Ever Considered Yourself a Screw-up?

A few months ago, I was having idle chit-chat with a friend when he referred to himself as a “screw-up”. Actually, he referred to himself with a synonym for screw-up, but for the sake of keeping this post rated PG, I’ll just use the term “screw-up”.  I was somewhat taken aback. At first, I thought he was joking, but as the conversation continued, I learned he was not joking. My friend had a law degree and a professional career. He was also dedicated and hard-working. I would hardly consider him a screw-up. I tried to change his mind, but he would not yield. So, I said to myself, God can still use you. In fact, the Bible is full of Godly examples of screw-ups doing important things. 

The first major screw-up that comes to mind is Moses. Moses was raised as Egyptian royalty. He eventually learned about his Jewish heritage. He saw an Egyptian slave driver abusing a Jewish slave, and he killed him. He fled Egypt and lived the next 30 or so years as a fugitive in the mountains….until God called him to lead his people out of Egypt. So, God called an old, fugitive, murderer to lead his people out of Egypt. And Moses-the Screw-up becomes the most important person in the Old Testament.  

The next screw-up is Gideon. Gideon is probably more famous because of the Gideon Bible (that he did not write) than his Old Testament exploits. God called Gideon a “mighty warrior”.  Gideon was hiding from an invading force. He described himself to God this way: he said that he was the weakest member of the weakest clan. God told him to tear down an altar to false god, and Gideon did it at night, so no one would see him. He got caught, and his father had to keep people from killing him. Yet, God called Gideon-the-screw up to kick an invading force out of the promised land, which he did.   

The New Testament has screw-ups too. Peter and Paul may be two of the most central figures of the New Testament, AND they could easily be described as screw-ups. When Jesus was arrested, Peter denied that he knew Jesus three times. Peter said that he did not know Jesus. He said that he did not even know him. That is pretty rough, considering he had just spent the last three years with him and had promised he would never leave him. Yet Jesus said, “You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church”. Paul despised the early church. His job was to stamp out what he considered a heretic movement. He severely persecuted the early Christians. Then he falls off a horse, meets Jesus, becomes the early church’s greatest ambassador, and writes two-thirds of the New Testament.  

How’s that for proof that God can use screw-ups?