Something Greater Than the Polish of Man
June 3rd, 2015 by martinpuryear
Have you ever been on a committee whose task was to find a new pastor for your church? I would like to invite you to join us on our pulpit search committee for about five minutes. We are looking over the resumes of two candidates and watching the videos of their preaching.
According to the resume of the first man, we read that he won a medal at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich. He served in the United States Army as a Green Beret from 1973 – 1976. He later attended seminary where he earned his doctorate in Old Testament languages in 1984. He is married with two grown children and three grandchildren. He has written three books on church growth. And he would be coming to us from a church with 1,200 members where he served as senior pastor.
As we watch this first candidate’s video, his grammar and articulation are perfect. His delivery is flawless.
According to the resume of the second man, we read that he was born with a birth defect and, as a result, has lived his life confined to a wheelchair. He attended Bible College where he received a bachelor’s degree in Bible in 1984. Since then, he has served as an assistant pastor in four churches, mostly smaller churches in the mid-west. He had been married; but his wife died suddenly when they were both in their early 30s. They had no children.
As we watch this second man’s video, we notice that he has a slight stutter. His Biblical understanding is very good. But there is something else in this second man’s preaching that was absent from the first man’s preaching … and that is what catches our attention.
The first man obviously believed what he was saying; we could tell from the tone of his voice. But there was more than mere emotion behind the second man’s preaching. Although he was not an energetic speaker, there was something that permeated his words, something that drew us in to listen with absorbing interest.
The first man had credentials … and zeal. But the second man had something more than credentials, something more than zeal. Saturating his words was power, a power generated by the Spirit of God.
How could a crippled man … with only a little Bible training … with limited exposure to large crowds … and who spoke with a stutter … how could this man possibly radiate more power than an Olympic medalist, a Green Beret, a Doctor of Theology, and a published author?
Perhaps the power behind his words has something to do with not having healthy legs, with not having the continued companionship of a beloved wife he greatly misses, with not having experience before large crowds, with not having clear speech. Perhaps weakness itself has prepared the second man to be and do what we as a church are about to ask our future pastor to be and do. Extended pain has cultivated within the heart of this broken man a deep and abiding dependence on almighty God. Crushing sorrows have prepared him well for the responsibilities of a caring shepherd.
We, as members of the pulpit search committee, choose the second man. Why? Because we decided that the pastor we call is going to need a lot more than the credentials of man to be what we need for him to be, and do what we need for him to do. We decided that
The power of God is more important than the polish of man
We are about to watch this truth unfold through the life of Moses, an extraordinary life with three very distinct phases:
the exalted life of Moses between the ages of early childhood and 40 years,
the broken life of Moses between the ages of 40 and 80,
and the fruitful life of Moses between the ages of 80 and 120.
From this life we can learn a very important truth: that before one can bear spiritual fruit, he must first be pruned by the hand of God.
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(To the readers in the believing community: I would greatly appreciate your prayers, that the Master-Teacher would be the Author of these writings.)