Romans 11:1-2a, 13-15, 28-32 - by Don Neuendorf
"I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I make much of my ministry in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them..."
Did you notice that Jesus did the same thing? "The tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you," he told the chief priests and elders.
Do you ever envy someone else's ministry?...
I have. I'm embarrassed to confess it, but it troubles me that our own church (Lutherans generally... the LCMS... and my own congregation included) has left opportunities unfulfilled, and God has given them to someone else.
Lutherans have talked about the doctrine of vocation for centuries - so why was it a Reformed preacher like Rick Warren that revived the idea in his book, The Purpose Driven Life? The founders of the LCMS came here because of persecution, and we had close ties to Lutherans in East Germany and a 500 year history in Russia. Why was it Pentecostals who launched the greatest outreach efforts when the Berlin Wall came down? And why does Voice of the Martyrs do what we seem to be afraid of doing?
God has given us rich resources. We should be embarrassed when we do not use them. It seems, from what Paul says, that embarrassment and envy are not necessarily bad tools to use - perhaps in moderation. If we can be stirred to action because the salvation or the service of others makes us see our own failure more clearly, then this is one more part of God's preaching to us.
The real tragedy would be if we are no longer capable of shame.