Thursday, June 27, 2013

Unqualified Evangalists

   Jesus was not a resume reader.  If you know your scriptures you will know that he didn't pick the best of the best, the most qualified, the preachers and teachers.  His closest comrades and loudest spokesmen were not theologians or Talmud experts or Levites.  The fisherman on whom he built his church was a zealot and a temperamental fellow.  One of his disciples betrayed him.  Jesus did not appear to practice what we deem as appropriate and important discernment of character.
   Jesus did not thoroughly vet each candidate.  In Luke 10 he sends out 72 disciples to preach the good news of the Kingdom in towns throughout the land.  Not only do they go unequipped, they are directed by Jesus to go unequipped.  Jesus did not outfit people with things they didn't need.  He sent out disciples with no money, food, or even sandals.  They went out with much more important things like truth.
   Jesus is not in the business of finding the most qualified man or woman for the job.  This is what is meant in 1 Samuel 16:7 when God says, "man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart."  We look for qualifications that we can see, quantify and test, and we are not very good at testing hearts.  But Jesus is very good at testing hearts.  He chose the lowly and uneducated, the despised and dirty, the outcasts of decent religious circles.  Jesus does not need highly qualified evangelists because he doesn't need someone mucking up the Gospel with their own junk and ideas.  He needs only a willing heart, someone who will take the only true Gospel with them wherever they go and give it away without qualification.  Because the Gospel is free, simple, and it's for everyone.

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