God uses broken people…and He qualifies the called by Ken Braddy
Too many people sit on the church’s sidelines and never get onto the field of play, content to watch the game from afar. That’s not how God designed church! You know full well that we are all gifted to serve (I Corinthians 12), and that all believers have the mandate to “go and make disciples” (Matthew 28:18). Lots of people who could serve, don’t. One reason is they have a poor understanding of what it takes to be a leader. They look back at their past, focus on their failures and inadequacies, and forget that God qualifies the ones He calls.
Yes, a group leader needs to know God’s Word in order to teach it, but a teacher doesn’t have to be a Bible scholar to step into a group and begin teaching and leading. So what’s the holdup, you ask? In my experience, people just don’t feel qualified to teach and lead; they have a sense of inadequacy. So today, if that’s you, let’s consider some of the people God used throughout the pages of Scripture who were just slightly less than perfect. In fact, you might say they were quite broken:
- Adam blamed God and Eve for his failure
- Noah was a drunk
- Abraham was old…some would say too old
- Moses had a speech impediment
- Moses was also a murderer
- David was an adulterer…and a murderer
- David also had a rebellious son who went crazy and turned the household upside down
- Jonah rebelled against God and became a runaway
- Rahab was a prostitute
- Paul was an arch enemy of the church and hunted Christians for fun
- Peter was a failure several times over
- Samson had woman problems
- Jacob was a cheater
- The Samaritan woman was divorced
- Martha was a worrier
- The disciples were slow learners
- Matthew was a tax collector and worked for the wrong guys…the Romans
I could go on, but it’s pretty clear that God chooses the weak things of the world in which to display His power. Thank goodness for that! So if you’ve been asked to lead and feel unqualified, join the club. God has asked you to lead in order to display His power and might through you. If you feel unusable, unlovable, and an unlikely candidate for leadership, congratulations – you’re just the kind of person God wants to use.
