Hello friends!
I was reading through my typical blog roll this morning, and came across this entry by Donald Miller, and it got the brain kicking in to high gear. Seriously, people could smell the smoke all the way down the hall!
I can't tell you how many times people have said something to me that puts me on a much higher pedestal than I deserve. When my family gets together and someone needs to say grace, the eyes all turn to me because I'm the youth pastor. When a new volunteer steps up, the say that they could never teach the way I teach. People assume when I'm shopping for groceries, I'm somehow doing it more holier than they could.
Truthfully, I hate it.
If people only know the very humble path I took to get to ministry. I'm here because I went to be a music education major who couldn't read music. When I started, I didn't know anything. I didn't have a full or complete grasp of the Bible or what was in it. I didn't have the most eloquent teaching style (I've seen some old tapes from college, and they'll be making their way into a bonfire very soon). I am not special when it comes to religious-y things. I'm just like you.
When doubt begins to tell us what we can't do, we're in serious trouble. When we doubt our ability to have a kingdom impact, we have a bigger tendency to sit on the sidelines and wait for something to happen. When we doubt our ability to speak truth into someone's life, we have a tendency to retreat to our comfortable sanctuaries and cushy pews while a whole generation doesn't experience the love and grace of Christ. When we doubt ourselves, things fall apart.
More than that, we worship a God who believes in us and seems to have very few doubts about our abilities. Like Don said, Jesus left his ministry in the hands of fishermen and tax collectors. Not exactly the A-Team, and probably not even the B-Team. Yet God believed in them, and they in turn believed in themselves. When God believes in us, and we start to doubt ourselves, does that mean with think God's a liar?
Today, be confident in what God has called you to! Go confidently into whatever mission field you've been called to, whether it's in a distant land or right here at home. And know that God believes in you.
Tomorrow, we'll see how we can make doubt an ally.
Godspeed,
J
1 comments:
Well said J! That post by Miller is right-on. While seminary can help us avoid some trouble, we can certainly get lost in the debates and such. There's nothing like diving into ministry and just doing it. Glad you're hanging in there and mastering the art of grocery shopping!
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