Qualified to Serve

By Chan Eu-Gene
10 Feb 2010

We live in a world that constantly judges, whether consciously or subconsciously.

“Is this good enough?”

“Isn’t this better?”

“He/She’s not cut out for you.”

etc.

We are somehow immersed into the judging game where we would constantly judge whether someone (or something) qualifies based on a set of criteria. When we do that, we typically ask ourselves whether he/she has a paper qualification (e.g. a degree, or certificate), or a competency (the required knowledge and skills), or sometimes experience. In other words, we examine a person’s qualifications.

When my wife, who’s a recruiter, qualifies a candidate, she assesses him/her based on criteria such as the person’s experience, personality, skills, etc. She basically asks, “Does this candidate have the qualifications to fit into the role or the company?” And you and I know that in the context of job hunting, one’s qualifications matter. What we state in our resume – our qualifications – could be a deciding factor as far as getting a job interview is concerned.

Likewise, when I was a consultant, the same principles apply. During the process of bidding for a job or contract, we would be asked about our qualifications, both the consultants’ as well as the firm’s – “What’s our related past experience? Are we credible?”. Our qualifications, as demonstrated by our past engagements, matter because they serve as an indicative measure of whether we are capable of successfully delivering any future related work.

As much as qualifications matter within the business world, it also does matter outside of it, say, in the context of relationships – “Does this person “qualify” to be my boyfriend, girlfriend, spouse?”. What are we looking for here? We look for compatibility, common interests, chemistry, physical attributes, etc. Or simply all of the above! (Gone were the old days where relationships and marriages were arranged and we had to just accept it and make it work.) Qualifications do carry some weight in this world we live in.

But here’s the question for us to ponder – if the world we live in judges us by the qualifications we have (or do not have), does the same apply to God when he calls us into action? In other words, does God also look for certain qualifications in us before we can serve Him? (Note: the question here is not about whether there are qualifications for us to be saved, but to serve Him.)

Let’s look at this particular passage from Scipture - 2 Corinthians 3:1-6:

Paul tells the church at Corinth that he, together with Silas, Timothy, etc., all whom have been to Corinth, that they are servants from God (2 Cor 2:17). They are God’s instruments, appointed by God Himself, and they do not need any letter of recommendation from anyone to confirm that (2 Cor 3:1). Instead they have something better – the transformed lives of the Corinth church, which by itself, is a truly remarkable “letter of recommendation” from God Himself. They are public, living examples and outcomes from Paul’s ministry, for all others to see and therefore believe in Him (2 Cor 3:2-3). They are Paul’s credentials. His qualifications.

1Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from you? 2You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everybody. 3You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

4Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God. 5Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. 6He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

However, while Paul is quick and confident in proclaiming this, he also explains that these qualifications have not been achieved through mere human efforts. Rather, these qualifications have been bestowed on them by God (2 Cor 3:4-6). God, our God, has made Paul’s ministry competent. God called them to service, and made them qualified. When God calls us to serve Him, He makes us qualified as well. Amen.

There was a farmer in South Africa who lived with his family among the Zulus. Like many of us, he was once a non-believer, but he eventually accepted Christ at a Sunday service during which he was convicted by the Holy Spirit. Since then, his life changed. God began to use him, first in small, seemingly trivial things. For example, he would tell this farmer, “Angus, I want you to share about Me with the next 3 people you meet.” Of course, this farmer felt embarrassed to speak about his new-found faith to his friends, who were non-believers.

As he begins to walk, day-by-day, with God, God also began to increase his faith in Him. When he was fighting a bush fire in the middle of a drought, the farmer told his servant, “We should pray for rain now because God answers prayers.” The servant, being a Zulu non-believer, dismissed that suggestion. But the farmer prayed as though he was praying for his life (in a way, he was because the bush fire was on the verge of consuming the entire forest of trees). God heard, and rain soon came pouring down... in the middle of a drought!

God used that single miraculous encounter for the farmer to start sharing about his faith in the Almighty. This is the true story of Angus Buchan, which is beautifully portrayed in the movie, “Faith Like Potatoes.” I’m sure that each of us would have our own stories to share about how we came to serving Him.

When God calls us into service, He judges us not by our qualifications. In fact, he may call upon the “weak” or under-qualified so that the “strong” may acknowledge Him. For He says, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." (2 Cor 12:9).

To put it simply:

Anyone can serve God.

In fact, everyone should serve God when He calls.

All of us serve Him together in our own distinctive, unique way.

(That’s why He gives each of us different spiritual gifts. What’s yours?)

In order to serve Him effectively, though, we need to meet His standards – yes, God does spell out, in quite specific terms, the requirements for all of us who are His ambassadors on earth – a subject for future discussion.