ʺYour career is what youʹre paid to do;
Your calling is what youʹre made to do.ʺ
Dr. Howard Hendricks
I graduated from college in 1988 with a degree in Graphic Design and immediately set out to find a job in my chosen field. I presented my design portfolio—samples of my art skills—to various companies, hoping to convince them I was qualified to join their team. Eventually, my ability met a job opportunity, and I started my design career.
A year later, I discovered a better opportunity and, having developed greater professional skills, I climbed the career “ladder” to a new position. This is the normal course for people in the business world. But, not for those working in pastoral ministry.
The pastor doesn’t find a ministry; ministry finds him. The matching of pastor to ministry begins with a divine “call,” the summons of God to set apart certain individuals for vocational service.
This is to say that the best pastors are not first qualified. They are first appointed by God and then qualified by God for their particular calling. This is a supernatural work of God, not based on human effort, intellect, ingenuity or skill. To understand the importance of the pastor’s calling, we must survey what the Bible teaches about this topic.
A Summons from the King
First, we must distinguish between the “call to faith” and the “call to service.” The call to faith is the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit, opening a person’s mind to understand spiritual truth, moving their heart to affirm it and compelling them to respond in faith and repentance. Some Christians throughout history have referred to this calling as their hearts “being warmed” to the things of God. The call to faith is a “summons from the King” in which God invites a soul to receive eternal life. Just as Jesus called men to follow Him as His disciples, so God calls ordinary people into a relationship with His Son today. And, just as Jesus called Lazarus to “come forth” from death to life (John 11:43), so God calls dead sinners to new life in Jesus Christ.
Paul affirms this Gospel calling when he begins his letter to the Romans:
Through him and for his name’s sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith. And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 1:5-7)
The Roman Christians had been called by God to belong to Jesus, and Paul had been commissioned to call even more from among the godless Gentiles to know Jesus Christ as well. The Apostle Peter highlights this work of conversion when he states, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9). God has shone the Light of the world—Jesus—into our hearts to lead us out of the darkness of sin and into the wonderful light of salvation.
There are three common misunderstandings people have about a Christian’s call to faith. First, some think that this call is delivered to everyone—that everyone gets a chance at salvation—but only a few are spiritual enough to believe. In Matthew 22, Jesus teaches a parable about a king and his wedding banquet with the conclusion, “For many are invited, but few are chosen” (Matthew 22:14). This has led some to think there is a universal call to salvation. However, in John 10, Jesus teaches that He is the Good Shepherd who calls His “own sheep” by name and leads them out (v. 3). Those who are truly His sheep will assuredly “listen to His voice” (v. 16) and join His flock. No one can come unless God calls them (John 6:44), and those who come are safe and secure (John 6:37). People are spiritually unable to choose God on their own, so God must choose them first. Those God chooses He calls. And those He calls hear His voice and follow Him.
If this first misunderstanding is not corrected, it will certainly lead to a second. If God’s call is universal, then the responsibility of salvation falls to people, not God. Salvation becomes a matter of human decision, human effort and human will. But John writes, “Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of a human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God” (John 1:12-13).
God’s call to faith isn’t based on any human accomplishment. Rather, God’s choice and calling are based solely on His mysterious grace. Paul instructs Timothy, “But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, who has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace” (2 Timothy 1:8-9). Salvation is a free, unmerited gift of God received by faith (Ephesians 2:8-9).
The third misunderstanding concerns the extent of God’s initial call. The call to faith isn’t finished with our initial conversion.
It begins with faith at salvation, but then continues through a person’s spiritual life and eventually culminates in their final glory. If a carpenter invited a young man to become his apprentice, he would first designate him as a carpenter, but then make him more of a carpenter each day. The apprentice would gradually learn the trade of carpentry and would become more skilled until the day he retired from his business. So it is with the spiritual life.
We were not only called to new life in Jesus initially (John 10:3), but also called to life in Jesus continually (see Galatians 5:13, Ephesians 4:1, Colossians 3:15, 1 Thessalonians 4:7, 2 Thessalonians 1:11, 1 Peter 2:20-21) until the day God calls us to live with Him finally (Philippians 3:14, 1 Thessalonians 2:12). So, confident that God will complete His calling in us, Paul describes it as if it has already happened: “And those [God] predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified” (Romans 8:30).
Becoming a Servant of God
The Christian’s “call to service” is a second calling which occurs after our call to faith. Generally speaking, every Christian is called to serve the Lord with their life. Ministry is not a specialized task given only to those who are pastors of a church. Each Christian is a disciple of Jesus—an apprentice who lives their life as Jesus lived His, giving Himself in service to others (Mark 10:45, John 13:14). So, every follower of Jesus is called to make disciples (Matthew 28:18-20), teach others (Colossians 3:16), show compassion to the sick (Matthew 25:31-46), help the needy (Luke 12:33), care for widows and orphans (James 1:27), evangelize the world (2 Corinthians 5:18-19), pray for others (Ephesians 6:18) and use their spiritual gifts to build up the church (1 Corinthians 12:1-11). Every believer holds the position as a “priest” (1 Peter 2:9) in service to God. We are each “God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10). And, “whether we eat or drink or whatever we do,” we should do it all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).
How and where each Christian fulfills this calling varies with each person. Notice variety of calls to service in the Bible:
- Abram was called to go to a place God would show him and become the father of the Jewish people (Genesis 12:1).
- Moses received a call from God in the desert of Midian, through a burning bush encounter, appointing him as the deliverer who would lead God’s people out of Egypt (Exodus 3).
- In the period of the Judges, the Lord commissioned leaders like Othniel, Ehud, Deborah, Gideon, Jephthah and Samson to defeat the enemies of God.
- Though the prophet Samuel wouldn’t have guessed it, David was appointed by God to become the next king over Israel (1 Samuel 16).
- The story of Esther is a beautiful picture of a servant who was placed in a royal position “for such a time as this” to rescue God’s people (see Esther 4:14).
- The prophets were each set apart for their ministries, even before they were born (see Jeremiah 1:5).
- An angel announced to Mary that she would become a “servant of the Lord” by birthing the Son of God (Luke 1:26-38).
- Each disciple was individually called by Jesus to leave their ordinary work and “come follow Me” (Matthew 4:19).
- The Apostle Paul encountered Jesus on his way to persecute Christians, was converted, and then was given a charge by God to speak the Gospel to the nations (Acts 9:1-19). More than a few times, Paul introduces himself as one “called to be
an apostle.” Similarly, in 2 Timothy 1:11, he states, “And of this Gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher.”
Through different roles, at different times, in different places, God has called individuals to participate in His redemptive plan. Similarly, today, God has a calling on each Christian’s life to employ them—just like great leaders in the Bible—in His global plans. Some are called to be school teachers to train the next generation. Others are called into medicine to represent the Lord’s power to heal. Others are called into government to influence policies and lead communities to peace and prosperity. Still others may be called into social services to care for the weak and needy. There is no insignificant calling from the Lord. Every profession or position becomes the Christian’s platform to make God known in their world. A well-known quote found in various forms over time reads, “If God calls you to sweep streets, don’t stoop to be a king.” In other words, the best place for a Christian to be is exactly where God calls him or her!
As the Lord calls His people into various strategic positions, He calls some into vocational ministry. This doesn’t mean that pastors and other ministry leaders are more important, but rather that their calling is more directly and intentionally focused on the Gospel task.
To be sure, this special ministry calling incurs more scrutiny, requires more responsibility, faces more burdens, and yet often enjoys more fruit. For this reason, Paul writes, “If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer [pastor], he desires a noble task” (1 Timothy 3:1).
It is this special, pastoral, vocational ministry calling that we will focus on in the next section.
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This material is excerpted from Next Step Church: A Pastor's Handbook for Leading Their People Along the Pathway to Missional Living by David Daniels, Central Press, 2016.
From the introduction: "This work is not primarily for American pastors, though many will find it useful. Next Step Church is a narrative to complement our global training efforts and is designed to be a resource for African, Indian, Cuban, Chinese and other pastors to help them lead their churches. This book is no substitute for the Holy Scriptures. Rather, I believe that the spiritual pathway described here reflects timeless principles found in Scripture. And, I trust this book will become a ministry tool to help church leaders live, teach and model biblical principles so that healthy churches are established everywhere."