To: Jesus, son of Joseph
Carpenter’s Shop Nazareth,
Galilee
From: City Management Consultants
Jerusalem, Judaea
Thank you for submitting the resumes of the twelve men you have selected for management positions in your new organization. All of them have now taken our battery of tests which have been analyzed on our computer. In addition, each of the candidates has been interviewed by our psychologist and vocational aptitude consultant.
It is our opinion that most of your selections are lacking in background, ability and vocational aptitude for the type of venture you are undertaking.
Simon Peter is emotionally unstable and given to fits of temper. ‘ Andrew has no leadership qualities. The two sons of Zebedee, James and John, place personal interests above company loyalty. Thomas demonstrates a questioning attitude that would tend to undermine morale. We feel it our duty to tell you that Matthew has been blacklisted by the Jerusalem Better Business Bureau. Several of the candidates have radical leanings and all registered a high score on the manic-depressive scale.
One of your selections, however, does show great potential. He is a man of ability and resourcefulness, has a keen business mind and has contacts in high places. He is energetic, ambitious and highly motivated. We recommend Judas Iscariot as your controller and right-hand man.
We wish you every success in your enterprise.
God is not looking for extraordinary people to do an ordinary work. He is looking to use ordinary people to do an extraordinary work.
(Used with permission from “East Village Voice,” Long Beach, California.)
An insightful story
This story, which appeared in a recent local community-business newsletter and was evidently written by someone with more than a little Bible knowledge, not only has humor, it is also instructive.
First, it demonstrates what we know too well, that outward appearances do not count for much, and, in fact, may well be deceptive. The disciples were ordinary men with ordinary weaknesses and, no doubt, Judas did stand out among them because of his resourcefulness and cunning.
The story is also motivational and unusually wise, by the world’s standards, for the simple reason that it is based on spiritual truth. God does use the ordinary to perform the extraordinary. But the extraordinary that God has in mind is not the world’s work; it is the work of the gospel. “For ye see your calling brethren, how that not many wise after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called; 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” (I Cor. 1:26,27).
The potential is there
We are all like Peter and Andrew, James and John, and, God forbid, there are a few Judases among us, too. We may never quite have the lovely, Christ-like characters that the apostles developed in their later lives, but there is that within us which God values and wishes to have in His kingdom.
In fact, we are not ordinary in God’s sight at all. God already sees us as shining jewels. We are those fitly framed, lustrous stones which make up the walls and edifice of His spiritual temple.
Potential must be used
Talent, we know, is of no value unless it is used. Even the world recognizes that. If our stone’s brightness appears a little less radiant from time to time, perhaps we need to get out our emery cloth and do some polishing. Meaning, of course, that we should make use of our talents, however ordinary they may seem. What seems ordinary to us may be just what God can use in His service, right now. All that is required is that we make a conscious effort to do our best under the circumstances in which we find ourselves. God will take care of the rest.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One