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!

Divine Calling - Part 1

Probably no other profession talks about divine calling more than Christian ministry (i.e. pastor, priest, missionary, etc.). The truth is that God calls every one of his children to a life of holiness and service to him, and every profession can be viewed as a calling by God to his service. Nevertheless, because Jesus personally called 12 men to follow him and ultimately carry his mission of salvation to the world, and the apostle Paul himself received a dramatic call to ministry we often tend to elevate the call of God to those he leads into a career of ministry. During the research for my dissertation I had the privilege of interviewing pastors from all over the country regarding their own calling. One thing that I discovered was that the range of experiences people shared with me was as diverse as their fingerprints, and they were also deeply personal. This blog is a reflection on my own personal call to ministry.

I began to recognize my call to ministry when I was a teenager, not long after accepting God's grace of salvation. I recall attending a Youth for Christ rally one evening where the film "Riding the Pulpit" was being shown about the life of preacher Jess Moody. I sensed God saying to me that night that he wanted me, like Jess Moody, to dedicate my life to service to him. I knew that my strongest gifting was in the area of music, so I decided to go to college and pursue a career in music that would be focused on Christian ministry. Thus, while in college I formed a musical group that sang at youth events, college campuses, and coffee houses, using those opportunities as a venue to share my personal faith in Christ. Over several years of doing that my passion for verbally communicating my faith began to supercede my passion for a career in music.

As I was wrapping up my college education I diligently sought the mind of God as to where he wanted me to serve him. Since my fiance (eventually my wife) was not keen on being a pastor's wife at that point in her life, I abandoned thoughts of attending seminary and began to work for the para church ministry Youth for Christ. However, after five years I recognized that I was not wired for a lifetime career in youth ministry, so I decided to obtain a graduate degree in theology with a mind to eventually teaching Bible and theology. It was while I was finishing that degree that my wife also began to sense God's calling on her life, so instead of continuing my educational track we decided to pursue a pastoral assignment. Over the next 33 years I had the privilege of leading four different congregations to increased discipleship and ministry to their communities and the world.

My call to ministry was not like that of the apostle Paul. I did not hear any voices from heaven. There was no blinding bolt of light. I didn't experience the visitation of an angel. And for many years out of college I wrestled with that call, wondering if I had made a mistake by not pursuing a career in music. I wrestled with the correctness of my decision to abandon a career in teaching. I wondered if I was truly gifted in the right areas to lead a church. But on one occasion while I was debating within myself the wisdom of my choices, particularly with the music question, the Lord spoke very clearly to my spirit these words: "That is not where I led you." Immediately a peace came over my soul, along with a deep assurance that I was at that moment exactly where God wanted me to be. And that assurance followed me throughout my years of pastoral ministry, especially during the times when it became difficult and I was tempted to pack it all in.

That personal call to ministry is important, but it is just one of three different aspects to pastoral calling. The other two (the recognition of the church of one's gifts and graces and the call of opportunity) I will write about in future posts.

Transitions and New Perspectives

I haven't posted anything to this blog for over two years because my life has been in transition during that time. I left my position as Sr. Pastor of a church after 6 years of attempting to turn it around and, after 33 years of shepherding congregations in my denomination, sensed God's direction to move into a new field. I am currently working as a regional director of development in the college where I did my undergraduate study. This blog post is a little of my spiritual journey during time of transition. In the coming weeks and months I hope to give a little post pastoral perspective on the challenges of being a minister in a rapidly changing secular culture.

One of the greatest battles that pastors continually face is discouragement. Over the years I found ways to deal with it, including prayer, reading, study, pastoral conferences (which sometimes only added to my discouragement), and counseling. In recent years my discouragement reached new levels to the point where my effectiveness as a leader had slowly declined, and the church and I both realized that we needed a change. I hoped for an appointment in another church, because that was what I had trained to do and what I had done effectively for the majority of my career. Unfortunately I was unable to find another church that would call me to shepherd them.

On a networking trip to my denomination's General Conference I had a conversation with the president of the college I now serve. She encouraged me to apply for an open position they had posted in the development office, but I balked because that was not what I was seeking at the time, and I did not see myself as a "fundraiser." After returning from the conference I began reading a book on fundraising that had recently been sent to me by my wife's former boss, the VP for Advancement in another institution. As I read it I immediately sensed that I was indeed wired for that kind of work, and that it was an extension of my pastoral calling. My whole pastoral ministry had a mega-theme of stewardship as I had encouraged people to invest their lives in things that truly mattered for the kingdom of God. With this change to development work I would be doing that still, only on a one-to-one basis. So not ready for retirement, I took the leap in faith.


Surprise - God knew what he was doing all along! I have found a new lease on my life, thoroughly enjoying this new chapter. I get to meet a lot of interesting people who have done some amazing things with their talents and education and encourage them to invest some of their resources in the education and shaping of the next generation of "scholar servants" who are going to impact the world for Christ.

Now, a year out of pastoral leadership, I have a new and fresh appreciation and understanding of the challenges facing today's pastors. I hope to share some of these in the coming editions of this blog.
Blessings!