Scripture: II Corinthians 3:4-11 (NIV)

Such confidence we have through Christ before God. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, transitory though it was, will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? If the ministry that brought condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness! For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. And if what was transitory came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts!

Competency is not always thought of as a positive trait. “Well, he’s competent” isn’t exactly what you want to hear about your doctor, for instance. You want to hear that he’s brilliant or top of his class or innovative. Simply “competent” sounds like they are…..well, fine. Not great, not awesome, but they can do the job. Yet today’s Scripture talks about competence coming from God. We are “competent as ministers of a new covenant” and that’s not supposed to be a backhanded compliment.

It made me think of the myriad of rebel (and, in truth, imperial) soldiers and ground crews that staff the two sides of the war. Not every one of those engineers could be the best possible engineer. The guy filling X-wings with fuel probably didn’t have a special knack for the task that made it so he and he alone could do this well. These people did their job and they did it well, but they weren’t necessarily outstanding in their field. Some were, but those likely got promoted out of the ground crews quickly and into positions of authority. Even then, not all of the generals or captains were superstars like Leia Organa or tactical geniuses like Grand Admiral Thrawn. Some just got the job done.

There is nothing wrong with being good, if not great, at your job. You’d much rather have a doctor that was competent than one that wasn’t. A competent accountant can keep you out of jail. A competent repairman can get you back on the road with many less issues than someone (like me) that has little idea what a wrench is for.

We need to remember this when we are called to share our faith or work for the Kingdom. We don’t have to be Billy Graham, saving souls with every mention of God. We don’t have to be even as learned as the pastors that fill the pulpits in our churches every week. We don’t have the training they have and, as such, aren’t necessarily going to have all the answers (and those pastors will tell you they don’t either!) What we do have to do is tackle the job and do the best we can with it. We are called to competency and no one can tell your story or do your task better than you can.

We don’t have to be brilliant because, truth be told, God is doing the work in our ministry. He’s just using us as the tools to advance His kingdom. You don’t expect your hammer or screwdriver to be super special, you just expect them to work, to be competent at the job so you can finish your project. We’re God’s tools! Just do your best at whatever He puts you to doing and watch what happens!