It's a special kind of beauty

So you may have noticed, I changed the name of my blog... So, I guess I should explain why :-)  Other than the fact, of course, that the previous title was lame and intended to be temporary until I could come up with something better.

In English, "en vasos de barro" means "in jars of clay."  I came across a passage this evening that I hadn't read in quite awhile that jumped off the page at me.  Really the passage was the entire chapter of 2 Cor 4.  Go read it when you have time.  But more specifically verses 6 and 7 read:

"For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us."


I wish I could even begin to put into words how applicable those sentences are to where I find myself right now... in a place of humility realizing that I have never had a platform anywhere near as influential as the one I'll have with these 200 some odd students beginning a week from Monday.  Not to mention the girls at the hogar, Buen Pastor, and Misericordia ministries, all my coworkers and the community.  If for no other reason than I stand out like a sore thumb here because I'm fair skinned with blue eyes, I have a platform.  But I've also been dubbed a missionary by the school and have 200ish students listening to me teach everyday... it's hard to comprehend the opportunity and responsibility I've been given here.


But the point, of course, is not that I have a larger sphere of spiritual influence then I've ever had, but that I have been given the knowledge of the glory of God, the knowledge of Jesus Christ.  And therefore, I have a debt to pay anyone and everyone I encounter who does not know, know of the gospel or know of the grace extended to us by our Savior.  


And furthermore, that it is in jars of clay God chose to place this treasure.  That the glory would not be the vessel's but every eye would be transfixed upon the treasure alone.


Whether or not all of that translated to you, I don't really know.  But it is a beauty of a vary unique sort to be a vessel that exists not to be anything to look at, but to be as simple and unembellished as possible so as to bring the greatest amount of attention to the treasure you hold.

Perhaps it is the nature of the expectations of the 7th Day Adventists at the school with their no make-up and no jewelry policies or the way people won't stop gawking at me when I walk down the street that has brought these things to mind.  But it is going to be a challenge for me to hold only the treasure God has given me, to know only Christ crucified, and to show everyday that the surpassing power belongs to God alone.

But it is our call as keepers of the gospel to do just that. As more of the passage says, "For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.  So we do not lose heart.  Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day."


At least some of that made sense I hope.  And that is why the blog is now named "En Vasos de Barro."  But why is it in Spanish?  Cause everything sounds cooler in a different language ;-)