commending ourselves? or adequacy from You!

Dec 23, 2009

2 Corinthians 3:9 Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some, letters of commendation to you or from you? 2. You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men; 3. being manifested that you are a letter of Christ, cared for by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. 4. Such confidence we have through Christ toward God. 5. Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, 6 who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

I read this to Pastor P the other day, as he has been kind of perturbed that organizations and some churches want a written “resume” and “references” before they will contribute to the street ministry – a “paper proof” – I suppose like a graduation certificate to “prove” that a student has covered a certain amount of schooling (I won’t say it proves they have covered a certain amount of education or learning, however! LOL!); or like a “pastor” with a Bible School and/or seminary certificate to prove they’ve covered a certain level of curriculum (again not to say how much real knowledge of You – and even more important, real knowing You – they actually have… sad to say…) (Pastor P has also found it necessary to take courses and get “credentials”…)

Anyway, it does seem to be the way of this world… it seems that it isn’t good enough to prove by actually doing and being… one must have that official piece of paper. Even Paul had to defend himself in this area… although the results of his efforts were easily and clearly alive and recognizable!

Well, I guess that for one thing, it is probably easier (and in some senses, for some people, also “safer”) to read a written resume and reference letter than to “go out there” and actually spend time observing (which could lead down the slippery slope to participating, oh dear!) the work You are doing through Your servants (in the case I’m discussing, the street ministry Pastor P is involved in)… And that’s another thing: people want to see about the person’s OWN “qualifications and experience” – while those who are truly Your servants, taking part in Your work, themselves know clearly that they are personally NOT adequate, but that all their “adequacy” comes from YOU! But of course that too is not acceptable (or sensible) in the eyes of the world…