2015-05-09 13.19.57Recently, I was engaged in a casual conversation with some guys and I mentioned that I had once served as a police sharpshooter. The comment was just in passing but it resonated with one of the new guys in our group. He was taken back to some degree and stopped me to confirm what he had heard. At the heart of his mental disconnect (of how a pastor could once be a policeman) was the underlying question of “how does God call people to vocational ministry?”

First, I don’t claim to be the “village expert” on God’s calling of preachers. There are great resources out there to explore the question including an incredible book by the President of Midwestern Seminary, Dr. Jason K. Allen, called Discerning Your Call to Ministry (which you can learn more about and purchase from Amazon HERE.) What I DO CLAIM though is a call to ministry. I have talked with many men who have also experienced this calling and there are some consistent traits in the calling. Though my list is by no means exhaustive, here are four things that are true of a calling to ministry:

  1. There is a distinct stirring in one’s spirit that is often confirmed by a personal sense of God’s confirmation through His Word. Some discount the “Word/Scripture validation” and argue that a sense of God’s voice in prayer was it for them. Others claim that the affirmation from others (parents, respected elders, etc.) was the affirmation they needed. While I don’t discount these, my experience was an affirmation in the Word (Romans 10:13-15 to be precise).
  2. There is a recurring dissatisfaction with NOT being “in ministry.” My pastor said to me in the counseling process leading up to my surrender to the calling to preach, “As long as you can do anything else and be satisfied, then do that.” [That’s good advice].
  3. There is a desire for the calling that exceeds the cost of pursuing the calling. A call to ministry is a call to prepare. Don’t even think about it if you won’t submit yourself to higher theological education. (I know…I have heard that “with all of the information on the internet, you can get everything you need—for free—and, after all, Moses never went to Seminary”). In response, I’d simply state that if I needed to have my spleen removed or a diagnosis of my heart, I’d want to have a practitioner who had been to medical school do it. It’s great that some kid watched 300 hours of YouTube videos of the Surgery Channel but he can keep his scalpel away from me, no matter how sincere his sense of calling to medicine is. (If one agrees with me about this and our physical well-being, how could we even consider diminishing the view of a spiritual doctor, shepherd, leader to guide us in our relationship with God. After all, your spirit is eternal!)
  4. Finally, there should not be any significant protest by those who love and care most for you. If your spouse thinks you’re nuts…perhaps you are, or perhaps she is…but in either case, you need to wait long enough for God to change her heart or for this yearning within you to pass. If your church leaders don’t sense an affirmation of calling is in order, perhaps you need to revisit and ask why godly people don’t see what you sense in your spirit.

The pathway of ministering to God’s people is littered with guys who once were. The ditches along the road are filled with degrees from Bible Colleges and Seminaries, cassette tapes of “best sermons ever” and clerical robes, stoles, or coat and tie “get-ups” discarded as a man turned away from his place of service forever.

Again, the list is not universal or exhaustive, but I hope it is helpful. If I can help you think through any of these things more in depth, feel free to give me a shout at my contact page. Blessings!