A relative of mine has been enduring the job interview process recently. I don't envy him. There is an art to selling yourself to an interviewer that requires the interviewee to be able to read the interviewer to give that person what they want. For example, I once had an interview where the woman on the other side of the table wasn't nice. Every time she asked me about a personal trait, she then proceeded to tell me how that might not work for the job. After a while, I realized that she wanted me to argue. She wanted me to fight for that job. I must have won my case at some point, because she eventually hired me to do a position for which I was not qualified. That was probably my favorite job ever.
Acing an interview is all about knowing what to say to whom. There are books and books out there with pad answers and advice for interviewees, but unless you can deliver what the interviewer is looking for, you won't get the job. Sometimes an interviewer wants you to prove how smart you are, sometimes an interviewer wants to see if you can dress well (got another job because the hospital president liked my suit), sometimes you just have to show that you are the person with potential. To get a job, you have to make yourself a special person and prove your worth.
I'm so thankful that Jesus does not require us to endure an interview and prove our worth in order to follow Him. When He recruited His disciples, He didn't go to the tier one law school to hire the people on law review with the best grades. He also didn't go to the country club to hire the offspring of His parents' friends. Instead, Jesus went and found Joe the plumber (back then he was Simon the fisherman) and He called normal people. He didn't look for the blogger with the most followers or the teacher who had won teacher-of-the-year. Jesus called people to join His ministry who didn't deserve to be called. Why else would he call Saul the I-should-work-for-MSNBC persecutor?
Romans says that God loves all of us--even the persons we deem to be the scum of society. Jesus befriended tax collectors, lepers, prostitutes, and foreigners. Matthew says that he specifically called the weary and burdened! Jesus did not come to praise or glorify the achievers. He didn't preach that we should be all we can be or that we should follow or dreams. Jesus came and told us to humble ourselves, be prepared to suffer for his name, and expect to be shunned by the world. I wonder, sometimes, if Christians really understand our calling. Are we teaching Jesus' calling of humility to our children? Or are we so wrapped up in the American dream and pursuit of happiness that we forget to teach the truth?
None of us are worthy apart from Jesus Christ. Our earthly successes are fleeting and momentary in the grand scheme of eternity. Those who follow Christ really do have to renew our minds. We have to understand that life isn't about being the best we can be. It's about living in God's will and following His calling for us. He didn't choose us because we were worthy. He chose us because God is love.
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