Brokenness, the Path to GlorySýnishorn

God uses people, not methods

E.M. Bounds, in “Power Through Prayer” said, “The church is looking for better methods; God is looking for better men. . .What the church needs today is not more machinery or better machinery, not new organizations or more novel methods, but men whom the Holy Spirit can use . . .The Holy Ghost does not come on machinery but on men. He does not anoint plans, but anoints men.”

Many churches today run after the latest method. Let any church or Christian organization have a great revival, or be successful in any area of ministry, and watch what happens. They will be besieged by well-intentioned Christians who want to duplicate their methodology. These task-oriented Christ-followers then work to implement their imported programs, confident that God’s anointing rests upon the method. Then they cannot figure out what went wrong.

The Bible doesn’t give us much in the way of methodology, but it is full of God anointing men and women. It wasn’t Peter’s sermon that was anointed on the day of Pentecost, but Peter himself. Acts 2:38-39, 41: “Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.” Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.”

God anointed David (1 Samuel 17:45-47), not his sling when he took out Goliath. God didn’t anoint outdoor preaching, but George Whitfield and John Wesley. The same is true of Jonah, Esther, Dwight Moody, Charles G. Finney; and every other man or woman who has ever shaken the world for Jesus Christ.

It took Moses to lead the Exodus; George Whitfield to bring about the Great Awakening; Luther to spark the Reformation; Wesley to stir the Methodist revival, and Mother Theresa to bring loving ministry to the poor children in India.

Our modern-day brand of Christianity would look very strange to Moses who “regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ of greater value than the treasures of Egypt” (Hebrews 11:26). He would, in sadness, tell us that we have forsaken the faith of our fathers to pursue the glitz and flashiness of show. He would call us back to the theology of anointed, humble, and broken men and women of God.

We must raise up true men and women of God, who understand the ways of God; the ways He will always lead through brokenness. It is the only path that produces godly men and women.

Are you ready to be used by God, regardless of the cost? Is not the God who gave His life for you worth whatever it takes?