Waiting for lightning...

I remember a few years ago at the ‘Ministry Challenge Conference’ (previously known as ‘Club 5’) being interviewed on stage. Being from Brisbane I was asked to share my thoughts on why I was there that weekend and also do the bible reading.

That evening the chairperson asked, “So Steven, why are you here?” I remember preparing myself to answer that question, but all afternoon I couldn’t come up with a good sounding reason. I had gone through the thinking hoops on the various reasons people consider entering full-time paid ministry:

• ‘I’m here because I’ve been challenged to consider ministry work as of utmost importance…” – well, no. Ministry work is important, but I couldn’t honestly say that ministry work was more important that any other work: it’s a false idea. I’ve yet to find a place in the NT which specifically says, “Ministry is of more importance than any other labour…”
• “I’m here because I’ve felt called by God…” – well, no again. There hasn’t been any calling, no sign from heaven, no feeling of ‘you’ll know what it feels like when it happens’. There simply hasn’t been any experience in which I can say, “Yes, I am going to do it!”
• “I’ve been challenged to consider full-time pastoral ministry as a priority…” – but that doesn’t necessarily mean that I should give up work to do so. All Christians are in full-time ministry from the moment they become a Christian!

So in my fumbling thoughts my answer, on stage, in front of some of the big-wigs of Sydney evangelicalism, was, “Well, people have identified certain gifts in me and I’m here to find out if I have what it takes for ‘full-time ministry’.”

I wanted to crawl into a hole because I sounded so fake – how dare I not know for sure that this was my certain path! For a long time I’ve felt an undercurrent of guilt because I haven’t had this ‘calling’ that so many people speak of.

Until I read an article in Michael Bennett’s ‘I feel God is calling me…not!’ booklet. The second chapter in this little booklet deals with this very issue – whether or not it’s right for Evangelicals to use the term ‘calling’ in reference to people going into ministry.

To summarise the chapter, here are the main points:

• The NT uses the term ‘call’ in two different ways: firstly you are called by God to be a Christian, and secondly you are called by God to be holy.
• Ephesians 4:11-13 talks about the nature of Christian ministry. Christian ministry does not belong solely to the Apostles, prophets, evangelists and pastors/teachers. The Apostles, prophets, evangelists and pastors/teachers jobs are to equip the saints. The equipped saints then do the work of ministry for the building up of the body of Christ (God’s people). Hence ministry belongs to all the saints!
• Why have I never felt called into ministry – because I was already in it!
• But the question remains – does having the skills and the gifts constitute a sufficient reason to enter ‘full time paid ministry’? The answer is a simple as this: if the person desires to do it!

On that last point 1 Tim 3:1 puts this simple, yet shocking, truth into perspective, “The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task.” (ESV). Note the words there – if anyone aspires to be a pastor/teacher then they desire a good thing.

What is Paul saying? He is saying that the motivation to enter full time paid pastoral ministry is human desire. Of course, the person desiring this must be appropriately assessed (1 Tim 3:2-7) and his motivations must not be for money or pride (1 Tim 3:3, 6). But the ultimate factor in a person deciding whether or not to consider paid ministry is their desire to do so.

So now I don’t feel so bad about not feeling ‘called’ to do this. And I hope that others will see, too, that they don’t need to ‘feel called’ to do the same.