When I Was Class President

Give me now wisdom and knowledge to go out and come in before this people, for who can govern this people of yours, which is so great? 2 Chronicles 1:10

In any organization where a lot of the work is done by volunteers, jobs are often taken by the willing, not necessarily by the competent. So, you get people running the show who are willing to accept the position, but who often don’t know what they’re doing. When I was a sophomore in High School, I ran for class president. I did it for all the wrong reasons though – because I saw it as a popularity contest and because I desired the affirmation of winning. I didn’t do it because I was interested in leading. In fact, when the time came to do the job, I found I didn’t like it at all and that I was a terrible class president. I was willing to take the position, but I was dreadfully incompetent.

I think we often see this in church, or any Christian organization, where the people who have a lot of time to give aren’t necessarily the ones who have the ability. But they get the job because they’re available and willing. This, I think, reflects poorly on God. When we claim faith, the world sees us as God’s representatives. When we’re incompetent, it’s a bad look for God.

The apostle Paul encouraged us to see our work as something we do for God. Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men (Colossians 3:23). As followers of God, we should realize we reflect upon him and we should be concerned about our competence. King Solomon felt this pressure. At the beginning of his reign, God offered Solomon one free wish. Solomon could have asked for riches or power, but instead, he asked God for the wisdom to govern his people. Solomon asked to be competent. Solomon saw the demand that being king would put on him and he was worried he wasn’t up to the task. So, he asked God to give him the gifts to be able to do the job well. God was pleased with Solomon’s request.

We may never be kings or queens, but we all have some responsibility over something. If we claim faith, we must realize that our performance reflects upon God and we should seek to be good at our jobs – to be competent – for God. Incompetence isn’t God’s plan. So, daily, we must seek to be better at our jobs than we were yesterday. As Paul said, ultimately, we do our jobs for God, who isn’t pleased or served by our incompetence.