The line between calling and competence is as thin as a sheet of ice. Being led to a ministry is one thing. Being able to complete a ministry is something entirely different. Most will tell you that God led them into ministry or to a particular ministry. At the same time, studies will reveal that most will also tell you that ministers lack experiencing the grace to pilot the ministry. They feel someone else is more qualified than they to lead the same ministry. It’s a struggle I faced many times.
During my early ministry days, I often wondered if someone else might be a better fit for the church I was pastoring. I had finished a solid education, was on the cusps of my thirties, and started a family. Preparing three lessons a week is a challenge in and of itself, but preachers figure out how to meet the challenge. Navigating church dynamics and personalities is another story. Conflict and conflict resolution is a tall order for someone lacking experience. Church politics is always a minefield. The need for building trust when one assumes that trust has already been built can be a fatal mistake. Extending grace when others refuse is not for the faint of heart, but for those who have already persevered under trial.
Introspectively, far more than I care to admit, I raised the question, “Who is equal to such a task?” knowing full well that it wasn’t me.
When Paul asked that very question, he was delving into the aroma of Christ imagery of 2 Corinthians 2:15-17. The gospel is not always popular; the gospel has never been intended to be a complete crowd pleaser. While to some we are the aroma of Christ – which is a pleasing smell – the aroma still comes from the carcass offered in sacrificial ritual worship. The dead body burns and those in the know believe its smell is a pleasing aroma. Those on the outside smell the odor of the decaying, burning body, and it is rank. Like that burning corps, our ministry is viewed by the people and society as either a pleasing aroma or the smell of death, though both images are about a carcass. The question remains, “Who is equal to such a task?”
When Moses met God at the burning bush, he was being called to lead Israel out of slavery and bondage from Egypt. Not surprisingly, Moses believed he wasn’t up to the challenge. The last time he played hero ended badly for him. After murdering an Egyptian to protect an Israelite, the move backfired. He ran with his tail between his legs to Moab to escape the reach of Pharoah and to live his life under the radar. Moving back to Egypt or to live with the Israelites was never in his plan. Nearing eighty years of age, he was enjoying his retirement. Five times Moses gave God reasons for passing him by. “Who am I to go to Pharoah” (Ex. 3:11), “I don’t know your name” (v. 14), “What if they don’t listen to me” (Ex. 4:1), “I’m not a good speaker” (v. 10), and a final desperation plea, “Just send someone else” (v. 14). Each of those reasons raised by Moses gets to the heart of Paul’s statement: who is equal to such a task? Moses readily admits, he’s not.
When Gideon was called to rescue Israel from the Midianites, God told him that he was a mighty warrior (Jud. 6:12). A mighty warrior, indeed. Something tells me Gideon had never fought in a battle, much less drawn swords. No, Gideon was anything but a warrior as he confessed that he was not only part of the weakest clan in Manasseh, but he was the least in his own family. Essentially, Gideon told God that he was a nobody. A nobody. In his rationalization Gideon struggled with Paul’s question, “Who is equal to such a task,” Gideon knew he wasn’t.
In the same year that beloved King Uzziah died, Isaiah witnessed a vision of the Almighty Lord. Seated high and exalted on his throne, he was surrounded by angelic beings singing to him. The hem of God’s robe filled the temple because nothing on earth can contain him. His voice shook the threshold and doorposts while smoke filled the temple. Isaiah’s “face-to-face” encounter with God drove him to cry out, confessing his sins. “Woe to me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty” (Is. 6:5). By looking upon the Lord himself, Isaiah got a good look in the mirror. Quickly, all his sins and shame were crystal clear as if he were watching himself in HD. The guilt and reproach forced him to wonder who was equal to such a task. Certainly, it wasn’t him.
Jeremiah’s task was set before him, and to say it was a tall order was an understatement. The motto for his ministry was, “to uproot and tear down” (Jer. 1:10). The motto might have caught on if it were applied to Babylon. It wasn’t. It was applied to Israel, which is hardly a popular motto for a national ministry. Truth be known, outside of a couple of people, no one listened to Jeremiah. His message was politically loaded as he advocated surrender to Babylon. He was abused, arrested, imprisoned, and even betrayed by his own family. When God called Jeremiah, the soon-to-be-prophet goes directly to his youth for his play, calling himself a child (Jer. 1:6). If, as some believe, Jeremiah was about 20 years of age at the time of his calling, then Jeremiah wondered who was equal to such a task. For him, he was too young.*
But God was not accepting any of the excuses or rationalizations. God wasn’t dancing to their song. After Moses’ five excuses were countered, God told him, enough. Aaron was on the way to meet him, and he was going anyway. After Gideon argued that he was the weakest among the weakest, God showed him how the Midianites were shaking in their boots. After Isaiah confessed his sinfulness, God purified his sins by touching his lips with a hot coal. And when Jeremiah saw only his youthfulness, God promised him his presence, telling him not to fear for he will be with him. Yes, who is equal to such a task? It’s a good question, until one realizes that God is a force to be reckoned with.
In the next chapter of 2 Corinthians Paul begins to answer the question, “Who is equal to such a task?” Given the antagonists who had infiltrated Corinth and were beginning to undermine Paul’s ministry, the question was relevant for Paul to address. Paul suffered too much. Paul’s speaking ability was far from eloquent. Paul carried no letters of recommendation. While they were taking him down, they threw shade on him for refusing money from the Corinthians. To the antagonists influencing the Corinthians, Paul is far from equal to such a task.
And on his own, Paul readily agreed. He said that the confidence we have is not from ourselves, our talents, our education, our connections, or our exegetical and hermeneutical abilities. Our confidence is rooted and grows out of God and the power he gives us. As Paul says,
“Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God” (2 Cor. 3:4-5).
God is the one who fuels competency in what we do. We may be Spiritual Care offering divine and compassionate hope to a patient without hope. We may be an STNA who offers gentle physical care like bathing a patient without dehumanizing them. We may be a nurse taking vital signs or counting pills or educating family members on treatment, while making the patient feel like he/she is your favorite patient. We may be a Bereavement Coordinator who holds the hand of the family after the patient has passed. We may be a Volunteer Coordinator whose greatest role is to sit and actively listen to the patient as they reveal their worries and concerns. We may be a social worker who leads the family to secure the final preparations of life. Or, we may be a TC whose soothing voice calms the anxiety of the person on the other end of the phone call. The competency to fulfill these actions do not come from us, but from God. When that happens, we are equal to such as task.
Thirty years have passed since I stepped into my first preaching ministry. It was a long time ago but feels like yesterday. I was arrogant, but also unsure. I was hopeful, but also anxious. I was mentoring, but also needed mentored. I made mistakes but was often too prideful to admit them. I felt the thin ice between calling and competence crack more times than I care to admit. If my older self could pull my younger self aside, I’d try to reassure him. I’d tell him it was going to be ok, and that God will supply what is needed to make you equal to such a task. Some may say that sounds mysterious. Some may push back and say that such a statement isn’t goal driven or a purpose driven model to build a ministry. They may be right. Still, others might call it the one thing we need most. Grace.
Soli Deo Gloria!
(i.e., only God is glorified!)
*These examples were inspired by comments made by Scott J. Hafemann, 2 Corinthians, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2000), 127.