For the past few years, I haven't been able to shake the idea of becoming a pastor, missionary, or bible teacher (I haven't narrowed it down yet). Call it a calling, call it a God-given desire, call it what you wish. It's there. It seems really crazy to me, to think of myself as a pastor, considering how I've run from God and done my own thing time and time again. I tend to think to myself, "I don't get why God thinks I should do this? What makes me good enough? Why me?" What makes me qualified?
I would ask these questions, and at times would start believing I really wasn't supposed to do it. I mean, why would God choose a guy who did _______, _______, and even _______ to be a minister of His gospel? I recently had a good chat with my squad leader, Ben, about an opportunity I had been given to preach during our first month of ministry in South Africa. I had recently confessed some sin to him and we were in the middle of resolving it and praying through it. I was pretty self conscious about preaching, having just confessed I had done something wrong, and fearing I lost my "qualification" to preach, but then the Lord spoke to me when Ben said, "Dont feel that way. GRACE is your qualification."
Let that sink in. Grace is your qualification…
While this truth does not invite anyone to just carry on with their sinful desires (constant repentance is definitely a mark of a man or woman of God), it does show the measure and fullness of God's grace. I have been given an extraordinary amount of grace, and because I am in Christ, I don't have to worry about where I stand with the Father. There is no more room for insecurity. Nothing I can do will make him love me more, and nothing I can do will make him love me less. You see, we often times spend way too much energy worrying about what other people think of us. We also get this false sense of humility and think to ourselves, "I'm such a bad person," or, "God must be really angry with me," or even worse, "Because I did this and that, I'm not WORTHY to teach others about Christ."
We need to stop thinking of ourselves from our own point of view as well as from other people's point of view, and start thinking more about who we are from God's point of view: Son. Daughter. Adopted. Redeemed. Made whole. Righteous. Worthy. Royalty.
Qualified.
