"But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence." (1 Corinthians 1:27-29)
When Jesus called His Disciples, of the original eleven, the standouts—those who would end up being among the leaders—were simple, unlearned fishermen. Blue-collar guys who had no impressive resumes or college degrees.
God didn't see some incredibly talented, gifted men who He "just had to have on His team" because they were so good at what they do.
No. He called simple fishermen to be leaders, so that only He could get the glory. No one could say of these guys, "Oh, I see why Jesus chose these men. These guys are superstars!"
Jesus didn't set out to recruit the best musicians to be worship leaders. He wasn't looking for the best teachers to be disciplers. He had no need of top notch administrators to manage His kingdom business.
Take Peter for instance. He was a prideful, hard-headed man, who messed up a lot. He stuck his foot in his mouth on more than one occasion. Some may have considered Peter to be a real loser. Once Jesus even had to rebuke Peter saying, "Get behind Me Satan. You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”(Matthew 16:23)
And yet, Peter went on to be one of only three Disciples who Jesus took with Him on the Mount of Transfiguration.
Today so many ministries are assembled and run like professional football teams. They strive to recruit only the top athletes, find the stand out musicians, teachers and administrators to help run their team. Accept only the best of the best. And sit the average Joe's on the bench, or better yet; kick them off the team altogether.
What does the Bible say about this?
Many churches grow to incredible size and popularity. But real, lasting spiritual change and transformation, is largely absent.
Why is this?
I believe it's partly due to a lack of emphasis on repentance from sin, and relationship with God.
Because, at all costs, they "don't want to offend anyone" many churches and followers of Christ shy away from telling people they actually have to repent of their sin. I've heard Christians say, "All I know is we're just supposed to love people." But deceiving someone, allowing them to believe it's okay with God for them to continue in their sinful lifestyle is not love. No. Quite the opposite. The blind are leading the blind right into a ditch.
The message of the Gospel is at first offensive to sinners. It tells you the truth; that all men are sinners, none are good, and all desperately need Jesus as their Savior.
A true personal relationship with Jesus requires our obedience to Him. He said, "If you love Me, keep My commandments." (John 14:15). So many people today are living intentionally hellish lifestyles, and yet still say "I love Jesus." That is simply false. God requires holiness from us. Not perfection, but holiness.
The tragic result of the casual message from much of modern Christianity are broken families, and escalating divorce and teen suicide. That, and people whose lives are never really transformed, who are stuck in a revolving door of sinful habits which they are never able to break.
And this, I believe, can be attributed to ministries which are built in the flesh—in the strength and talents of prideful men—and not on the power of God.
Today we desperately need faithful followers of Christ, and church leaders, who will humble themselves and be broken before the Lord, and who will, with a sense of urgency, empowered by the Spirit of God, get back to the basics of God's Word, preaching a message of repentance from sin and relationship with God.
We cannot continue as we have, just business as usual.
—God is Love and Love Never Fails.
