There is a trend in humanity that has invaded the church.  I find it difficult to understand, difficult to accept.  Let me see what you think.

We are a consumer society.  We want our products now, oh yeah, right now!   We want them cheap.  And we want them packaged properly, no danger to our children, no chance of them spilling their contents on us as we rush through the drive-through, no risk.

We want people the same way.  

We don’t want them smelly.  If they have baggage, we want it dealt with and tidied up.  We want them talented, beautiful and with some pretty impressive credentials.

Excellence is what we are striving for, right.

I’m not so sure.

I think we just want the finished product.  We want people serving who we don’t have to serve.  We want ministers who don’t need ministering.  We want teachers who have no need of being taught.  We want someone with a proven track record of discipling and growing others so that we don’t have to show them the way.

And, sometimes, we want that because we don’t know the way.

Can I remind us all that none of our completed projects?  The best of us are a hopeless mess.  We shouldn’t be shocked when leaders fall.  We shouldn’t wonder why when children are abused or money is embezzled.

Humans do that!

Even with credentials and talent and beauty…

Even with hearts that love Jesus, we still fall.

Ah, but a heart that loves Jesus, one that is yielded to Him, pursuing Him, even in failure, despite the risks and lack of glitter…

He can work with that.