The second pericope of seven from Clear.
Chapter Two — Confession
Where did we get the idea that we have to be perfect to lead?
Have you ever taken the time to examine the lives of the people that God used in the Text? A mötley crüe if ever there was one. In fact, the man that was designated after God’s own heart had a fetish for virgin flesh. So much so that on his death bed his physicians attempted to revive him by having young virgins go to bed with him. He was also a murderer, an adulter and much more.
Noah was a drunk. Moses disobeyed God and had an attitude about it, dashing his chance to enter into the promised land. Rahab was a prostitute. Samson was a womanizer. Job felt sorry for himself. Solomon—the wisest man in the world—had some sort of sick addiction to women and just couldn’t stop himself from saying, “I do.” Jonah went AWOL, then got ticked off at God for forgiving Ninavah anyway. Jeremiah was a cry-baby. Hosea married a whore.
Matthew held orgies at his house and—according to some scholars—even had the audacity to invite Jesus to the party. John the Baptist was offended by Jesus’ not rescuing him from prison. Martha doubted Jesus. Her sister Mary was lazy and also doubted Jesus. Peter doubted Jesus and only threw one net out when Jesus told him to throw out several. Judas had a horrible attitude and questioned Jesus’ motives, then planned His arrest, but he was still one of the twelve closest people to Jesus.
Back to Peter, who first attacked a man, inflicting bodily harm, then—in his willingness to give his all for Jesus—he denied Him three times. He took the Lord’s name in vain; yet he was still chosen to preach the inaugural sermon for the 1st Century Community at the Feast of Pentecost. Later in his life, Peter didn’t want to reach beyond the Hebrew race, then—after he finally accepted the fact that God could save non-Jews—he wanted Gentiles to convert to Judaism in order to demonstrate that they were true followers of Christ. Paul, the writer of the majority of the New Testament, orchestrated the mass murder of the followers of Jesus. He tried to preach when he was a bit full of himself and failed miserably. He even argued with Peter about Peter’s apparent spiritual racism. And don’t forget his thorn.
The Bible is filled with these vivid stories of imperfection and many more. Are you starting to get the picture?
From this glowing list of candidates we could determine that the only qualification that God is really looking for in a person is availability and a pulse. It is men acting with human ideals that require these pristine oracles of God’s goodness. God doesn’t want perfection and neither do His followers.
So why do we keep hiding?
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