Robert Amess

This review formed part of the literature review for my dissertation, "Does God use people?"

http://carterclan.me.uk/dissertation

Amess (2000) writes to encourage those who feel that God cannot use them because of a lack of training, family background, or failure. The recurring theme in Amess’ purpose is that of encouragement. It is important to note that this book has arisen out of pastoral ministry in which people have come to him and said that they feel that they cannot be “used by God.” (p.5) However, the question remains whether this is because that is the only language that their theological tradition equips them with, and whether part of the answer to their felt need might be to challenge the language.

The vast majority of parallels used in this work carry the meaning of call and being chosen. They convey a positive sense of God inviting people to work alongside God to bring the Kingdom in. The methodology of showing how God called and worked with Biblical characters, despite their flaws, is used here also. Again there is no evidence for the Bible describing any of them as used by God.

The theme of sanctification as ongoing moulding to make God’s people more fit for service also appears in this text. Alongside this, there is an emphasis on who we are in our individual nature as being important to God. “God called Moses and Paul because it was them that he wanted to use – as they were, as he could make them, not to be a pseudo someone else.” (p.67)

It is in this book that we find the only explicit attempt in all the texts to deal with the potential ambivalence of “God uses” language.

“To be used by God is not like being ‘used’ by people, which so often means being manipulated by others for their own selfish purposes. Being used by God means significance and opportunity in the family of God. It means having a reason to be alive and something to achieve while we yet live. It means being changed from one degree of glory to another until one day we stand perfect before Christ. And then we will be used in praising him, the one who took hold of such unlikely people as you and me and made something wonderful out of us.“ (p.163)

Whilst it is encouraging to note that the potential problem has been recognised, this seems to me to dismiss it as inconsequential rather than address it as substantive.

I think that more useful in this regard is Amess’ conclusion of his discussion of Elijah’s depression after Carmel with a personal testimony that what he needs when he is in the grips of depression is to have God present with him and speaking to him. “…God himself, quietly speaking to me by name in terms of love, hope and future.” (p.126) It strikes me as significant that this does not involve more things to do as God’s tool, or how he can still be used by God, but is rooted in God’s authentic, personal presence.

In conjunction with this insight, the relatively low frequency of “God uses” language suggests that there is very little in this book that could not be expressed without it.… (altro)