Call the Experts!

A group of guys from the Fayette church came over to work on our new tabernacle rooms this past weekend.  I thought I was ready for them with just a few little wiring details to finish.  I am not a contractor but I know enough to be dangerous.  I figured I could work on this stuff and keep ahead of them.  What I didn't take into account was the fact that these guys were experts.  They didn't take half the time I would have in completing the job. 

There are 3 (with baths) 12'x16' rooms.  I figured they'd get the ceilings done and maybe a wall or two.  They arrived on Friday afternoon about 4pm and by 7 they had the first room completely done.  I was working in the other two and began to feel the pressure.  (Thank goodness one of their guys, who couldn't stay overnight, came early to help me!)  I got up early on Saturday to get ahead of them but it didn't help much.  By the time they were on the 3rd room they were tripping over me.  Now, I think I got everything done, and I think it was done right, but I would have liked the opportunity for someone to check my work before the sheet rock went up.  Now, if I wired the smoke alarms into the electrical outlet wiring we won't know until we power it up, and that will be a problem.

I tell you all of this to make a couple of points.  First, thank God for experts who are willing to come and serve the Lord by working at the camp!  They do the job right and it looks good.  Secondly, what is an expert anyway?  An expert is someone who has done a task enough to know everything there is to know  about it.  They can handle challenges when they arise and because they have done the job enough, they do good work.

When it comes to our Faith we should all be experts! 

We should not only know what we believe, but why we believe it too.  I hear so many times, often from my own lips, that "I worry about sharing my faith because I don't know what to say" or, "I don't like to get into debates with people about faith because I might say the wrong thing."  Those are not good excuses, they are a cop out!

So how do we learn what we should know?   It's just like contractors.  They hang sheet rock so much they can do it with their eyes closed.  We need to live the Christian life, not just talk about it. 
As we live the Christian life, as set out for us by the Lord in the bible, we are able to share it more effectively. We need to be so proficient at the principles of Christian living that we are effect witnesses all the time-even when it's necessary to use words!

So how about you?  Are you and expert?

I don't mean to make you feel guilty.  I ask you that question to challenge you to do something about your inadequacy.  Here's what I suggest you do: Pray about it.  Ask Jesus to mold you and shape you to be more like Him.  If you are serious, and you are persistant, He will change you into a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17).
He will transform you into an expert!

And remember, it is not something that happens over night.  Roger and his men didn't become experts at hanging sheet rock after their first job!  The Christian way of life is a process.  Keep in mind what the apostle Paul had to say: "Not that I have already obtained all this (Christian maturity), or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me." (Philippians 3:12)