Unschooled, Ordinary Men

God chooses and uses the weak things of this world to accomplish supernatural results in ministry. I think we need to emphasize "supernatural," because there can also be "worldly" results in the church. Numbers. Programs. Energy. Fame. And so we look for leaders like Saul. Big. Impressive. Powerful. But God's model for a leader would be a young shepherd boy. Strength vs. weakness. God choose to use weakness... which is why a phrase jumped out at me this morning in Acts 4, where Peter and John had been arrested for preaching about the death and resurrection of Jesus after healing a crippled man. Verse 13 says that the high priest and his crew were amazed by Peter and John, especially the fact that they were "unschooled, ordinary men." However, they "took note that they had been with Jesus." Ah ha! That is the key. Their usefulness was not tied to their intellect, skill set or conference notebook collection. The results of their ministry were not natural, they were supernatural, and dependent upon the power of God to work in and through them. So may I, as a church planter, seek to live as an ultimately unschooled (especially in the context of God's cosmic knowledge, providence and wisdom), ordinary man... who has been with Jesus. Let me not lift up my degrees, but rather, the cross.

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