Nobody from
Nowhere but Am I Willing to Contribute?
The words of Amos, one of the shepherds of Tekoa—the
vision he saw concerning Israel two years before the earthquake, when Uzziah
was king of Judah and Jeroboam son of Jehoash[a] was king of Israel. Amos 1:1 (NIV)
In the movie Emperor's Club Kevin Cline
portrays an instructor of Western civilization in a prestigious private school.
It is the first day of class, and about 30 high school boys, dressed in
matching red jackets, settle into a room adorned with maps and busts of Caesar,
Plato, and Socrates.
The professor asks one student to read a
plaque above the door. The student is clearly nervous as he leaves his seat and
walks to the door. The plaque itself appears to be an ancient artifact.
The student delivers an uncertain reading
of an inscription that makes little sense to him:
I am Shutruk Nahunte, King of Ashand and
Susa, Sovereign of the Land of Elam. By the Command of Inshushinak, I destroyed
Sippar, took the Stele of Nirah-Sin, and brought it back to Elam, where I
erected it as an offering to my God, Inshushinak. Shutruk Nahunte 1158 B.C.
The teacher then asks the class, "Is
anyone familiar with this fellow? Texts are permissible, but you won't find him
there. Shutruk Nahunte. King. Sovereign of Elam. Destroyer of Sippar. But
behold his accomplishments cannot be found in any history book. Why? Because
great ambition and conquest without contribution are without
significance."
He ends by posing this question:
"What will your contribution be?"
Have you ever felt that God couldn’t use
you to serve Him because you were just too ordinary? When I was in seminary, I
heard a parade of gifted, dynamic, successful priests and Christian leaders.
Sometimes I would think, “I’ll never be where they’re at, because I’m not that
gifted.” Feeling small and insignificant in such a big world is easy. But more
than that I feel no matter who we are, how ordinary our life is, the important
question God will be asking us is, what has been our contribution?
Amos was a nobody from nowhere, yet God
saw in him a somebody whom He could do something with. Amos was not a religious
leader, he did not have a formal education, and he was not well-to-do. He lived
in the boondocks of Tekoa, five mile southeast of Bethlehem, where, according
to his own account he said, “I was neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet,
but I was a shepherd, and I also took care of sycamore-fig trees. But the Lord
took me from tending the flock and said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people
Israel.’” (Amos 7:14–15). God saw in this ordinary little person some big
potential, and He decided to do the unexpected with an unlikely person. God
turned this simple sheepherder into His sanctified spokesman.
What kind of qualities is God looking for
in the man or woman whom He uses? Is He looking for the person with the longest
list of credentials after his or her name? Is He looking for the natural born
leaders? Is He seeking a superstar? Not usually.
Willingness is more important to God than
influence, and weakness goes much further than strength in God’s economy.
Often, the faithfulness to do that which appears insignificant displays
immeasurable significance in the eyes of God. The gateway to usefulness is not
whether you are able, but whether you are available. Your usefulness is not
determined by whether you are talented, but whether you are teachable. It is
not whether you are “with it,” but whether you are willing.
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