Michelangelo considered himself a sculptor
A Lesson from the Life of Michelangelo: For the last two decades of his long life — he lived to be 89 — Michelangelo was the chief architect for the Vatican. As such, he was responsible for the construction of Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome, which would become the largest and most famous church in the world.
The thing is, Michelangelo was not an architect.
He is most well known for his painting of the Sistine Chapel, but he did not consider himself a painter either.
He always considered himself a sculptor.
Michelangelo made himself available
Yet, in 1546, when Michelangelo was 71 years old, Pope Paul III asked Michelangelo to be chief architect over the construction of Saint Peter’s Basilica. Michelangelo accepted.
Michelangelo is now famous for redesigning the dome of Saint Peter’s Basilica, securing its structural integrity, and guiding the basilica’s completion according to his plans, even though it took others nearly 60 years after Michelangelo’s death to finish Saint Peter’s.
Michelangelo’s life is instructive. The Lord often calls us to tasks for which we feel unqualified or for which others are more qualified. But we are available. Fortunately, when it comes to serving God’s purpose, being available often matters more than being qualified.
I was unqualified but available
I went to college and obtained a liberal arts degree with a major in political science and a minor in writing. Then I went to law school and became a lawyer. After practicing law 19 years, I found myself pastoring a church.
I was not qualified in any formal sense. I had never been to seminary nor received any formal training.
But I was smart enough to know what I didn’t know, and I was willing to learn and lean heavily on the Lord for a year until we could find a real pastor.
That church, which we rebranded and relaunched in a movie theater 15 years ago with 30 people is now a growing, thriving church of 600 which owns its own building.
I was not qualified, maybe not even the most qualified of the unqualified. However, I made myself available even though I had a full time job running my own law firm, and the Lord used me, successfully even.
Why being available trumps being qualified
There is good reason for why being available often trumps being qualified.
While God sometimes alters the natural workings of the universe by, for example, making the sun stand still (Joshua 10:12-14), His default is to work within the orderly restraints of the natural world He created.
That means if I am in one place at a certain time, I can’t be somewhere else at the same time. Thus, even with all the complexity God orchestrates in His sovereignty, there are times when something needs to be done, and the most qualified person is either absent or unwilling to act. In those moments, God looks down His bench and calls on another to step up. Those who answer the call with, “Here am I. Send me!”, have the opportunity to become great in the kingdom of God.
Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!”
Isaiah 6:8 (NASB)
Michelangelo made himself available for God to paint the Sistine Chapel even though he considered himself a sculptor.
The lesson from the life of Michelangelo
The same sculptor made himself available for God in the last 18 years of his life to function as the architect for Saint Peter’s Basilica. Both the Sistine Chapel and the dome of Saint Peter’s stand today as some of the most iconic works in world history, created by someone who may not have been the most qualified but who answered the call with willingness and dedication. And that is the lesson from the Life of Michelangelo. GS
