There’s a saying in Christianity; “God doesn’t use dirty vessels.” I first heard this, years ago, from an evangelist who came to the church I attended at the time. He sternly declared that God could only use those whose holiness had reached some level that he never divulged at the time. I was left to wonder whether I was holy enough.

I have a couple of problems with this statement. For one, God doesn’t have anything but dirty vessels to work with. We’re all stained by sin in one way or another.

But here’s the most difficult problem I have with this saying; it keeps us from becoming holy because it excludes us from sowing seed through our service in God’s kingdom.

I believe God rewards us when we help his people. Part of his reward is freedom from the power sin has over our lives. In another post I wrote that, as we serve in the church, God will repay us by giving us hope that will drive out wrong thoughts. These unhealthy thoughts are part of what keep us bound to a sin. If we can’t serve (because we’re too dirty), then God can’t bless us with the freedom we need. And if we’re not freed from the sin that oppresses us, then we can’t serve.

This sounds a lot like a ‘catch 22’ situation. Dictionary.com defines catch 22 as “a frustrating situation in which one is trapped by contradictory regulations or conditions”. (Yes, there’s a book and a movie of this title. I don’t recommend either but the phrase has become part of our language and it fits this situation well.)