Am I "Good Enough"?

Am I good enough?  Ah yes…the million dollar question that we all face from time to time in ministry.  Because let’s face it, ministry is hard and can be at times so demoralizing.  We’ve all had our moments where we’ve probably just felt like a complete and utter failure. You know what I’m talking about. Whether it’s the kid in the back of the faith formation class who just can’t shut his mouth and seem to stay in his chair for literally 5 seconds, to the girl who won’t put her cell phone down and can’t seem to understand that shorts cannot be more than three inches above the knee no matter how many times you tell her.  We’ve all probably had that kid who shows up to youth group because “his parents made him go” and now he switching small groups on you so he can “be with his friends”.  And then of course there’s Confirmation prep…for goodness sake do not even get me started on that.

Beyond the disciplinary items, we probably also fall into those moments that we are simply blindsided with a question that we do not have the answer to or have an answer to a question but the answer might offend or anger someone.  Whatever it may be, we have probably all encountered issues that shake our confidence, lead to doubt, and ultimately have us questioning whether or not we are in the right place and “good enough” to do ministry.

So are you good enough? The answer of course…

No.

Wait, what?  Isn’t this blog supposed to be positive and uplifting? Isn’t this blog about Christianity and if we are good Christians then certainly we will be good enough?

While those questions are valid, my answer still remains the same.  We are not good enough… or at least not on our own. Yes we may succeed at times and yes we may be liked by some, but at the end of the day we will come up short, we will have enemies in some form or another, and we will fail.

Yes that is correct. We will fail. This is a reality because of our human nature. One of the first decisions ever made by our first human parents was that of failure and as a result, we have a fallen nature that exposes us to sin and failure.  We all sin.  We all turn from God which separates us from Him as well as our brothers and sisters in Christ. We are all imperfect.

But here’s the good news.  God doesn’t care that we aren’t good enough.  In fact, He personally hand picks us despite our failures and shortcomings.  Think about it.  Every person He has ever chosen was a failure.  Every person He has ever chosen had a shortcoming in some way.  Here’s proof:

Adam – partook of the forbidden fruit destining all of mankind to a life of sin and death.  Yet God made him the father of all humans and promised to redeem us. (Genesis 3)

Abraham – conceived a child out of wedlock (Ishmael) with his servant Hagar.  God made Him the Father of our faith. (Genesis 16)

The 12 sons of Jacob – They tortured their youngest brother and threw him into slavery.  God made them the 12 tribes of Israel. (Genesis 37)

Moses – He murdered an Egyptian.  Yet God called Him to free the Israelites from Egypt and lead them to the promise land.  Not to mention that He also revealed Himself to Moses in the Burning Bush and entrusted him with the 10 Commandments. (Exodus 2, 20)

David – He slept with the wife of his best friend and then had him sent to battle and killed.  Yet God made a covenant with Him and promised that the savior would come through his lineage. (2 Samuel 11)

Peter – He denied Christ 3 times yet He became the first pope. (John 18)

Paul – He persecuted Christians yet he became the greatest missionary in the church.  (Acts 9)

I could go on and on with various figures from Scripture as well as just about any saint.  The point is that God calls us not because we are perfect or even good enough or worthy enough of Him.  Rather, He calls us because He loves us and will glorify our failures through His grace.

We are not perfect.  In fact, we are far from it.  Yet somehow in our human weakness and failure, God’s glory is at work. “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness. (2 Corinthians 12:9)” It is through our shortcomings that we are made perfect.  It is through our weakness that we are made strong.  It is through failure that we succeed.  There is grace in failure if we are willing to accept it.  This is exactly why Christ came and did what He did.  He did not have to become a human, suffer, and die.  However, He did anyway because He loved us and desired for us to dwell in eternal salvation with Him forever.  He allowed Himself to "fail" so that He could enter into our failure.  He did this not so that He could simply be next to us in our darkness.  But rather, He did it so He could enter into our condition and pull us up to His glory through the resurrection.

Today, let us not worry about whether we are good enough.  Rather, let us embrace our weakness and unite it to the weakness of Christ on the cross so that we may die with Him and rise with Him in glory.

“I have the strength for everything through him who empowers me.” – Philippians 4:13