“But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the
wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which
are strong”
This morning I had coffee with a friend of mine who gives new
meaning to this verse. Jennifer has a
past that is somewhat less that pure as the wind driven snow. In fact there was a time in her life when it
would be hard to imagine anyone less suitable for a life of ministry. That is all I’m going to say about that (I
will provide contact information so if you like you can invite Jennifer to tell
you her story). It would be foolish to
think God would use some one like her, but He has, indeed He does more with her
than with a lot of premium people.
Jennifer leads a ministry to women who are coming out of prison,
addition and/or various dysfunctions.
She has an impact on the lives of people disproportionate to her
upbringing, experience, or education. As
we (Jennifer her husband John, my wife Lorie, and I) talked this morning I was
a bit overwhelmed by what God has done, is doing and may yet do in the life of
this one person.
As we talked about the joys and frustrations of their ministry (John
is all in) I kept wanting to ask one question.
It is the kind of question that I love to ask in an interview or
conversation and then share in some way or another. That question is “What is the secret to the
success of your ministry?” But I the
answer was obvious. I have seen the
answer in the lives of other heroes of ministry. I saw it in the life and ministry of a man
who ran a crisis pregnancy center in a pretty rough neighborhood. I saw in an older minister that ran VBS
programs in the public housing projects of Atlanta. I saw the same secret in a preacher that at
the age of 83 still preaches and leads more sinner to Christ than men half his
age and twice his energy. You may have
seen the answer in your heroes of faith.
It is not that these heroes have a profound creative theological
perspective, nor an advanced degree. It
is not their mastery of Hebrew, Greek, German or a dialect spoken only by a few
thousand people. It is not their ability
to preacher sermons that knock your socks off.
Nothing wrong with any of these things and most of the heroes can do
many or some of these. I have known people
who could do almost all of these and were ministry duds. Here is what Jennifer and every other hero I
have ever known had, and they have it in common.
They have all had a profound, dynamic and active love for God and
for people. As we talked this morning
there was a story of a person whose life was a shambles but found their way to
grace. I looked and Jennifer’s eyes were
filling with tears. They didn’t over
flow on to her face. But a story of
God’s grace meeting a sinner is always a profoundly moving moment for a hero of
faith.
Here is the take away. We
can all grow in our love for God and people.
I will never be a great theologian; I just don’t run that deep. I will never be a master of languages; I
failed freshman English twice. I will
never be able to preach like Dave Stone or Andy Stanley; I stumble over my
words and never realize it. (I once,
speaking of an out of balance ceiling fan, said, “Could someone turn that fan
off. It’s whacking off is bothering
me. Yes I said that, at least it was
during the announcements.) What I can do
is love God, and love people. I can grow
in that love. If I want to be like the
people I most admire and respect there is a simple pattern to follow: Love God
and Love People.
For more information about Jennifer and her ministry follow this
link: https://www.facebook.com/herhopegainesville/?fref=ts
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