God Overlooked The Need For Qualifications

Amos 7:14
Amos answered Amaziah, “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.

Amos 7:15
But the LORD took me from tending the flock and said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’

Qualifications are important in determining who is able to do something. Without qualifications, we will waste a lot of time identifying who can be able to tackle certain tasks. Even for those who serve God, qualifications sharpen them to serve God in a much better way. Commitment to God does not negate the need for qualifications. God can call you to be a preacher, but without reading skills, your preaching ability will be highly limited in many ways. Once God has called you, you go and seek qualifications to sharpen you for better service. If God calls you to lead the church, you need financial knowledge because the church uses finances in its mission. Qualifications are necessary!

Qualification comes from training and experience. We need qualifications to lead people. We need qualifications to chair meetings or else they will be long and achieving less or nothing. We need qualifications to develop plans and implement them. We need qualifications to address various challenges that face us at work. We need qualifications to manage resources that are ever scarce. The need for qualifications cannot be gainsaid. Qualifications are necessary!

Qualifications are developed by human beings to guide our human operations. Qualifications are human standards. The God we serve is not subject to human standards. The God we serve does not limit Himself to standards set by the people He created. God can work with us using our standards or He can defy our standards and still achieve what He wants. God used untrained fishermen as messengers to the whole world, Acts 4:13. God also used a highly trained Apostle Paul to write most books of the New Testament and to spread the gospel, Philippians 3:5-6. God used those who had no human qualifications and the ones who had an excess human qualification. Luke who was also instrumental, was qualified in medical science, Colossians 4:14, but God used him in ministry effectively. God is not limited, He does what He wants. God can use our qualifications or He can defy qualifications and still achieve His purposes.

God does not hate education. God does not hate secular education. He knows these are human qualifications for human life. God is the giver of this knowledge that developed secular education. Among the chief magicians of Babylon were God’s people, Daniel 1:17 and Daniel 1:20. God made His people the best magicians (be careful how you interpret this word magician, lest you think that your local witch and sorcerer has their trade approved in the Bible because that is not true). God made them excel in secular education. God gave Moses success in Egyptian education, Acts 7:22. God gives success even in secular education. Therefore God does not hate qualifications from secular schools. God can make these qualifications useless or He can use them for His glory. Ours is to surrender to God.

The problem with secular education is that it also instills an indifference to the things of God. This is why we encourage believers to take their children to church schools for secular education in a Christian setting.

God can use human qualifications and God can decide to work with people who lack those qualifications. Therefore whoever is used by God should be very humble because God uses us by grace and not by qualification. Those with qualifications and are serving God should realize that God could use people without their qualifications in a much more effective way. Those without qualifications should be so humble since God has chosen them over His other people who are qualified. No one can serve God with pride. God can work without qualified people.

Prophet Amos was a village man. He came from rural Judah. God sent him to the city of Samaria. A rural man in a city setting, already there is a problem. While preaching, he was confronted by a local city priest named Amaziah. Amaziah tells Amos to go back to his rural home and stop prophesying, Amos 7:12. Our text today is the response Amos gave Amaziah. Amos tells Amaziah that he Amos is not qualified in any way to serve as a prophet. He is not a prophet by profession or by training. He is not a prophet by birth, since none of his older relatives were prophets. He does not even have training in any other field. He was only a shepherd and a person taking care of sycamore trees. In short, he is ideally a nobody by human standards of that time. Yet Amos says, God chose him to come to prophesy.

Amos argues that his basis of ministry is God’s election and not any qualifications for he has none. Qualifications can be given and taken just like titles, but the call of God stays. Therefore Amos continued preaching since Amaziah and his ilk did not appoint him. Amaziah based his ministry and power on his qualifications and appointment. Amos based his ministry and authority on God’s election and protection. Amos did not argue with Amaziah, he continued preaching. God overlooked Amaziah who had human qualifications and went for Amos who had none. God overlooked the need for qualifications!

Do you realize God can overlook your qualifications and work with less qualified people? Do you realize your lack of qualifications does not stop God from using you? Some positions are reserved for the old and experienced, but God overlooked that. God spoke to the boy Samuel in a temple where old and experienced Eli was also living, 1 Samuel 3:8. God told Jeremiah to work in spite of a young age and lack of experience, Jeremiah 1:7. God cannot be limited to human qualifications. Moses was chosen to lead Israel yet he had been out of touch with the situation on the ground for forty years. God chose David to kill Goliath, yet soldiers with military ranks were present at the battlefront for forty days. God overlooked the need for qualifications!

Dear God, if I am qualified in any way, remind me daily that it is not about these qualifications but Your election, empowerment, and protection. If I am not qualified, remind me, dear God, that You can use me even much more effectively than the qualified, because it is about Your election, empowerment, and protection. Use me as You see best, in Jesus’ name, Amen!