Divine Calling - Part 2

How does a person really know that God asked them to do something? That's a really important question, especially in relation to calling. After all, many people over the course of history have done some horribly immoral things, all the while claiming that it was God who told them to do it. And many people have also mistakenly believed that God had given them special gifts and abilities to do a particular thing for him, when it was painfully obvious to everyone around them that they possessed no such gifts or graces (think auditions for American Idol!). This brings me to the second aspect of Divine calling - the affirmation of the church.

Moses once said that the word of the prophet must be subject to the prophets. In other words, if God has told something to one of his servants, that word must be consistent with what he has told to others. For instance, God will never ask anyone to do something that violates His revealed character. Consequently, the collective wisdom of the leaders of the church should be able to help a person determine whether something they sensed or experienced was truly of God, out of their own aspirations, or perhaps from some other source. Additionally, the church very often recognizes the latent gifts and abilities in one of its members and encourages him or her to inquire of God and see if He might actually be calling them to some avenue of spiritual leadership or service.

I attended church regularly all my life. One of my first recollections as a pre-schooler was when a visiting evangelist invited me to come up on the platform and help lead the music. The congregation that evening was greatly entertained , but I really enjoyed it. That led to singing in the junior choir, and eventually the sanctuary choir. Then later, as a teenager, the pastor asked me to help lead the youth group, and among my responsibilities was preaching at the annual Easter sunrise service. That led to taking on even more responsibility by serving on the conference youth board and eventually becoming the conference youth president. After fully committing my life to Christ I continued to accept more responsibilities by becoming a camp counselor and teaching Bible studies. By the time I sensed God's personal calling to ministry, my local church had fully recognized and affirmed my abilities and Christian character. In fact, many teachers along the way had told me numerous times that I would probably grow up to become a minister.

The church's recognition of my gifts and character led me to want to become prepared for the work of ministry. In order to become God's mouthpiece and leader of his people I needed to fully understand not only the Bible, but also the world around me so I studied music. I studied history, math and science. I studied philosophy. I also studied Bible and theology. All the while I did this I met regularly with a board of godly ministers and laymen who advised, challenged, and encouraged me in my preparation for doing God's work. When they eventually deemed that I was ready, they ordained me. Ordination to ministry follows a long line of succession leading all the way back to Christ and his apostles, and with that solemn act my personal calling by God was fully affirmed and consecrated by the church.

Sadly, over the years of my ministry experience, I have witnessed a great number of ministerial tragedies. I have seen the fall of a number of self-appointed ministers who decided to bypass the checks and balances of the church, seeking instead streamlined and cheap ways to become "ordained" or recognized as a religious leader while lacking the gifts, graces, and training necessary to carry out their perceived calling. I've served on a board of ministerial development where we had to take away the credentials of several ministers who betrayed their calling through flaws in their character or succumbing to heretical teaching. And yet, over the years I've also had the privilege of guiding many young people (as well as some second career laypersons) into following their heart's call into God's service, and then watching them flourish as they lived out their calling. That has truly been one of my greatest joys!