Credentials - Amos

Amos replied, “I’m not a professional prophet, and I was never trained to be one. I’m just a shepherd, and I take care of sycamore-fig trees. But the LORD called me away from my flock and told me, ‘Go and prophesy to my people in Israel.’”

Amos 7:14-15

A man walked into a large company’s personnel office and handed the human resources manager an envelope containing his résumé. The manager opened the envelope, read for a few moments, then looked up at the hopeful candidate.

“Is this a joke?” he asked.

“Not at all,” the applicant answered. “I’m willing to learn and to work hard.”

The personnel manager thanked him for coming in and sent him away without any chance of getting a job. Why?

His résumé listed no educational background and no job experience. It simply read, “I’m willing!”

Though simple willingness to learn and work hard might not impress some personnel managers, it’s just what God looks for in a servant. Amos didn’t claim to be anything special—he wasn’t even a professional prophet. By profession, he was a shepherd who also tended a grove of sycamore-fig trees. But Amos had something that God values above any professional credentials: a willingness to follow and obey.

Amos ministered during the reign of kings Uzziah of Judah and Jeroboam II of Israel. Though both kingdoms enjoyed peace and prosperity during this time, they also suffered a period of spiritual superficiality and economic injustice.

Into this dark situation stepped Amos, a humble nothing of a man by human standards. God called him to preach about judgment of the rebellious and the eventual restoration of the repentant.

The people who heard Amos’s message told him to hold his tongue, but he simply couldn’t stay quiet. God had given him a message to preach, and he preached it with enthusiasm. That tends to happen when you do what you believe God has called you to do.

Most people believe that they need training and credentials to minister to others. God doesn’t care about your professional and educational background nearly as much as he cares about your willingness to faithfully serve him. Are you willing?