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You Can’t Duct Tape Fruit To the Tree

By Travis Reed from The Work of the People

Catch the video and the full story here.

I don’t have any credentials…I once managed to get 13 moving violations in 12 months though, and I have credits at a handful of junior colleges sprinkled across Northern California.

I was kicked out of the Army. I sold copy machines for three days, and incontinence and feminine hygiene products for six months.

I have neither a theology degree nor an arts degree—and I’ve never been to film school. I am, by every rational measure, unqualified for most everything.

Fortunately, the Kingdom of God isn’t a rational place—it’s absolutely irrational, in fact. It’s upside down.

For most of my life I bought into the story from the voices around me that being uncredentialed informed my value. When reflecting upon our lives we might notice patterns, strategies, and striving toward a “credentialed” life because what we have learned overall is that power, unfortunately, is too often the mediator in our relationships. I lived into such a reality, one that consistently told me that because I lacked “powered credentials” my voice was inadequate.

But as it turns out, my lack of credentials were my credentials. Because in God’s Kingdom, the uncredentialed are God’s preferred conduit of the upside-down power of love and grace.

I thought I’d offer up a little bit about my journey. It’s an honor to serve The Work of the People community, to grow with you, and collaborate with others who, I gotta admit, know a lot more than I do.

I don’t want you to feel like you’re wasting your time reading this or not, but honestly…all I can do is pass on what’s been passed on to me.

Everything I have learned was received by sitting at the table with people who remind me time and again that I’m not a powerless combatant trying to win (regardless of the cost), but an empowered co-creator contributing to the soil of life while surrendering as an embedded seed willing to grow.