Do we hesitate to take on our role as missionaries because we doubt our abilities?
One of my favorite movies is “A Man for All Seasons,” starring Paul Scofield as Thomas More. In one key scene More defends his reluctance to accept the post as Chancellor of England by citing “my own knowledge of my poor abilities,” to which King Henry VIII responds, “I will be the judge of your abilities.”
God calls us to take our place in the work of perfecting the world. He calls us to tasks that He put us here to accomplish. He is not interested in what we think we can do, He knows what we are capable of far better than we do ourselves.
Joseph Campbell pioneered the theory of the mono-myth, a story arc that is echoed in almost every culture and every time. In the mono-myth the hero is called, and very often he declines the first invitation.
“Can’t do it,”
“Not me,”
“Alderaan? I’m not going to Alderaan.
I’ve got to go home. It’s late, I’m
in for it as it is.”
“I’m just a kid from a trailer park.”
But ultimately it is not up to us. We are not the judge of what we can or cannot do. God is the final judge of our abilities. God prepares us and makes us worthy. Or, to put it another way, we all have “talent on loan from God.”
Artists can take on many roles, priest, prophet, storyteller, teacher, and missionary. In each of these it is God who equips us and makes us worthy of the task ahead of us. God pushes us to do more with the gifts He has given us, to strive, to grow, to step outside our comfort zone and into His.
Put aside for a moment all concerns about making money, providing for your family, and meeting your responsibilities to others. They are all very important things but just for a moment, put them aside and ask yourself, “what is God calling me to do with the gifts, with the talent, He has given me?”
Fishing was life and death to Peter, it was how he provided for his family. When Jesus tells Peter to put out into deep water, Peter at first demurs but ultimately obeys.
“Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing,
but at your command I will lower the nets.”
Peter obeys, not because he understands or is able to figure it out. He obeys because God asks him.
“Master, at your command, at your word, because you want it, Lord, I will do it.”
Fear of the unknown, fear of failure, fear of pushing ourselves past the point we can bear, these are all very powerful emotions. But they can hold us back from achieving all that we are capable of. When God asks “whom will we send, who will go?” Will you trust Him enough to stand up and say “Here I am, Lord, send me?”