To this point the blogs entries have been reflections on the first two chapters of the book. We have not received any comments so far, so i am assuming that part of that is because you are not sure how to respond or which part to respond to.
SO, from this point forward we will try to end each blog with a question, and we would really value hearing from you as you go on this journey with us. Sound good?
Let's start with a quote from the book. On page 20 Cymbala says:
“Jesus called fishermen, not graduates of rabbinical schools. The main requirement was to be natural and sincere. His disciples had to depend totally upon the Lord and his power.”
I have often wondered why Jesus went this route. Jesus was well respected as a Rabbi and could have easily recruited the 'best of the best' from the Harvard and Yale rabbinical schools of his day. But instead, he chose fishermen and common people.
Cymbala's observation is seen even clearer in an excerpt from Acts chapter 4. Following the death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, the early church exploded with a sense of mission, purpose, life, and power. People were being healed, racial and cultural barriers were being broken, people were experiencing spiritual and emotional transformation, and thousands called upon the name of Jesus.
The leaders of the synagogue didn't know how to make sense of it, so they had Peter and John brought before them to be questioned. Here is what the teachers of the law and the elders asked them:
"By what power or what name did you do this?"
Peter and John go on to answer the question and explain where this power surge originates - it is Jesus Christ. It is the one that was crucified but resurrected. It is the one that heals all who come into contact with the river of life.
The rulers and elders were perplexed, for they had never seen power like this. Here they knew the law inside and out, were widely considered to be the intellectual elite, and had devoted their lives to upright, religious behavior. But more than anything, here is what stunned them:
"They saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men."
The most stunning part to these religions leaders was not the power that flowed through the disciples. The most stunning part was not the healings that were occurring nor the mass professions of faith. What stunned the religious elite was the fact that the disciples were unschooled, and in every perceptible way ordinary.
For me, that leads to a pair of inevitable and crucial questions:
1.) Why does God consistently choose to show his power through those who in every way appear ordinary, instead of those with the impressive credentials and resumes?
2.) How do I/we position ourselves to reflect the posture of those God consistently calls?
--Daniel Hill
1 comment:
Well, I have certainly enjoyed reading this blog and reading Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire with the fabulous women in my small group. We have had some fairly lively conversation in regards to it. Also, thanks for posting questions. I agree that they might free people up to know how to respond.
I’m going to push back a little in an attempt to answer the questions.
First, I think you have to be careful how you define ordinary. From the context, it would appear that by ordinary you mean to say “unschooled” or without formal theological training – but I would argue that God has historically used the schooled and unschooled for his glory. The best and most striking example of this, perhaps, is the apostle Paul. I mean, he was a Pharisee, schooled in Jewish law and tradition; but, he also had the benefit of Roman citizenship and education in Tarsus. He was the elite of the elite and was mightily used of God.
I can definitely be prideful and prejudiced when it comes to someone’s abundance or lack of formal Bible training – but how reflective of their character is that in either case? Can we deny that God uses the famous and the unknown, the wise and the ridiculous, all for his glory? In this way, we are all ordinary and we are all extraordinary, as God sees fit to use us.
Being a theologian or a bible scholar does not necessarily make one dispassionate, anymore than being a fisherman or a tax collector made any of the disciples less or more worthy to be called.
I believe it is not so much about a person’s level of education as it is about his or her willingness to be used of God, which I think is what your second question aims to answer. The position that we all have to take is one of humility, openness and faith. We have to rest in the knowledge that God is all our good and that it is He and not us who moves mountains. And that it is by His grace that we are called to join him in the work of building His kingdom.
In reading this book, this is the one thing that has truly convicted me more than any other – that I try to rely so much on my own power to do things and I struggle and strive unnecessarily. My posture then should be one of reliance on God’s power, which I think is what the teachers of the law did not understand in their pride. They saw Peter and John as “ordinary” but Peter and John knew they were merely vessels, which, when you think about it, is such blissful freedom!
Sorry this is so long:)
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