Divine Competence

2 Corinthians 3:1-18
“Not that we are competent of ourselves to claim anything as coming from us; our competence is from God, who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of letter but of spirit…” (2 Corinthians 3:5-6a). These words are a great comfort to me. They remind me to give thanks to God for all that I am able to accomplish. They remind me to do my best in any situation and to trust God to bless the outcome. They remind me that it is not I who achieve, but God who achieves through me. Paul’s words free me to worry less about whether I can do something and instead to give thought to how something might be done.

The work of ordained ministers has changed in recent decades. While preaching, teaching, and pastoral care were long considered the primary concerns of clergy, we now find ourselves dealing as much with staff development, budgets, endowments, boards of agencies, volunteer recruitment, fund raising, facilities, in short, administration. There are always plenty of reasons to stay in my office even though I feel like my work should take me into the world meeting needs and touching lives. It really seems that few people can do all that the ministry requires today. But not all ministry is done by “ministers.” Much of what the church is about is best done by lay people, those with the skills and talents needed for such tasks. It is, I believe, a matter of matching the person with the right talents to the job that needs doing. Even then, though, even when we get people pointed in the right direction, it is by the grace of God that they succeed in their work.

Each of us, no matter our skill level, is dependent on God to give us the insight and wisdom, the talent and determination, the skill and imagination necessary to act in faithful obedience. “Our competence is from God,” said Paul, which means not only that we give God glory for what we are able to do, but that we should never waver in our determination, never falter in the face of difficult tasks, because until we try we will never know what God has given us the ability to accomplish. And there is no telling what the Spirit of God will lead us to do next.

Prayer: Lord, only you can give us competence, only you can give us what we need to succeed. Help us, then, to be about your work in the world. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

On Being Competent

2 Corinthians 3:1-18

At a worship service on the day I was to graduate from seminary, The Rev. Dr. David Bartlett made a profound observation. “You are all good,” he said of the students gathered, “but only God can make you good enough.” That comment has stuck with me over the years in part because it is so freeing. Ultimately it is not up to me to succeed in the ministry. If I do it is because God has given me the talents and the skills to do so. Only God can make me—or any of us—good enough to do what God is calling us to do.

Paul would agree. “…(O)ur competence is from God,” he writes, “who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of letter but of the spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:5-6). God had called Paul and his fellow believers to a new form of ministry, one based on the new thing God was doing in Jesus Christ. But God had also given them the tools they needed to succeed in the tasks at hand. Only God could make them good enough.

Nor is this claim reserved for ministers. It applies to all who seek to answer God’s call in their lives. Whatever it is that God has sent you to do, whatever role it is that you play, whatever part of the whole you represent, it is only God who can make you competent to carry it out. For this reason we do not lose heart. God’s grace abounds, and by that grace God’s ministry is accomplished, not because we ourselves are able to do so, but because God alone has made us good enough.

Prayer: Lord, help us to do that which you have called us to do. In Jesus’ name. Amen.