A common way of reasoning in Proverbs is to contrast two options in order to illustrate for us what our priorities ought to be. For example, it is better to be poor and righteous than rich and unrighteous. But we have to remember that this is a choice between two when there are actually a total of four options. And because of our culture’s rampant egalitarianism and propensity to fuzzy thot, we need regularly to consider all four. So still in the background is the question of whether it is better to be poor and unrighteous or rich and righteous.
Let’s apply this principle to what it takes to be faithful in our missions work. It is better to be faithful and ill-equipped than unfaithful and well-equipped. This is certainly true, and it applies to every task we might undertake. It is better to take on a job you cannot do in your own strength while under the blessing of God than it is to take on a job you think you can do in your own strength without the blessing of God. Some men trust in chariots, and some in horses, but we trust in the Lord our God. So faith plus a great challenge reveals the glory of God. Faithlessness without a great challenge often reveals how self-sufficient men trip over nothing, and come to nothing. Nothing we say here should take away from how much God loves to tell David and Goliath stories.
But there are two other options. It is possible to be under-equipped and presumptuous and well-equipped and faithful. History is littered with the kind of faithlessness that glances at the surface of the Bible, and determines that whatever it wants, however outlandish, must be given if they just wave the name of Jesus over it. From the occasional story in the newspapers of devout Christians not taking Uncle George to the mortuary because God told them he would be raised, to the Children’s Crusade, to the invasion of Canaan after Moses told them no dice (Num. 14:41,45), to the false prophets telling Jehoshaphat to go up to Ramothgilead (2 Chron. 18:11), we see the bane of presumption.
And do you see a man who excels in his work? He will stand before kings (Prov. 22:29). When God told Samuel, who was reviewing the sons of Jesse, that man looks on the outward appearance while God looks on the heart, we think that he would then have had to go through seven ruddy, tall, and powerfully built warriors until he came to David the scrawny hunchback king-to-be. But David was powerful, and good-looking, and musically-talented, and prudent in wisdom — a regular Rhodes scholar. He was one of those guys. God looks on the heart.
The fact that God looks on the heart does not mean that we have to be ill-equipped, or that we are supposed to plan poorly. We are supposed to trust in God, as Cromwell once said, and keep our powder dry. In missions work, craft competence should never be set aside unless the clear providence of God has determined that it must be set aside. So far as it depends on us, we should strive for excellence in linguistic mastery, excellence in cultural understanding, excellence in true accountability, excellence in economic understanding, excellence in logistical training, and excellence in theological breadth and depth. And above all, beneath all, and through all, excellence in faith.
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