Can You See Me, Now?Paraugs

Becoming Visible

Childhood recess can leave a mark. Where I grew up, unless your teeth were in jeopardy or you broke a bone, the adults didn’t pay attention to fairness, feelings, or failings. It was the kind of environment where thicker skins developed and existing hurts became more ingrained. Exclusion from a game with the popular girls, vicious name-calling, or the humiliation of being the last resort when teams are divided could be painful pricks, especially when reinforced through the years. Maybe you can relate. The dread of recognizing all you are not can be debilitating to the point we find ourselves in the corner, once again, questioning God’s purpose for our lives.

From the opening lines of his book, James, if he had any, left that dread on the playground. In one sentence, the man declared his clear sense of God’s purpose for his life.

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, James 1:1

The victory is not making a smart choice about whether to become a plumber as opposed to the expected carpenter, but knowing to whom he belongs and how that should play out in his life. Paul describes this knowing to the Corinthians, asking them to consider who God calls (1 Corinthians 1:28-30). You see, these individuals leaned toward obscurity. Here, Paul rightly reminds them of God’s strange work of the Gospel in them so that Jesus might get the glory rather than man.

You can see the potential problems if we were left in charge. The prettiest people would get gifts and blessings. The smartest would be privy to the truth. We would reserve all other offices for those possessing charisma, leaving the rest of humanity out of luck.

Thankfully, it’s not my Gospel. It’s not the Gospel Paul preaches, nor the one James writes about. God chooses the weak, those with no pedigree, who are unworthy of notice. Non-essentials. The nothings of this world. He chooses them on purpose. There is room for you and me.

Has God found you in all your obscurity, like James? Your God specializes in calling the things that are not as if they are. Although James holds a place of prominence, leading the Christian church in Jerusalem, he calls himself the servant of God and Jesus Christ. What if you and I took on this same calling? Consider one difference you could make today toward this goal.