Cut Yourself Some Slack

The Church has a mission to fulfill here on earth! We, as Christians, play an important part in fulfilling this mission. In John 20:21, Jesus says to His disciples, “As the Father has sent Me, even so I send you.” So, Jesus sends us to do the same kind of things that He did while He was on earth.

In John 14:12 Jesus says, “Truly, truly I say to you, he who believes in Me will do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I go to the Father.” This might surprise us! But we can do this for two reasons. First, because this is what Jesus told us to do because we believe in Him, and second, because we are His Body on earth!

Jesus decided that the work of His Church must be done through us - those who believe in Him despite our human frailties and weaknesses. We may feel inadequate; and we would be, by ourselves, but with Jesus’ power working through us, all things are possible!

Jesus has chosen us to conduct the mission of His Church. It’s Jesus’ mission, so all we need to do is stay at it or be “consistently adequate” in doing it until it is completed. What does this mean?

1. The best batters in baseball get one hit for every three attempts. This means they fail twice as much as they are successful.

2. Most football plays are designed to be a touchdown every time. However, almost none of them achieve this purpose as designed. This means the plays fail more times than they are successful because they were not a touchdown.

3. Most winning basketball teams miss more shots than they make. They are failures most of the time, yet they are successful. I accepted this as a good reality when I was coaching.

All these are content to be “consistently adequate” and are not considered “failures.”

We have shortcomings, but in Christ we are made strong. I believe God would rather have steady as it goes rather than stopping mid-stream because we don’t think we are measuring up or we take offense with someone. Cut yourself some slack – you are human so do the best you can - “consistently adequate” (being as faithful as you know how.) And let God supply the rest.

Jesus says, “Go.” So, we “go’ in His power. God knows who He is sending, so we go and do what we are able to do as “consistently adequately” as possible, willingly serving Him to teach His Word, preach the Gospel, feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, to heal the sick, drill wells, teach farmers how to use modern farming methods, or teach people how to read and write.

So, let’s cut ourselves some slack and “go” and discover the many ways that God can work through us who are “consistently adequate” to fulfill that mission!