The night sky was dark with brooding evil, illuminated only by the wild flickering of the bloodthirsty mob’s torches. A crowd of armed soldiers and other officials surrounded a small group of men, who huddled closely around their friend and leader, the man for whom they had left behind everything to follow. This was a far different night than the many others they had spent with Him walking among this normally peaceful olive grove.
A betraying kiss on the man’s cheek from a traitorous friend signaled the mob, and they surged toward Him. His small band of followers briefly fought back. One brandished a sword and hacked off an aggressor’s ear. But in the midst of the mayhem, the leader displayed an uncanny serenity. He sternly called for peace and miraculously restored the victim’s ear. Tens of thousands of watchful angels remained silent; no divine command to intervene was ordered.
He let himself be fettered, the most unlikely prisoner in the history of the world. And in an impulsive reaction of shame and cowardice, the man’s companions—His 11 closest friends who had been with Him nearly every day for three years—turned and ran.
Ultra-Holy? Yeah, Right
Have you ever felt unworthy to serve God? Ever wonder how He could use someone like you in His kingdom? You’re not alone. For years, I struggled with similar feelings, despite the fact that I was raised in a strong Christian home and accepted Christ at an early age. As a teenager, I felt completely incapable of any heroic acts of faith like those that fill the Bible.
Parting the Red Sea? Stopping years of rain by prayer? Slaying giants? These were deeds accomplished through superbelievers; I certainly wasn’t in their league. These were men of great renown. As kids, they probably healed lepers in school talent shows!
But as I studied God’s Word more closely, I realized that it reveals interesting portraits of those He calls to serve Him. The great men of the Bible weren’t born with halos floating over their heads. In fact, most of them were strikingly ordinary; some were downright corrupt.
Take Jesus’ disciples, for instance, the 12 men with whom Jesus purposefully surrounded himself during the last several years of His earthly life. Certainly Christ would pick some ultra-holy guys to spend His final days with after coming all the way to Earth to fulfill God’s redemptive plan for sinful humanity, right?
Wrong.
The Unlikely Cast
These dudes were a salty bunch. Their names were Andrew, Peter, James and John (sons of Zebedee), James (son of Alphaeus), Philip, Nathanael, Thomas, Matthew, Thaddaeus, Simon and Judas. While we don’t know much about several of them, we know plenty about the others. And let’s just say that what the four Gospels tell us wouldn’t exactly nominate them for any “Christian of the Year” awards.
Matthew: Before he met Christ, he was a tax collector. These guys were about as popular and trustworthy in first-century Palestine as today’s stereotypical used-car salesman. Tax collectors were known to be swindlers, overcharging people and skimming extra money off the top for their own gain. And when a tax collector was Jewish, as Matthew was, the Jews reviled him even more. Defrauding your own countrymen for the hated Roman Empire didn’t win many friends.
Judas: The worst of them all. The betrayer. The man who sold out the Son of God for a measly 30 pieces of silver and then committed suicide. It wasn’t the first time Judas fell prey to the love of money. The Bible says he was in charge of the disciples’ pocketbook and often took some for himself.
James and John: Jesus nicknamed these brothers “Sons of Thunder,” most likely for their short tempers and impetuous natures. These guys were hardcore. Once, when the disciples received a rude welcome in a Samaritan village, James and John asked Jesus if they could call down fire from heaven, Sodom-and-Gomorrah style, to teach the townspeople a lesson. Not exactly turning the other cheek.
Simon: This fellow went by the name “Simon the Zealot,” a term that likely referred to his affiliation with the Zealots, an extremist Jewish group that promoted the use of violence to overthrow the Roman government. He very well could have been involved in murderous plots before meeting Jesus.
Nathanael: We’ll let him off the hook mostly. He seems to have been a cynical character. When his buddy Philip told him that he had found the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, Nathanael sneered and asked rhetorically how anything good could come out of that town.
Thomas: Thomas was Mr. Doubter. While the other disciples were rejoicing after Jesus’ resurrection, Thomas infamously refused to believe the news unless he saw the nail scars in Jesus’ hands and feet.
Peter: You’ve got to love Peter. More than anyone else we read about in the Bible, Peter knew what dusty sandals tasted like, because he was always putting his foot in his mouth. But Peter’s faults ran much deeper than mere buffoonery. At different times, the man demonstrated actions that were rash, distrusting, quick-tempered, violent or unfaithful. It was Peter who almost drowned because he didn’t trust Jesus’ power over a raging sea storm (but credit him for being the only one to jump out of the boat without any hesitation). It was Peter who cut off the ear of the high priest’s servant in the Garden of Gethsemane. And it was Peter who denied the Lord he swore to follow to the death just hours earlier.
Amazingly, Jesus knew all this. He knew three years earlier when choosing the 12 disciples that Judas would act in this treacherous manner. In fact, He knew the shortcomings of all the disciples, these cheaters, thieves and liars, filled with anger, deceit, arrogance and disbelief. And He still opened His arms to them and saw great potential.
Let that sink in for a minute. These were the men Christ handpicked as His best friends. Yet when things looked bleakest before His crucifixion, they all scurried off like scared jackrabbits. Every single one of them was a rotten sinner in need of a Savior.
Just like us.
What About You?
You see, it’s not so much about who we are as who Christ is. When we ask, “How can someone like me do anything great for God?” we’re trusting in our own power. But we have none. And when we realize where true spiritual power comes from, then we, too, can do great things for God. That’s why the apostle Paul recounted God telling him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).
So when you’re feeling weak and worthless, cheer up. You are a prime candidate to be used by God! Look at what He did with the disciples:
Matthew, the tax collector, wrote the first Gospel.
John, who wanted to torch an entire town with heavenly fire, wrote five books of the Bible: a Gospel, three letters and Revelation, Scripture’s most comprehensive look at the end times.
James, brother of John, remained faithful to Jesus, even though it eventually cost him his life.
Peter, the deserter and denier, wrote two letters and became one of the most important leaders of the early church.
Still not convinced? Consider other great men of the faith and where they came from.
Moses, who led Israel out from Egyptian bondage, committed murder as a young man and tried to weasel out of God’s plan for him by pleading that he wasn’t a good public speaker.
David, the great king whom God called “a man after My own heart,” committed adultery and had the woman’s husband killed to cover it up.
Paul, the great missionary of the early church, had Christians imprisoned and killed before his salvation.
There are many more examples. But all these men started doing great things for God with one simple thing: a willing heart. When God called, they answered. Some took longer than others. Some failed along the way. But when God asked, “Whom shall I send?” each one of them eventually raised his hand.
Will you? 
