Word on the Street Chapter Exerpts

Ehud, P. I. (Secret Talents)
James Bond and Skateboards
Judges 3:15-30, Exodus 4:1-5

Joel had thick black hair and grunge clothes. At my coat-and-tie college he stood out, especially as a Bible major. Add his skateboard and five o’clock shadow, and you had legalists writing off his standing with God.

But ask the skaters behind the shopping center a block away whom the local Bible source was, and they wouldn’t have talked to you about guys in ties. They would’ve told you about a dude named Joel who brought a Bible when he came to scrape and grind—a guy who knew as much about the meaning of life as he did about trucks and bearings. He was a missionary to people I could never reach, because he had talents I never will.

I’ve heard messages from a surfer evangelist, witnessing Olympic wrestlers, and truck-stop pastors with influence on people I will never meet. They have more than a special compassion and unorthodox approach. They have lives wholly given over to Christ, no matter where he takes them. Just like Ehud.

Ehud was left-handed. Some Bible scholars think that meant something was wrong with his right hand—a handicap. Either way, he was different from his peers and different enough for enemy guards to frisk only his left thigh out of habit. And either way, he used what he had: his left arm.

Science tells us that lefties are right-brained. The Bible documented that, though, millennia before in Judges chapter 3. Ehud had a right mind—a mind of Christ before the phrase was a phrase. He didn’t write himself off because he could only strike out left-handed batters. He didn’t cower at the thought of challenging Moab bullies. He didn’t think within a box of tradition. He simply looked at the hand God dealt him and the vacuum of doers in Israel—then acted.

Ehud is my favorite Bible character. When I get to heaven I want to watch the DVD of the whole Eglon encounter, especially if it has multi-camera replays. The Sean Connery accent might not make the Heaven version; but I bet the sweet slyness does. A little perfunctory flattery, a Robin Hood wink, and HOO-AH! The big slice into the fat guy. Piles of money, dumb henchmen, bathroom jokes, and guys hiding in bushes—lots of good stuff there.

Now I look at myself, while you’re looking at you. (No peeking.) If we’re on the same page, you’re thinking, “I’m not exactly James Bond.”

I didn’t read anywhere that God commanded Ehud to kill Eglon or mastermind the overthrow of an oppressive government. God just used him. And he used Ehud because Ehud was useable. God will use what we are willing to admit we have. For me it was a fascination with words and a borrowed laptop. For my wife it’s a bilingual tongue. Dorcas (Acts 9:39) used her thread and needles, Shamgar (Judges 3:31) used an ox goad, Jael (Judges 4:21) used a tent spike.

What is the rod—or skateboard—in your hand? What hand is it in?

Word has it . . .
“God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong.” 1 Corinthians 1:27

Do you have connections with people who don’t connect with church?

Do you have a “skateboard” you think God couldn’t use?

Could you let Christ into your interests and hobbies?

Have you criticized someone else’s untraditional approach?

Are you jealous of someone else’s “right hand” of ministry?

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture texts are from the New American Standard Bible, © The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977.