I am painfully aware of how, in my own strength, I fall short every day as a disciple of Christ.  So what is it that makes me think that I can do anything to further the gospel of my Lord?  How can I be effective in ministering to others?  How can I do anything to benefit Christ's kingdom?

I have struggled with these thoughts and questions for months.  Finally, I think I am beginning to understand: Christ commanded ALL of us to go and make disciples.  What qualifies me for this task is the fact that I was chosen by God to be an object of His mercy, and through the imputation of Christ's righteousness I am now declared righteous.  There is no other qualification required.  As a matter of fact, if I believed that I possessed some great gift and felt that I brought my own value to the field, then I might be more of a hindrance than a help!

I am reminded of Exodus 20 when God instructed Moses to build an altar for the sacrifices.  God told him to use only stones that had not been hewn.  In other words, rough, raw, jagged rocks that had not been smoothed, cleaned up or polished by man.  I suggest that this presents a picture of us.  God does not desire us to come to His service only after we have removed our rough edges, washed away our dirt and polished our facade to a fine luster.  No, He calls us to come to Him, with all our coarseness and dust and imperfections.  He desires to be the One who will fit us for His use.  If we are living stones, being built into a spiritual house, then He is the Master Builder, and He will shape and smooth and polish us to suit His own purpose.

Another thought:  Just as our salvation is wholly dependant upon Christ, and any addition of works or merit is unacceptable to God, I believe that our success in the making of disciples is also wholly dependant upon Christ.  By myself, I cannot persuade people to follow Christ.  I cannot cause them to love Him and desire to live a holy life.  People will not become disciples because of my example.  Yet, Christ has commanded me to go and make disciples... does this make sense to you?  When we want to "train" people for a task, don't we look for the best, most qualified person?  Don't we want someone who has mastered the material and who can set a perfect example for others?  This seems like a winning plan to me.  BUT, "the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men...not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called.  But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the mighty." (1 Cor. 1:25-27)  God says He chooses the weak, the 'unqualified', the least of us to do His work, "so that no flesh should glory in His presence - He who glories,let him glory in the Lord!" (1 Cor. 1:29-31)  One reason He chooses to use us is because whenever someone like me can have any apparent success in the kingdom, then all the credit and all the glory must go to the Lord!  If I feel ill-equipped and unable to contribute anything useful to ministry, then it can only be Jesus who draws people to Himself and transforms their lives into a beautiful testimony of His goodness.