Let me put this into context. Paul and Baranbas are preaching the Gospel in Lystra when they saw a man who had been lame from birth. They made eye contact and Paul told him to stand on his feet. The man did so and everyone was amazed. However, they thought that they were the greek gods Zeus and Hermes. The people went to go get the priest of Zeus and that's when Paul made this statement after ripping his clothes.
Being in Burundi has been a blast and I love every second of it. Yesterday, I got to teach a song to the worship team at the church and they were more than grateful. When the worship leader, David, introduced me to the team, he said words that were more than kind. I do want to point out that he didn't say anything that compared me to a god, but I wanted to make sure that we were all on the same understanding that I really was not "that great."
I don't want this to seem like a post full of self pity, but I do want there to be a right understanding of who we are. The only way to see ourselves clearly is to be able to see the revealed God. I say revealed because there is infinitely more to God than we know and ever could know. We know that He is perfect yet He is ever more so. Our understanding of His love is great but could increase daily for eternity. His faithfulness is felt every second, but in all of these things, we have barely scratched the surface.
In return, we have fallen from fellowship only to be brought back by the blood of the lamb. Hallelujah! There we should be categorized as tools used in accordance by God's will, still straying from time to time, but we have been brought close (Ephesians 2:13). Like David, it's important to understand our humanness and the separation between the nature of man and God. Only when we understand and comprehend this will we be able to receive the fullness of what the Gospel has to offer.
With this understanding, those who are in a place of ministry or missionaries who travel across the world can say, "We too are only human." We are broken people just like everyone else. What we must boast in is that we have a hope and a joy. We, unlike everyone else, have a peace that surpasses understanding (Philippians 4:7). While others search for a purpose to this life, we can, with complete confidence, say that we were created to glorify our God and love Him with all that we are.
Once born again, there becomes a false and sinful idea of spiritual levels. We may look at the pastor of our church and say, "Wow, I want to be on his level some day." We wish that we were like the missionary and envy the faith to do God's will. I implore you that these people may be closer to God, but they still deal with sin and are broken and are desperate need to God. Paul talks about a race; a marathon. We can get caught with mile-markers and covet the ability to be at their levels, but the closer we get to finishing the race, the closer we get to God, the more we understand how much we are in desperate need of Him. Read Jon Owens or A.W. Tozer or any of the greats and they will tell you the same thing.
I pray that none of you have an issue with this, but I know that I do. So if anything, walk away from this post and pray that God would do a work in me to draw me closer to Him, not to some level like someone else. Don't get me wrong, one of the initial reasons I took Christianity seriously is because I saw someone else do it and have joy, but I don't put him on an altar and worship him, for he was broken and made mistakes. The only reason I think highly of him is because God used him and he was willing to be used for the furtherance of the Gospel.
Being broken is a beautiful thing when you realize that there is Savior. - Forsake All
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