Qualified, disqualified, unqualified…. regardless, one thing makes us fit for the Kingdom.

But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” -Luke 9:62 NKJV

I’ve grown up in different environments throughout church. I’ve seen the good, bad, and the ugly of ministers and the slimy underbelly of church business unfortunately. I’ve seen the most talented ministers do some of the worst things behind doors. I’ve experienced some of the worst treatment from people who seem to represent God the best publicly. It’s interesting that these men and women are still in ministry, actually some are doing better than ever. It makes me wonder why. Why is it that when people who are in the ministry, representing God and preaching the bible, act a certain way in public and a different way in private? Why does God allow it? Why wouldn’t He just zap them? Why would God allow these broken people continue to minister to the masses? What about the sins of these people? Don’t they disqualify them? How about someone doesn’t go to bible college? Aren’t they unqualified? What makes someone qualified to actually be a minister and preach God’s kingdom and the gospel of Jesus? What makes someone able to be fit for the Kingdom?

Some may look at my life and think that I’m disqualified and maybe I’d look at some and think they may be unqualified. The interesting thing about all of these questions and thoughts is that it doesn’t really matter. In light of eternity, it just doesn’t really matter when it comes to who we think is qualified, disqualified, or unqualified. It’s not our call. We must understand our ways are not God’s ways. When we look throughout the bible we see that some of the greatest heroes we admire would definitely not be in the lineup of the conference speakers we see in today’s Christianese subculture. Could you imagine King David speaking at one of our leadership conferences? It’s laughable because he was a murdering adulterer, yet God called him the apple of His eye. In our estimation of today’s “qualifications” in ministry, he’d be excommunicated! Yet he is one of the most preached about people in the church today! God uses who He wants to and it’s not up to us to decide who is qualified and unqualified, even if you are the lead pastor of a church, it’s not up to you! It’s God’s church and if your sins were thrown up on a screen for the whole world to view, you’d be disqualified according to your own standard of who is able to serve in God’s kingdom and who isn’t!

So what makes us fit for God’s kingdom? I was reading this passage in Luke 9:57-62…

Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, “Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” Then He said to another, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.” And another also said, “Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.” But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

I noticed that throughout this passage Jesus is giving us a template for how to be fit for the Kingdom. See it’s Jesus who decides who is fit and qualified but He gives us the key to qualification. He’s telling us that it’s in our thinking about the Kingdom and our choices concerning His call to us. We are just placed on this earth temporarily to do His bidding. It’s our greatest joy and His greatest glory that we serve Him, flawed and broken. We leave all excuses, reasoning and most of all, our failure, in the past.

The key to qualification is not looking back. It’s allowing the purpose of God’s kingdom to so pervade our being that we don’t allow anything to keep us from plowing ahead. We have such a short life here on earth. Why waste it trying to change circumstances and people that just don’t want to change? Being fit for the kingdom has nothing to do with our self-righteousness and everything to do with being about the business of Jesus and following Him.

So are you fit for the kingdom? Well that answer is completely up to you.

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Please leave your thoughts if you feel led and let’s continue the conversation! May God bless you!