Woefully Inadequate!

Have you ever felt inadequate? How about “woefully inadequate?” I felt this way just this last Thursday. I received a copy of my dissertation back with comments from my Technical Reader. Now before you are too hard on either of us, our whole cohort was given an early warning that Mr. John Anderson was one of the most demanding Technical Readers available. It is his job to be picky. It is his job to get your dissertation ready for public viewing. It is his job to make sure you final product does not embarrass the seminary, the specific program you are in, or yourself as the researcher, so I am not really complaining, just feeling “woefully inadequate!”

His exact words, “Your Chapter Two is woefully inadequate and incomplete.” One of my colleagues said, “I wanted to call him and make sure he was OK after I got mine back because I thought he might have been the victim of a brutal slaying with all the red on my paper!” I consider myself to be in excellent company.

I knew it was woefully in adequate when I sent it in. I was expecting a massive number of corrections and revisions, and that is exactly what I got. I imagine the feeling might be similar to something we might feel in the moments immediately before we appear before God’s throne in heaven. It is time for a reckoning. God is about to evaluate your life.

Actually, Mr. Anderson would be more like Jesus, the Messiah, than God as Judge. The technical reader looks at everything concerning your paper. He actually gets out a ruler and measures the margins and the indentations. He checks your formatting for headings and punctuation. He is the best thing that could happen to you. He is preparing you to appear before the group of scholars who will examine your work and ask you to discuss it and answer questions. You want to make a good impression on them, and you don’t do that with a bunch of typos and errors. He is making sure you have nothing to be ashamed of when you stand before those who will render a judgment on your scholarly attempt.

“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.”[1] So, when our name is called and we know it is our turn to answer to the King, we will see the doors open wide and recognize our sweet Savior standing by His side and waiting to stand by ours, and we will be comforted with a great comfort!

Pastor Craig

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[1] II Timothy 2:15