Presented today for your daily devotion entertainment are some of my most embarrassing moments in ministry. It is only through God's mercy that most of these moments occurred during the brief window of time after the heyday of America's Funniest Home Videos and before the popularity of YouTube. Things might have turned out a lot different for me if some of these moments had ever reached a wider audience. Nonetheless, and in no particular order, here we go...
- Unable to find starting pitch for "Low In the Grave He Lay" during Easter sunrise service, 1995.
- Voice cracked while singing duet with future wife; future wife laughs hysterically, 1995.
- Voice cracked while singing duet with wife; wife laughs hysterically, 1996.
- Hairstyle described by well-known Christian drama team, Custer & Hoose as "vaguely ethnic looking" to potential employer, 1998.
- Voice cracked while singing duet with wife; wife laughs hysterically, 1999 (notice disturbing pattern).
I'm providing this timeline of shame to demonstrate that a lot of times ministry happens through our inabilities, not our abilities. Even though we attempt to offer God our best work, our irrepressible incompetence is eventually revealed. The Bible shows us the reason that God wants to use each of us in spite of our incompetence:
Therefore, since through God's mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart...For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us (2 Corinthians 4:1, 6-7 NIV). If we always performed perfectly, the success of our service to God might be attributable to our talent or skill; however, since we seem to have an inexhaustible list of ways to embarrass ourselves, the credit for any success in ministry goes only to God. Our hesitation to use our abilities in ministry often stems from our fear of failure or embarrassment. Once we realize that God calculates our dumb mistakes and incompetence into his formula for success, we no longer have that excuse. Let's get over ourselves and serve God, confident that he receives glory not only from our well-polished abilities but also from our spectacular incompetence.
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Today's Prayer:
Dear God, forgive me for the pride that keeps me from attempting great things for you. You know that it is only my fear of failure and embarrassment that keeps me from using my abilities for you. As you show me my SHAPE for ministry, make me willing to be humiliated for your sake since Jesus willingly faced the humiliation of the cross for my sake.
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Lee Barnett serves as FBC's Minister of Worship. You can see his current, hopefully non-ethnic looking hairstyle here.
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