You See Your Calling

We live in an age of the celebrity. What celebrities say influences the minds of a vast majority of people. The celebrity may not have any real wisdom about what they are speaking to, but many will follow their ideas as if they were geniuses or gods/goddesses

That makes me think of King Herod when he spoke the people cried out that it was the voice of a God. Nice praise, but then he died before their eyes struck down by the true God.

I am afraid that the Church has also become followers of celebrities and even when they are found to be heretical or fall in some way people do not turn away from these celebrities continuing to make them rich and arrogant.

The church has also bowed to the idol of education demanding numerous degrees and certifications. I have seen “job” requirements that none of the Apostles, except maybe Paul could fulfill though his time in jail would have disqualified him as well as his appearance and not being erudite when he spoke. Indeed, Paul said that the Gentiles seek knowledge while the Jews require signs. In the current culture even the Gentiles require signs.

Yet, Jesus picked only one highly trained theologian and the rest were mostly fishermen and tradesmen. Many of the Old Testament prophets were not temple priests. Amos was not a prophet nor the son of a prophet. He was only a herdsman and a picker of sycamore fruit until God sent him as a prophet. Micaiah stood against four hundred of the King’s prophets. Very little is known about him unlike Isaiah or Jeremiah, yet God used him.

1 Cor 1:26  For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: 

Paul tells us to look around the Body and see what makes up the Body Of Christ.

Not many wise after the flesh and for the folks in those situations, thankfully he did not say not any. Yet, when we look for various forms of leadership or to fill any place of ministry we seek for the highly educated, erudite and folks with charisma. We have many wise men after the flesh, many mighty and many nobles instead of not many because man called and chose what he wanted.

A well known college representative told me that you cannot pastor in Texas unless you have a doctorate. He was wrong, but most churches want a doctor. When I was fresh out of Bible College I was told that I was too deep in the Word and yet they wanted a ThD/PhD. I said I would be speaking to people in China if I was already too deep with a BRE.

27  But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; 

28  And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: 

But God. So often, we have plans and then But God comes in and shows us His plan was not ours. When we press ahead anyway and it does not come out well we get a hissy fit and command God to fix it or blame Him because it broke.

Foolish is moros which is the root word for moron. Literally dull or stupid is who He chooses to confound, shame or dishonor the wise. So why are we so stuck on finding PhDs? Because we are Gentiles and we seek after knowledge, but we are missing the boat God sails. Again, Paul was one of the not many so there is room for some, but that is not the main army of God. An army has far more people that are not Generals or Captains.

Weak things literally without strength, sick, weak. That will frustrate some people in Redding, CA. God uses the sick? Indeed, some people who have died of various diseases encouraged more believers in their journey to Heaven through pain than those who were healthy. We often grow more in our pain than in our gain. Even if we are healthy, “who is sufficient?”

Base things the one without kin or lineage. The peasants, the fatherless or for some other reason despised and rejected by the culture. The ones who are nothing to bring to nothing the things that are.

My middle name comes from the Greek word for noble in this passage and if there is any nobility in my blood line I do not know about it and if there are any living they do not know me. My bloodline would be more like ignoble as most that I knew were poor or at best lower middle class and that is OK.