serving God John MacArthur states, "So there are no intrinsically qualified people. God Himself must save sinners, sanctify them, and then transform them from unqualified into instruments He can use" (from his book Twelve Ordinary Men). You may look upon yourself as being a worthless nobody with nothing to offer the Lord, but worthless nobodies are just the kind of people God uses because that is all He has to work with.
Why does God choose to accomplish His purposes this way? "God chooses the humble, the lowly, the meek, and the weak so that there's never any question about the source of power when their lives changed the world. It's not the man; it's the truth of God and the power of God in the man...The power is in the Word - the truth that we preach - no in us" (MacArthur).
We don't need to think too highly of ourselves, and at the same time we must not underestimate the power of God. The lesson behind today's post is this: Spend time with the Lord, absorb all that He wants to teach you, know the source of your power, and perhaps you will be the kind of nobody God wants to use to fulfill His divine purpose.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Friday, June 25, 2010
When is foolishness actually the wise thing?
In my last post I wrote of how God loves to use the "nobodys" of this world to accomplish His kingdom's work. Just looking at who Jesus chose to be the Apostles -- the foundational leadership of the newly formed Church -- should say something quite remarkable about who God uses.
These men, and the message they proclaimed faithfully in the first century A.D., were looked upon by the religious establishment of the day as being nothing more than mere fools. And yet, that is just exactly how God wanted it. He despised the sacrimonious hypocricy of Israel's religious leaders and He mocked their spiritual ineptness by choosing men of lowly position to become heroes of the faith.
In the first chapter of Paul's first letter to the Corinthian church we see how God chose what would appear foolish to those who thumb their noses at Him as the message of His redemption, and He chose those who would be perceived as fools to be His messengers . . .
"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those wo are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. (my emphasis) For it is written: 'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.'
Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the widom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength." (I Corinthians 1:18-25)
So why does God do it this way? John MacArthur, in his book Twelve Ordinary Men says this about God's purpose: "God chooses the humble, the lowly, the meek, and the weak so that there's never any question about the source of power when their lives change the world. It's not the man; it's the truth of God and the power of God in the man. The power is in the Word -- the truth that we preach -- not in us...God's favorite instruments are nobodies, so that no man can boast before God. In other words, God chooses whom He chooses in order that He might receive the glory."
I have always loved to hear the testimonies of histories great men of God because they all share one common theme - "It has never been about me or my abilities, but it has always been about the power of God and the Gospel message!" Men such as Billy Graham, W.A. Criswell, Adrian Rogers, Billy Sunday, D.L. Moody and Charles Spurgeon would all say that they could never understand why God chose them to become preachers of His Word because they knew they had nothing of great value to offer, and each would proclaim "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord" (I Corinthians 1:31).
Which would you choose -- the wisdom of the world or the foolishness of God?
These men, and the message they proclaimed faithfully in the first century A.D., were looked upon by the religious establishment of the day as being nothing more than mere fools. And yet, that is just exactly how God wanted it. He despised the sacrimonious hypocricy of Israel's religious leaders and He mocked their spiritual ineptness by choosing men of lowly position to become heroes of the faith.
In the first chapter of Paul's first letter to the Corinthian church we see how God chose what would appear foolish to those who thumb their noses at Him as the message of His redemption, and He chose those who would be perceived as fools to be His messengers . . .
"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those wo are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. (my emphasis) For it is written: 'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.'
Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the widom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength." (I Corinthians 1:18-25)
So why does God do it this way? John MacArthur, in his book Twelve Ordinary Men says this about God's purpose: "God chooses the humble, the lowly, the meek, and the weak so that there's never any question about the source of power when their lives change the world. It's not the man; it's the truth of God and the power of God in the man. The power is in the Word -- the truth that we preach -- not in us...God's favorite instruments are nobodies, so that no man can boast before God. In other words, God chooses whom He chooses in order that He might receive the glory."
I have always loved to hear the testimonies of histories great men of God because they all share one common theme - "It has never been about me or my abilities, but it has always been about the power of God and the Gospel message!" Men such as Billy Graham, W.A. Criswell, Adrian Rogers, Billy Sunday, D.L. Moody and Charles Spurgeon would all say that they could never understand why God chose them to become preachers of His Word because they knew they had nothing of great value to offer, and each would proclaim "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord" (I Corinthians 1:31).
Which would you choose -- the wisdom of the world or the foolishness of God?
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Are you too small?
Very often common people (such as myself) think of themselves as being "too much, too little, too late" to be used by God to accomplish much. They look at who they are and lament that they will never amount to much in God's kingdom work. Such thinking is a grave mistake.
If you look at the men Jesus chose to become the very foundation of the church you will notice that none of them were exceptional people. On the contrary, they were as common, as ordinary, as anyone could possibly be.
I am currently reading John MacArthur's book Twelve Ordinary Men which is a study of the lives of the men Jesus called to be His "inner circle" who would spend a relatively short, but intensive time (about 18 months) hearing Jesus teach and observing His actions. MacArthur says of the twelve:
"they were perfectly ordinary men in every way. Not one of them was renowned for scholarship or great erudition. They had no track record as orators or theologians. In fact, they were outsiders as far as the religious establishment of Jesus' day was concerned. They were not outstanding because of any natural talents or intellectual abilities. On the contrary, they were all too prone to mistakes, misstatements, wrong attitudes, lapses of faith, and bitter failure -- no one more so than the leader of the group, Peter. Even Jesus remarked that they were slow learners and somewhat spiritually dense (Luke 24:25)."
Sound like anyone you know? I have to admit that MacArthur could have easily been describing me. He goes on to say of the Apostles: "Yet with all their faults and character flaws -- as remarkably ordinary as they were -- these men carried on a ministry after Jesus' ascension that left an indelible impact on the world."
Why would God choose to use such unlikely characters to entrust the very future of His redemptive ministry among mankind? It's really simple. If He had called upon great men to do this work they may have tried to depend upon their own intellect and skill (just like the Pharisees and other religious leaders tried to do) and God would not have received the glory and praise He deserves. Doing what He did through the kind of people He chose assured that His work was done in his power and not man's!
How does that reality affect how you think of yourself? Does it give you hope that God can do something significant through you? As the old saying goes, "He isn't looking for your ability, just your availablity." God can do whatever He wants without our help, but He has chosen to give us the wonderful privilege of serving Him and being used as instruments for His glory. So don't think you are too small to do anything great for God's kingdom. Realize that acknowledging your lack of power is the beginning of being filled with His power to do "God-sized" tasks!
If you look at the men Jesus chose to become the very foundation of the church you will notice that none of them were exceptional people. On the contrary, they were as common, as ordinary, as anyone could possibly be.
I am currently reading John MacArthur's book Twelve Ordinary Men which is a study of the lives of the men Jesus called to be His "inner circle" who would spend a relatively short, but intensive time (about 18 months) hearing Jesus teach and observing His actions. MacArthur says of the twelve:
"they were perfectly ordinary men in every way. Not one of them was renowned for scholarship or great erudition. They had no track record as orators or theologians. In fact, they were outsiders as far as the religious establishment of Jesus' day was concerned. They were not outstanding because of any natural talents or intellectual abilities. On the contrary, they were all too prone to mistakes, misstatements, wrong attitudes, lapses of faith, and bitter failure -- no one more so than the leader of the group, Peter. Even Jesus remarked that they were slow learners and somewhat spiritually dense (Luke 24:25)."
Sound like anyone you know? I have to admit that MacArthur could have easily been describing me. He goes on to say of the Apostles: "Yet with all their faults and character flaws -- as remarkably ordinary as they were -- these men carried on a ministry after Jesus' ascension that left an indelible impact on the world."
Why would God choose to use such unlikely characters to entrust the very future of His redemptive ministry among mankind? It's really simple. If He had called upon great men to do this work they may have tried to depend upon their own intellect and skill (just like the Pharisees and other religious leaders tried to do) and God would not have received the glory and praise He deserves. Doing what He did through the kind of people He chose assured that His work was done in his power and not man's!
How does that reality affect how you think of yourself? Does it give you hope that God can do something significant through you? As the old saying goes, "He isn't looking for your ability, just your availablity." God can do whatever He wants without our help, but He has chosen to give us the wonderful privilege of serving Him and being used as instruments for His glory. So don't think you are too small to do anything great for God's kingdom. Realize that acknowledging your lack of power is the beginning of being filled with His power to do "God-sized" tasks!
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