Life’s Callings

A special calling is not something that a person casually experiments with to determine whether or not they should become a minister. Rather it is the recognition of God’s voice calling a person to His work and motivates them to seek the Church’s affirmation of that calling through its ordination process.<br>

Vocational MinistryWhen vocational ministry is mentioned, a lot of questions arise. Some think about the current need for pastors, especially for smaller congregations. The current trends indicate that many are leaving the ministry after about ten years in ministry. Others think about the current increase of women entering the ministry. Others think about the more recent development of house churches, or the trend of mega-churches arising separately from denominational sponsorship. Considering these trends, there is the concern if there will be enough ministers to serve the church? During his ministry, Jesus pointed out, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few" – there are not enough workers for the harvest. <br>

I recently asked one of my students about where he attended church. He shared that he originally relocated to the area to plant a church. When he started the church plant he expected it to grow to a congregation of a thousand. However, that did not happen. Six months after their launch, the gatherings had grown to about thirty people. However, after a couple of years, the group had dwindled to fewer than a dozen. He indicated that most of the three or four families that were a part of the gatherings were also attending established churches. <br>

When I inquired about his major, he shared that he had started as a ministry major then switched to teacher education. The prospect of having a church of the size that could support him and his family had faded and he was now pursuing what he perceived to be a viable profession to support his family and allow for ministry. The question that comes to mind is, what exactly was the Lord calling him to do?<br>

One of the key questions that are raised when discussing the call to ministry is, how do we hear the special call to ministry? On the surface, the answer appears to be simple—God is the One who calls people into the ministry. However, as we probe deeper into the question, several other factors arise. Why aren’t more people being called into the ministry? The need for ministers is now greater than it has ever been in my lifetime. Are people not hearing the call or, are they ignoring or rejecting the call? Why are so many ministers leaving the ministry? Is it because they are no longer called? Have they fallen away from Christ? Is it because the church is in spiritual decline and they have been swept up in this spiritual decline? Or, perhaps some have misunderstood their calling and feel they are not suited for ministry? Why is the need for ministers trending upwards while those preparing to enter ministry trending downward?<br>

If we limit our discussion to God’s role in calling people to ministry, we may overlook a significant part of that responsibility. Does the Church have any responsibility in the calling of people to the ministry? Do ministers and church leaders have any responsibility in calling talented young men and women into the ministry? On his second missionary journey, after choosing Silas as a co-worker for his mission, when Paul came to Lystra he chose Timothy as his apprentice and took him along as an understudy. <br>

Later he put Timothy in charge of the Church in Ephesus. It is a mistake to conclude that this was solely the voice of God speaking to Timothy without Paul’s actions. Paul recognized Timothy’s potential for ministry and selected him as an understudy. Certainly, Paul sought the Lord’s help and was under the leadership of the Spirit when he added Timothy to his team. While in the ultimate sense, it was God's voice that Timothy heard about his career choice, it was Paul and the elders in Lystra who physically laid their hands on Timothy commissioning him to the ministry (Acts 16). Is the church missing something today?<br>

Life is complex with many voices vying for our attention about serving the needs in our world. Many of these are legitimate. How do we recognize and heed the voice of God—especially when it comes to the special call to ministry? <br>

To answer this question, several areas of life’s callings are examined to gain a good overview of how these concerns and responsibilities are interrelated and connected to God’s calling. There is usually a certain amount of tension that is a part of most career decisions, especially in the initial stages. To describe this process, life’s callings are divided into four basic categories. Each category is briefly defined in light of its particular area of responsibility. The goal is to keep all of these areas of responsibility in the balance as we forge our career paths, particularly the call to ministry. The end goal is to help the reader answer the question, "Is the Lord calling me into the ministry?" <br>

The special call to ministry is discussed in the context of life’s other callings. It is like unscrambling a Rubik’s Cube after it has been scrambled. The Rubik’s Cube has six faces and initially, each face has a uniform color. However, with just a few twists of each side, all the colors are quickly scrambled. The goal then is to realign the pieces so that once again all the colors have a uniform color. Examining life’s callings is a lot like attempting to unscramble a scrambled Rubik’s Cube. Life comes to us somewhat like a scrambled Rubik’s Cube; our job is to unscramble it. <br>

Another analogy that can be used to describe life’s callings is to compare them to vector forces that pull us in several different directions at once. Determining our calling is like a pilot navigating an airplane from point A to point B with crosswinds blowing. As the plane moves along its path, crosswinds are continually blowing changing the plane’s speed and direction as it makes its trajectory to its destination. Each shift of the wind’s direction or velocity alters the plane’s speed and path. The pilot must navigate through all these vector forces to safely reach the right destination. In a sense, the trajectory of a career can be compared to this process. <br>

A third analogy is to think of life’s callings like the strands of a rope. Each strand represents a particular area of responsibility in life that vies for our attention—they are calling us to take responsibility for all areas of our lives. Just as the strands of a rope are intertwined to form a single cord, similarly our life is a single path of combined responsibilities that shape the trajectory of a career.