Our Competence or God's?

I get newsletters from a lot of different missionaries around the world. Recently I was reading one from missionaries in Turkey. I was very touched and challenged by a very honest and humble comment they made. They said that they often feel inadequate for the work they have to do. Now in the corporate world, this kind of comment might cause your boss to start looking for a replacement for you. But in the Kingdom of God, this is exactly where our Boss wants us to be. It's not that God wants us to be lacking in confidence or be incompetent, it's just that He needs to be the source our confidence and competence.

"Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant..."

2 Corinthians 3:4-6

It's so easy, even in "ministry" work, to operate in our own strength and trust in our abilities to accomplish the work God has for us to do. We can make some really great plans and on the surface seem to be doing good Kingdom work. But consider this. Did Israel weep and return to the Lord because Nehemiah put on a state of the art multi-media presentation with a few out of context, feel good Bible verses included (Neh. 8)? Did Moses go to Red Sea parting school? Was it the linguistic talents of the apostles that enabled them to speak in foreign tongues and cause 3 thousand Jews to believe and be baptized in a single day? Was it Peter or Paul's brilliant idea to include the Gentiles in the church? Does the New Testament teach that the internal health of a church or the success of it's ministries depend on how big and stable it's budget is?

I'm getting carried away, but a few more examples. A preacher could have a doctorate in theology and be a charismatic speaker but still be a false teacher. A "worship leader"could have a nice voice, great guitar chops and a catchy song with some Christianese phrases but still not be leading worship that is in spirit and truth. A well-meaning Christian could could share a gospel message with their friend, being sure to include the 4 spiritual laws and having a lot of good cases for Christ, but only the Holy Spirit can lead a person to genuine repentance and faith.

Seriously though, I'm not saying developing and using skills won't help the ministries we're called to. I'm not saying technology can't be an enhancement to worshiping or to sharing the gospel (though it definitely can be a hindrance too). I'm not saying that we don't need money to fund some of the things God wants us to do. But we have to be careful that these things don't take the place of us looking to God's Spirit to direct our plans, empower us to do whatever tasks are before us (whether we've had prior training or not), or work in people's hearts.

I'm really challenged to pay attention to how much I'm relying on my skills, ideas, reputation, etc. to do the work I believe God has called me to, versus how much I'm truly depending on and looking for the Holy Spirit to move in those situations. God help me to do more of the latter.