On The Job Training

Moses is one of the commanding figures of not only biblical, but of world history. As Elie Wiesel so eloquently put it, Moses is

…the most solitary and most powerful hero in Biblical history. The intensity of his task and the scope of his experience command our admiration, our reverence, our awe. Moses, the man who changed the course of history all by himself; his emergence became the decisive turning point. After him, nothing was the same again.

It is not surprising that he occupies a special place in the Jewish tradition. His passion for social justice, his struggle for national liberation, his triumphs and disappointments, his poetic inspiration, his gifts as a strategist and his organizational genius, his complex relationship with God and His people, his requirements and promises, his condemnations and blessing, his bursts of anger, his silences, his efforts to reconcile the law with compassion, authority with integrity—no individual, ever, anywhere, accomplished so much for so many people in so many different domains. His influence is boundless, it reverberates beyond time.

But it is quite instructive to consider that this commanding figure whose influence “reverberates beyond time” once suffered from an inferiority complex. Moses’ inferiority complex stemmed from a concatenation of mistakes, limitations and shortcomings. Chief among these was his ineffectiveness as a speaker. After considering God’s invitation to show up uninvited to the rarefied courts of the most powerful monarch of his day with no army, credentials, or weapons, and demand that he release a group of people who had been enslaved for four centuries, Moses politely declined. Even if such a ridiculous request were possible, Moses felt supremely unqualified for the task. According to Exodus 4:10, Moses reminds God of a salient fact:

…O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.

Moses felt that he wasn’t the best actor for the part. And any casting director worth her salt would agree. You probably don’t want a stammerer representing your interests, advocating your cause or selling your product. If the medium is the message, Moses was not the best medium.

But God disagreed. According to Exodus 4:11-12, God offers this stunning rejoinder to Moses’s concerns:

And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD? Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.

God tacitly acknowledges that Moses may not be the best speaker. But then God also refuses to concede that Moses’ lack of elocutionary skills need be a deterrent. God says to Moses “I know what skills you lack. And whatever other skills you may need, I will help you acquire.” Essentially, God says to Moses “I am going to provide you with on the job training.”

It is deeply reassuring to know that God provides “on the job training” for the assignments, opportunities, and undertakings that he offers us. This benefit is a welcome antidote to “imposters syndrome,” the increasingly persuasive feeling that so many of us struggle with when we walk into a new door or enter a new season. Whenever God ushers us into new and larger spheres of influence, it is easy to feel inadequate, intimidated, and insecure. When I was selected to lead my first church at 26, I bumped into a old preacher who had heard of my pending appointment. He eyed me suspiciously and then said in a less than encouraging tone “well, you certainly look the part.” Since I have never been one to back down from a verbal joust, I immediately replied ”looking the part has never been my problem, kind Sir.” LOL.

But the truth is that “looking the part” is far easier than “playing the part.” And as good as I looked, I was still nervous. There was so much I didn’t know. And not before long, my lack of knowledge and immaturity showed. But I am everlastingly grateful that despite my ignorance and immaturity, God still orchestrated that opportunity. I learned more in my first two weeks on the job than I had in the five years I spent preparing for it. Some lessons can’t be taught from books, absorbed from mentors, deduced from case studies, or gleaned from conferences. Some lessons can only be learned on the battlefield and in the arena.

An opportunity is coming your way that is far beyond your current knowledge, skills, or abilities. God is so gracious and so kind that in Deuteronomy 6:10 he has promised that you will “walk into large, bustling cities you didn’t build, live in well-furnished houses you didn’t buy, and inherit wells you didn’t dig, vineyards and olive orchards you didn’t plant.” When the opportunity arrives, please do not allow your perceived lack of credentials to cause you to question God’s wisdom, reject his offer, or sabotage his blessing.

God will teach you everything you need to know.

God does not called the qualified. God qualifies the called.