For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake. For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. 2 Corinthians 4:5-7
What do you think of your place within God’s scheme of redemption for the world? I ask because it is easy for us to underestimate the value He has placed upon each of His people. Many of us have a hard time with properly valuating ourselves in many ways. Often, we consider this issue as it relates to overestimating our place in the world, and this is for good reason as the Bible repeatedly condemns pride and arrogance. However, the Lord would not have us underestimate our place in His program either. We must properly assess ourselves based on the truths revealed in Scripture to function properly within the body (Romans 12:3ff).
In this discussion, I would like to point out just how valuable each Christian is to God’s overall scheme, how valuable you are in God’s overall scheme. This is not to promote pride or arrogance, but it is an effort to instill confidence and self-worth in each of us because, if we think too little of ourselves, we will be timid in our efforts to serve Him. Paul’s words to Timothy come to mind here (2 Timothy 1:6-7). Though we do not possess miraculous gifts as they had in the first century, He has given to each of us various gifts to fit us for His service with the expectation that we use them accordingly (Romans 12:6-8; 1 Peter 4:10-11). This fact brings us to our primary purpose in this discussion. You are immensely valuable to the Lord and His program of redemption, and you must never let anyone convince you otherwise.
In 2 Corinthians, the apostle Paul confronted some opponents who questioned his apostleship. A discussion of the many layers of his argument in the letter are too broad for this discussion, but one key point in their flawed attacks on the apostle was that he was weak, and his speech was unimpressive. It seems they were measuring the greatness of a Christian in terms of outward showmanship in the tradition of the great Greek orators and such (10:10; 11:6, 16-21, 30; cf. 1 Corinthians 2:1-5). Paul’s defense was that the Lord’s true strength is proven, not in earthly, carnal might, but it is proven in weakness (12:7-10; 13:1-4). This perspective is most needful for us today as we live in a culture that is every bit as impressed by mighty acts and eloquent speech. You must not let the culture distort the truth about the gospel of Christ and your crucial role in its propagation.
Whatever you have thought about yourself up to now, I urge you to reframe that paradigm in light of Paul’s statements in 2 Corinthians 4:5-7. Though Paul bore the miraculous gifts of the Spirit, he recognized his strength was not his own. For this, he was not preaching himself but Christ Jesus as Lord. His opponents would do well to recognize the same about themselves, but they were hung up on their own bona fides. The same holds true for us today.
Though you and I do not have such miraculous capacity as Paul did, we serve the same purpose of champion the gospel of Christ. The key takeaway from Paul’s statements in chapter 4 is that, though we are mere earthen vessels (literally clay pots; nothing fancy or commonly praised), we are in fact God’s treasure chests wherein He has stored the greatest treasure ever to exist, the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. So, I hope you walk away from this, not with an inflated ego, but with the proper understanding that you are God’s treasure chest inviting everyone to open up and see the glory of that treasure in your life.