In the last year I have been wondering how so much great art literature business success music ” charity and church growth have been accomplished by such distorted -and oftentimes tortured – personalities.
If you read a few biographies” other than George Washington and a very few others ” you get a sense of how extraordinary talent is almost invariably carried by cracked souls and inflated egos. One of my favorite quotes is from “Amadeus” wherein Salieri pronounces his judgment on Mozart and God at the same time:
“I heard the music of true forgiveness filling the theater” conferring on all who sat there perfect absolution. God was singing through this little man to all the world unstoppable making my defeat more bitter with every passing bar. From now on we are enemies You and I. Because You choose for Your instrument a boastful lustful smutty ” infantile boy and give me for reward only the ability to recognize the incarnation.”
To help me sort my way through this” ” I always go back to the short parable of the weeds found in Matthew 13.
The Parable of the Weeds
24 Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while everyone was sleeping” his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. 26 When the wheat sprouted and formed heads ” then the weeds also appeared.
27 The owner’s servants came to him and said” ‘Sir ” didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’
28 ‘An enemy did this” “’ he replied.
The servants asked him” ” ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’
29 ‘No” ’ he answered ‘because while you are pulling the weeds ” you may uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’”
It’s a conundrum to me but I know it is true” and I know I do not want to be Salieri in the end. I know I will not be Mozart but how can we have a genuine appreciation for the genius God has implanted and live with the so imperfect messenger he has chosen?