Unqualified?
And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit … ––Ephesians 1:13
The flipside of feeling disqualified is feeling unqualified. My friend had a Scottish grandmother who was 4’11” and tough as nails and lived to be 103. She used to say, “Don’t let them see you sweat.” The sentiment can be helpful—basically, it’s kind of a “fake it till you make it” saying. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with having a tough, get-it-done mindset. In fact, it’s really important––toughness, ingenuity, and that mentality that says never give up.
The problem, however, is that the “bootstrap mentality” can also lead us straight into works-based faith. When we slip down that slope, we fall right into the devil’s pit of performance. Most of us have been there (personally, I never want to go back). Once in that performance pit, it’s hard to get out. We spend our time worried about how well we are doing at (fill in the blank): work, marriage, fatherhood, friendships, our faith. Results trump relationships. It’s back to the income and employment mentality, rather than outcome and deployment. It’s subtle—our faith life can slowly slide toward aspirational goals based on outer metrics rather than on relational goals based on faith and intimacy with the Father.
For God’s man, it’s a fixed game. A sucker’s con. We can never be as good as we want to be, and we can never succeed in all the things at the level we want to achieve. It’s a rat race on steroids. And when we can’t achieve what’s impossible anyway (i.e., there’s always someone better, faster, smarter, richer), our self-esteem can take a nose dive. Then we fall into imposter syndrome—like any day now the leaders at your work place are going to haul you into a dark room, shine a spotlight on you, and say, “Who are you, and who let you in here?”
In no way I am saying self-confidence is a bad thing—it just needs to be built upon the right foundation. Is yours built on the world’s shifting sands, or on the Rock? In Jesus, we are qualified—literally. He died, went to the cross, and rose again in order for Him to certify us as children of God. Gideon hid in a wine press so the Midianites might not notice him. (Who threshes wheat in a wine press?!) In that dark hiding place God called Him out of fear and said: “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!” (Judges 6:12) How God sees us is how reality works—not how we feel about ourselves. That’s deception. Don’t swallow the enemy’s lie.
Father, thank You for qualifying me to be Your child so I can serve You!