The Unqualified

Over my years as a school teacher, there have been a few times that I have been part of a committee charged with hiring a new teacher.  So there is a process.  The position is posted internally and in the papers and through the various state universities.  Once resumes come in, the committee reviews them and decides on a small number to interview.  And usually from that group the new teacher is chosen.

One part of the process that I find remarkable is the number of people who are not qualified for the position but decide to apply anyway.  In that stack of resumes there will inevitably be several who do not meet the basic requirements for the job that were laid out in the posting.  Some are not certified teachers.  Some are certified teachers in other subjects.  Some were certified teachers at one time, but since have let that expire.  We never contact these people, but I am tempted.  I want to know what their plan is.  I want to ask, "If we gave you the job, what then?  You can't legally do the job,"

In many professions, the problem is not that the person doing the job is unqualified, it is just that there are a lot of unqualified people giving input to the process.  And it gets even worse when those unqualified people are the politicians making laws on subjects they know little about.

I read an article last year involving road construction in Michigan.  The politicians put into their law that they wanted the roads to be built to last longer, so that they would be less expensive in the long run.  The problem is that they would be much more expensive in the short run and their funding did nothing to address THAT.  

As a public school teacher I could go on and on about poorly thought out legislation by people who think that they know about schools because they were once a student, but it isn't necessary.  Most people have a similar experience for their own profession.  It seems that the unqualified rule the world.

For Christians the subject of being qualified for the mission at hand is easy.  We are each completely and uniquely unqualified for the calling that has been laid before us.  From God's perspective we are that person who wants to reduce the speed limit in town but doesn't think of the resulting traffic jams.  We are the person who calls in the IT department when our computer is unplugged.  We are the parent screaming at the coach because our kid isn't starting every game.

That's us.

God has a mission.  God has a plan for each of our lives.  We are called to love one another and let the grace of God shine through us.  And we are unqualified for the task.  We can do our best, but our best is still a completely inadequate version of the love and grace God has shown to us.

Watch this clip from Pastor Chris.

God does not call the qualified, he qualifies the called.  God enables imperfect people to carry out His mission, even when those people spend a great deal of time making suggestions to God on how He could be doing His job better.