Amateur: 1; a person who engages in a pursuit for pleasure and not as a profession. 2: a person who is not an expert. I'm such an amateur.
The definition certainly does draw an bold line to separate this amateur from the professional, and it almost sounds like, well a person who is amateur is not going to be very good at whatever pursuit they are engaging in.
Ah, but if you look at Websters source of the root of the word, you find from Latin amator -lover, fr. amare to love.
Amateurs love what they do. Love causes us to do the best we can.
So I hereby confess to be an amateur in the following:
Husband, There are no professionals in this realm and generally if you try to model your professional husband after some book or TV figure you will find out that what was written or filmed was not done by an amateur, and should of had a warning "I'm a professional do not try this at home.
Father, Again, looking for a professional model for this, you will find there are none, there are only ranks and ranks of amateurs who have made good in the pursuit of doing it with the least amount of pain and the greatest return on time and love invested. Nobody gets paid here.
Grandfather: Here everyone is an amateur, and to be honest, there has never been a professional league. Everyone loves it and would do it for nothing. Some folks even volunteer to do it for kids that aren't their own flesh and blood....amateurs.
Gardener; There are a lot of professionals in this field, but like professional baseball players, they are far outnumbered by amateurs. These amateurs are the most optimistic of all amateurs. Always hoping that some little seed or scrawny plant muse will give back some of the love they have recieved. They are always planning ways to be better, but not professional, amateur is just fine with them.
Runner; Amateurs show up at races where they have no chance of winning anything, and pay to be there too! I hope to never lose my amateur status in this category. * Getting t-shirts does not count as pay, it is only a token of appreciation for amateurs!
Singer; Another category where amateurs way outnumber the professionals. In this category though, there are many amateurs who in their hearts really, really , really want to be professionals, and are convinced they can be, we see them on American Idol every week. The real amateurs here know that the song that comes out of their mouth, is not necessarily the same as what they have in their heart, but it doesn't matter to them or usually to those that love them.
Christian disciple/witness; Amateur is what most see themselves as, and not just amateur, but part time amateur. I too have been in that category. Unlike the other amateur characters listed above, there is not much pride in being an amateur Christian. I don't mean to be mean, but somehow, being an amateur runner or gardener even parent is OK, but to be an amateur religious zealot, just seems weak.Is being an amateur Christian OK? If you go back to the definition and root of the word. Lover, to love. then perhaps being an amateur here is OK. If I profess to be a Christian, I hope that my amateurism shows here as much as it does in my grand parenting, or gardening or running, I hope that my love of the pursuit of sharing Christ, shows and that it is contagious.
If you have ever been around a group of grandparents, runners or gardeners, you will find these amateurs sharing experiences and advise. No one is judging the other by what they have accomplished, but all are wanting to learn and to teach. Yet in a group of Christians, the amateur who asks questions that they "should know the answer to" are treated as, well, amateur and may be scorned or mocked. I have had a lot of people tell me they are not in a Sunday School class or small group because they don't know enough. In other words, they feel that everyone else in the class is way above them in knowledge and having been in church longer are more schooled, perhaps even professional.
I say, let's all confess that in our faith we are amateurs. There have been and are professionals out there teaching and preaching, but the Great Commission was not given to a professional ad agency or a polling company. It wasn't put on a professional Power Point presentation or group email, it was given to a bunch of amateurs, who shared with a bunch more amateurs and they kept sharing. Yes, somewhere in there professionals have tried to take over, but the bottom line is, that without amateurs like you and me, the love that God has for us would never make it to the coffee shop or the cubical. So let it be known: Amateurs needed and more than welcome.
Come join us.
Peace.
Dan
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