Directions

Not a Good Question

I have received scores of calls from people who are checking references on persons for potential staff positions. Some of the questions are standard, and you can anticipate them and generally answer them. Other questions may be tailored from their experiences, and you can pretty much tell what is going on in the church or what the relationship with the former church leader was like. One of the almost standard questions that people ask is, “What are the person’s strengths and weaknesses?”

At times, I am almost tempted to answer as one fellow did and say, “His strengths are deer and turkey hunting. His weaknesses are fishing and golfing.” I refrain from doing that and try to give an honest and straightforward assessment. Usually, it is fairly easy to flag the strengths, but when it comes to weaknesses I have difficulty for a number of reasons.

One reason why it is difficult to highlight a person’s weaknesses is that you may not know what they are. Another equally important reason is that if you do know what they are and you tell the folks, then when and if they see the prospective candidate, that is what they will be looking for. It is somewhat like looking at a full white page that has one small black dot in the center. Over 99% of the area is white and unmarred, but you are unable to take your eyes off that one spot in the middle.

Here is the most significant reason why I usually find it difficult to point to someone’s weaknesses. It is because when a person has a right spirit and a desire to grow and become everything that God wants them to be, when they recognize that they have a weakness, they will begin to give attention to it to learn, to grow, to excel, to overcome, and to improve to the point where on many occasions what was a weakness becomes a strength. I have seen that in so many people’s lives related to so many different issues and areas.

It is like the kid who cannot hit a free throw but then begins to spend hour after hour in the gym practicing, shooting, trying, and scoring. In time that kid becomes a free throw leader on the team. At worst he becomes a better free throw shooter because of an intense desire to improve and to excel.

Finally, I think that it is important that we recognize what is oftentimes just simply overlooked, and that is that weaknesses or maybe deficiencies in our lives could be an act of God. Let me explain. The Apostle Paul struggled with whatever it was that he described as a “thorn in the flesh.” He pled with God to remove it and set him free from that thorn. He describes it to the church at Corinth as a “thorn sent by Satan, but used by God.” Think that through. Could it be that a weakness, a deficiency in some of our lives, even if brought on by Satan, could be miraculously used by God to make us into better people, servants, and pastors? Now I don’t want to venture a guess as to what the thorn in the flesh might have been, but some have argued with good reason and support that it could have been an ongoing problem of ill health. It could have been extremely poor eyesight, or it could have been some other malady that kept him from feeling free to go and do whatever the Lord wanted him to accomplish. Regardless of what it was, Paul tells us that God took it and used it to keep him humble and dependent on the Lord. Instead of God removing the thorn, it allowed him in the Lord to be more. It is glorious how the grace of God can change and channel even weaknesses and deficiencies into mighty works in His hands.

No doubt many of you have observed as I have that God often picks out someone to lift up and use who may not be the biggest, or the brightest, or the most beautiful, or the most handsome, or the most intellectual, or the one with the most pleasant voice and mightily touches lives in spite of the weaknesses. It may be God’s desire to do such a thing, and it also may even be His design.

So as you look at other folks, whether you are searching for a pastor or talking to a friend, and you see some weaknesses, instead of factoring them in as something bad, factor God’s power into their lives, and see them as something good.

Jim Futral
Executive Director-Treasurer
jfutral@mbcb.org
6-26-08