Would God ever use dirty vessels (cups)?

You’ve heard it said, “God uses clean vessels. Therefore, clean up your life if you want to be used by God!” I’m sure I’ve said that too. But it’s not biblical. God uses dirty vessels too!

Example? Abraham. Moses. David. Gideon. etc. “But they are examples of clean vessels. Give me examples of DIRTY vessels that God used!” But I just did.

– Abraham was a pagan idol worshiper from the land of Ur (Joshua 24:2)
– Moses was a murderer and a coward (He hid to hide his murder for 40 years)
– David was a dirty and forgotten shepherd boy (Even his father forgot him!)
– Gideon was a polygamist (Had 70 sons from many wives and a concubine!)

Yet, God used all these dirty and imperfect vessels for his purpose! Of course, all these saints got turned around and their lives became holy. However, holiness did not come upon them until AFTER they were called by God. They weren’t necessarily called BECAUSE they were holy. In other words, this is critical for you to understand, God does not call the qualified. But He qualifies the called.

But even that is not always true. Not everyone who got called by God became qualified. Take Jephthah. Jeroboam. Saul. “Who?” you might ask. They were people who were called by God. They could’ve been as great as Moses, David, & Gideon, but you never heard of them because they did not follow God wholehearted even though they were called. God’s purpose was accomplished through them. Yet, they did not receive God’s glory on them because they failed in giving themselves wholeheartedly to God.

So, here’s the conclusion: God can use anyone! Clean or dirty. Do not limit God by saying that God can only use clean vessels. God can use dirty vessels to accomplish His will. However, it’s only those clean vessels that are praised and made famous by God.

Practical application 1: Just because everything you touch turns into gold doesn’t mean your life is right. (God used many adulterous pastors to build big and thriving churches)

Practical application 2: Just because nothing you touch turns into gold doesn’t mean your life is wrong. (If Jesus started a church in Tacoma, it would be very small…*)

PH

* Paraphrasing what Francis Chan said.