Cracked Pots With Clay Feet

Recent events involving some leading American pastors and ministers (not immoral events by the way!) have reminded me that at the end of the day we ALL have clay feet! And we are simply clay needing to be shaped and molded like Israel by THE Potter:

8 But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand. (Isaiah 64:8)

6 “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the Lord. Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. (Jeremiah 18:6)

We do not have all the answers and we are not the ultimate judge of the heart. While Christ followers must be discerning and accountable we must be careful that we don't use discernment and opinion as a license to strategically apply God's grace to some while withholding it from others. At the end of the day in the words of one of my late mentors: "Grace is a liberal thing and all of us want it applied to us liberally."

The older I get and the longer I serve Christ the more I realize how little I know and how incomplete and desperate I am without Christ. I have moved from seeing myself as a "good" soldier of faith with marching orders from God, to realizing how broken and desperate I am on this journey of faith. This really helps me maintain some semblance of humility and prevents me from falling into the all too tempting trap of inflated self-importance. I get sin. I know its allure. I fear pride and arrogance because I know how destructive it can be. It whispers to us and calls us by name hoping we will embrace it and reject God and His word. But I know full well that sin's reward is short-lived, shallow and leaves us wanting. I also know that NO one is immune to sin, no matter how great a saint she may be.

So my cracked friends at the end of the day we may disagree over theology and the non-essentials of faith, or how we believe spiritual leaders must act, but we must agree that God is the ultimate, single voice of truth, authority, judgment, salvation and grace. I don't know about you but that really makes me want to listen more to Him than myself, or any other clay-footed follower. The old hymn proves true:

Have Thine own way, Lord!
Have Thine own way!
Thou art the Potter, I am the clay.
Mold me and make me after Thy will, While I am waiting, yielded and still.
~ Adelaid A. Poll­ard, 1907.