1 Corinthians 9:2, says:

“If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you, for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.”

I’ve read this many times. This time, it seemed peculiar. I read it over and over and thought about the context and finally went about reading some of the classic commentaries associated with this verse.

The consensus is interesting, although not altogether surprising.

Paul is basically saying, “The fact that you believe is the proof that I am called to be an apostle”. God would not call Paul and gift Paul to do something that he was not going to honor with good fruits.

This speaks volumes to what it means to be gifted, not gifted, and to serve a sovereign Lord.

1. It means that we’re not watches set in motion to do a job. God sends and gifts each of us in unique ways, not to give us a fighting chance at success, but for success!

2. It means that God is ultimately the finisher of our work. Suppose, for a moment,  that God did not gift Paul as an apostle, but somehow Paul learned the “skills” of apostleship elsewhere. Do you suppose that he would have been effective in his exercise of those skills? I doubt it, because God withheld that gifting for a reason. He wouldn’t be vessel chosen for the task. He would be no more successful in apostleship than a pillow is at splitting wood—although the pillow God the motion down-pat.

3. If we’re called to something and follow that calling faithfully and humbly, we should see some kind of success in it. Of course, because of our pride, we the success is often in a different place than we expect, nonetheless, we ought to see it. If we’re called as an evangelist, we ought to see conversions. If we’re called as a preacher, people ought to be transforming. If we’re called to lead worship, people ought to be worshipping.

Now, on the last people, please don’t get me wrong. There are exceptions to this because people are screwed up and there will most certainly be many times where success is not seen right away—maybe even ever by our own eyes. But regardless, if we are called, God will definitely eventually use that calling.

This should give us comfort, that if God has called us, we will be successful. But, if with prayer and reflection we can detect no fruit at all, perhaps we ought to prayerfully reconsider what we’ve believed to be our calling.