Ron Hutchcraft Ministries - Not Just for the Chosen Few

I'm afraid that the majority of well-meaning believers (men especially) have drawn the faulty conclusion that they really don't have what it takes to be a tool God can use for His purposes. Grant it that American Christianity has, for many years, exalted the professional minister to the point that the average Christ-follower feels that all they can really do is cut the checks and let the professional do their thing.

What a tragedy! And a greater tragedy is found in the instances where the professional minister teaches, either directly or indirectly, that ministry only happens when they are in the middle of the action. No, God has placed a very special calling on each child of God, and He fully expects us to identify, develop, and carry out that calling.

But how? How do I as an ordinary guy who is attempting to follow Jesus find out how God wants to use my life in specific ways to impact the lives of others? And why should I even care?

It begins by first realizing that you are not a spiritual failure. For the most part, the message of church today has identified believers as spiritual failures if we are not going around leading people to faith in Christ, praying with our wife every night, leading our family spiritually, giving above the tithe and serving on every conceivable ministry team that exists in the church. There is certainly nothing wrong with these things in and of themselves. In fact, spiritual maturity will eventually lead you into living out much of what I just mentioned as examples. But as I look at the life of Jesus, He didn't spend His time focusing on what people weren't. Instead, He lovingly and compassionately and truthfully led people by the hand to their next stage of the journey. This is discipleship.

Let's set the weighy lists aside for a minute and understand, As I said in my blog called "Links in the Chain," that God's ultimate idea is for us to simply be faithful links in the chain of someone else's spiritual journey, someone who we have built a trust with. That might include sharing the Gospel with them, but it also means God can use your kindness, the example of your marriage, how you relate to your kids, and any number of other things to shine His light through you to a hurting world.

Just this morning while talking with a gas station attendant, I was made aware that she is very concerned about her 79-year-old mom who is coming down with a seasonal sickness. I sensed God nudge me to ask her if I could just stop and say a quick prayer for her mom. The attendant was very open and appreciative of this. I didn't share the Gospel or read her a bunch of verses or invite her to church, but I got to live out my relationship with Jesus in front of her by saying a simple, heart-felt and non-religious prayer for her mom.

We begin by recognizing that we may have bought into a faulty belief system that writes us off as spiritual failures if we are not matching up to the list of "good Christian characteristics" that mostly man has made up from the pulpit. Then you can come to internalize the following truths about your life that you might not have heard in a while, if ever:

• God can't wait to use your life!
• There is nothing you can do to cause God to love you any more or any less than He does right now!
• He sings over you!
• He is praying for you by name!
• God wants to use the very things that you thought disqualified you from being used by Him and turn them into something that brings Him glory! He will use the good and the bad.
• Your ordinariness is the very thing that qualifies you to be a powerful vessel in the hand of God!
• The goal of your life should be to develop a lifestyle of worshipping Jesus, not set out to attain some ministry position somewhere that you think is noteworthy.
• It is up to God how He wants to use you; it's up to you to give Him your yes to whatever He decides!
• God can't wait to use your life! Will you let Him? The rewards are literally out of this world!

Let's get rid of a faulty belief system and let's start at square one - worshipping at the feet of Jesus and submitting to Him our spiritual resume, as good or as stained as we think it may be.