God always uses foolish and weak instruments. He uses broken vessels. Put differently, he doesn’t depend on our strength or abilities.
History Celebrates Great People
History is crafted by the inspirational tales of men and women who have done and achieved extraordinary things. There are heroes and heroines in almost all vocations of life. Men and women who defied the odds stacked against them. These people became number one, receiving acclaim and being recognised as superior to their peers.
The world is at pains to constantly discover people with this extraordinary quality.
In philosophy we read about men like Aristotle, Plato, and Socrates. Coming to science we meet men like Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton, and Charles Darwin. Touching sports we are told about men like Pele, the great Brazilian soccer player. In boxing, names like Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr (Muhammad Ali) echo through time. Political history upholds and reveres men like Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr, Mahatma Gandhi, and Nelson Mandela. From the entertainment industry we see history presents us with musicians like Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Diana Ross, and Aretha Franklin. This is to name just some of the heroes and heroines of history.
What Makes People Successful or Special?
All of the above mentioned people are thought to have had the X-factor. It is believed these people are in the history records precisely because they possessed something not inherent in other people. No one seems to know exactly what this X-factor is. And everyone has their own idea of what this extraordinary something is. So we’re told that we don’t know what it is, but when we encounter it we’ll know. It is that undefined something special.
We live in a culture that creates heroes and then worships them.
The world is at pains to constantly discover people with this extraordinary quality. That’s why we have programmes like The X-factor, Pop Idols, Master Chef, and The Apprentice on our televisions. People are persistently seeking to discover the next Michael Jackson. They long to unearth the next Usain Bolt.
Almost every parent fancies their child or children to belong in this group of people. From the time we are born, we are subjected to immense pressure to prove ourselves. Each of us believes that we’re destined to write our names in the history books.
Culture Enshrines Excellence
The truth is, like the ancient Greek nation, we live in the times of a worldwide cult. The cult of hero worship. A prevalent idol of our culture and generation is hero worshipping. In Greek mythology the Greeks had heroes such Hercules, Achilles and, Perseus, to name a few. Like them we live in a culture that creates heroes and then worships them. The naive admiration of these idolised philosophers, politicians, athletes, and musicians has elevated them to the status of superhuman. Unwittingly, we regard certain figures as demigods. We deify people, believing them to be the perfect specimens of what all of us should strive after. They are thought to be inerrant and infallible by those who worship them.
Many Christians think that they need something extraordinary in order to serve God.
The personality cult or hero worship has infected the hearts of many in the church. Many Christians think that they need something extraordinary in order to serve God. If only they had the X-factor. Why, they ask, didn’t God gift me like the heroes and heroines of our world? Surely, then they would be mightily used by God. If only I could have a great intellectual mind, then people would listen to me. If only I had eloquent speech and desirable appearance, then I would be used of God. Such are the thoughts of many professing Christians.
God Uses Whoever He Wills
But we meet many broken vessels in the Bible, men and women whom the Lord used mightily. God is not looking for men and women with extraordinary talents, gifts, or abilities. To use you he doesn’t need an X-factor to work with. This is not how the Almighty Creator and God of all works.
The personality cult or hero worship has infected the hearts of many in the church.
When the world selects and elects, their criteria is solely based on the inherent qualities of the person selected, it is always about what the person has or has not, always about what the person can do or not do, it is often about what appearance the person has.
Let us look at some examples from God’s Word.
Countless Testimonies and Broken Vessels
Consider God’s words to Samuel. The prophet’s eyes fell on Eliab, who was an impressive figure. But God says, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart” (1 Samuel 6:7). We rely on outward appearances and obvious abilities. God sees the heart. Choosing a partner we tend to prioritise looks. Employers consider an applicant’s CV. God’s criteria are more than an expensive suit and a 30 page resume, packed with great references.
We rely on outward appearances and obvious abilities. God sees the heart.
The Psalms expound this theme. “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise” (Psalm 51:17; 34:18). So God is looking for men and women who are at a point in their lives where they can say to him: ‘Lord I am not worthy. I am unable to offer anything to you. But if it pleases you, use me.’ It isn’t what we can do for God, but what he is able to do in us and through us. God isn’t looking for heroes and heroines, but for broken and rejected vessels. He’s looking for those who know with all their hearts that they are foolish sinners, inadequate servants.
This brokenness doesn’t refer to an emotionally troubled or hurt heart. Rather it’s a heart fully aware of our unworthiness before God. A heart that confesses honestly and depends wholly on God. Consider the prayer of the tax-collector. “God, be merciful to me, a sinner” (Luke 18:13). The man is aware that he is unqualified. He doesn’t deserve God’s goodness towards him. Thus he appeals to God’s grace rather than his own strength.
Consider Your Calling, and Your God
It isn’t what we can do for God, but what he is able to do in us and through us.
Finally, look at Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians. They capture much of the passages quoted above. He writes, “consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God” (1 Corinthians 1:26-29).
You don’t need something extraordinary. God can use anyone, in spite of their abilities, gifting, talents, intelligence, and appearance. Men and women in Scripture weren’t great because they possessed the X-factor but because they served a great God. You don’t need to be anything other than a broken yet dependant vessel, to see the Lord at work in your life.
