The Credentials for Discipleship

Today I received word that two of my friends, Angela and Abbey, passed their Boards and are officially registered nurses. After four years of nursing school, two years of clinical work, and countless hours of studying and reviewing for the exam, they finally received the credentials they needed to become practicing nurses. This news not only forced me to recall how I need to sign up to take the licensure exam for Social Work, but also got me thinking about the credentials for discipleship.

Whether you are a physician, a nurse, a social worker, a priest, a Rita's Italian ice employee, a mailman, or a mall employee, there were certain requirements needed for you to get hired or to maintain your position. Though some occupations certainly require licensure or further education, every occupation that exists requires some expectation on the part of the employee.

And I was thinking about that in regard to our role as disciples of Jesus. In Matthew 4:18-22, we hear the beautiful Gospel passage in which Jesus calls his first disciples. The beautiful thing about this passage is that in it, we do not hear about Jesus interviewing people or looking at resumes or posting job listings. We don't read a detailed job description requiring certain educational attainment, a list of previous employees, or a question regarding the criminal record of the person. Jesus doesn't say "Come, follow me if you got a 33 on your ACT" or "Come, follow me because your internship was more impressive than anyone else's". He simply says, "Come, follow me". No additional condition required.

But the truth is that sometimes we do not see ourselves as worthy of following Christ. We look at our sinful past and see these sins as ways we are unqualified to be disciples. We look at the ways we have failed in the past and think that Jesus could not possibly desire us. But I am reminded of a passage in a book called Blessed are the Bored in Spirit where author Mark Hart writes this list about those who God has called throughout history: "Jacob was a liar. David was an adulterer. Abraham was too old. Timothy had ulcers. Peter was a coward. Moses was a stuttering murderer. Mark was undependable. Hosea married a prostitute. Naomi was widowed, as was Ruth. Jonah was disobedient. Miriam was a gossip. Thomas doubted. Elijah suffered from depression. Paul was a murderer, too. John the Baptist dressed funny. Martha was a worrier. Zacchaes was very short. Mary was only a teenager. Lazarus was dead".

History shows that God does not always call the perfect or the the most qualified. He doesn't demand that we have the most charismatic personality or the best leadership qualities. As we saw in the Gospel passage, Jesus doesn't require personal references, he requires personal openness. Jesus doesn't ask questions about our history, but overlooks the unquestionable things of our past. He is more interested in our hearts than our intelligence and more concerned about our willingness than our qualifications.

Today, let us thank our loving Savior for calling us to follow him. Let us thank him for his ever-merciful heart that continues to seek us even when we fail to seek him. And let us respond to his invitation to follow him and seek the healing and fulfillment he offers.