As a younger believer in the 80’s, I thought being a pastor would be the best job in the world. So just like many other people, I wondered whether I should pursue a career in full time ministry, someone told me that I needed a “calling.”
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Even though the apostle Paul had a special calling to the ministry, I have not seen where the New Testament presents to us the position of senior pastor (It’s a plurality of elders at each local congregation). That probably explains why I could not find “how pastors are called.”
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Here is what I did find. All who believe in Jesus have received a general call. I am currently reading Your Work Matters to God by Doug Sherman and William Hendricks. Sherman says, “Each of us is called, and our calling has implications for our careers, as well as for the whole of our lives.” Later, talking inner promptings about career decisions, he said, “we must not invest these subjective impressions with divine authority.” I wholeheartedly agree.
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Why all this talk about calling? Does God care about your work? Well, wouldn’t it matter to have some kind of grasp on the theology of working, since you’re spending so much of your time there? So, whether you’re a plumber, professor or stay-at-home parent, check this out, and tell me what you think:
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28 comments:
I think most of us are simply called to live and work, hopefully in a way that supports and nurtures us and those around us. Yet I also believe that some of us are called to specific work. Jeremiah was called, and Isaiah, Jesus, Paul... to particular tasks. At certain seasons in my own life, I believe I have been and will be "called" too. But these are probably the exceptions, not the rule.
it makes me think of young Samuel when I think of "called" - he heard his name and he answered - immediately. sometimes I think I hear my name but I'm so unsure that I'm not very good at the immediate answer part
LL - this may betray my current denominational background, but I have to ask the question - why shouldn't God care about what we do? Ultimately, we should be about Kingdom work and Kingdom purposes.
I believe God cares tons about what we do and that we're called to follow God's will, regardless of whether that leads us into IT, publishing, writing, or plumbing.
Granted, I haven't read the article, but still...
You're now linked in at:
http://www.xanga.com/halfmom/586034443/does-my-work-really-matter.html
http://halfmom.blogspot.com/
Service is ministry...wherever God has placed you.
I believe God cares deeply about our work and the way we spend our days, and He wants us to connect with Him in these moments--not just ministry moments, but mundane moments.
"These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates." (Deut 6:6-9)
(Word verification on this post? borim)
I think all Christians are called to serve God. I think Paul's description of how the body of Christ has different parts illustrates this. I believe some callings such as pastors get to go into the ministry is a divine compulsion............
Divine compulsion? Is it standard operating procedure that “pastors” get a more special “call” than English teachers or accountants? Or that non-pastors get a lesser, or lower calling than those who are not serving in full time ministry? My personal take is that the heart wants to say yes, but is that a biblically defensible position? I don’t see that.
I wonder whether any of the articles in The High Calling shed more light on this subject or what we find when we search scriptures related to work and calling.
Which Anonymous is this? Are you DRJ? Or more accurately, DRPJ (deep red prayer journal)? Would you consider something? If you wish to retain your anonymity and still be counted separate from countless blank faces, may I suggest just using your initials or a pseudonym like DRJ? I usually have a personal bias against “anonymous,” but I like the anonymous comments I’ve seen here recently.
Pete... I guess I feel like this is a Western question... in other words, in much of the world, people do not have the choice of "what will I be?" This suggests to me that perhaps we make more of "call" than is there.
On the other hand, all the world over, I think God does sometimes call people to special jobs and tasks. I do feel like my writing is a special call right now. Mostly because I did not intend to move in this direction, but so many things conspired to make it happen. I've also had very specific scriptures that have spoken to me along the way when I wanted to turn back. I don't know. Maybe I was called to all my other jobs too but didn't perceive it that way. Or maybe I was just living, like the rest of the world.
Craver... and can I say that you must be called to funniness? (oh, how you made me laugh with the comment on clay!)
Craveman,
Good discussion.
Spurgeon used to tell his pastoral students that if they could imagine being anything other than a pastor then they should go do it.
I agree with anonymous at some point: all Christians are called to serve and minister based on the scriptural commands to serve one another and use spiritual gifts to minister to one another.
There is a sense in which all vocations are callings based on the gifting and talent mix God put into people. These folks are called to represent Christ in these callings/vocations.
Preaching elders (pastors) are those who have been called into their vocation by virtue of their spiritual gift. Scripture calls on the people (the church) to financially support them so they can devote themselves to the word.
For me, a question arises when we look at churches who are supporting all kinds of "pastors" or "staff" who have nothing to do with the preaching/teaching of the word. I have no problem finding vocational pastors; but what about all the rest?
(I will now duck until the rotten fruit and vegetables are all depleted! By the way, we [Shiloh] do have a paid worship leader!)
"Craveman." I like that.
It's a pretty friendly crowd here, Shiloh Guy; I doubt anyone will be throwing rotten vegetables. (If anyone gets really out of line, I reserve the right to throw canned vegetables, though!) I assume you mean non-preaching pastoral types, and not administrative or custodial. Hey, maybe I could be the Minister of Mirth! "Stand up funny man, make us laugh..." Nah; too much pressure.
Hey, TheHighCalling.Org has a search tool that I want to explore later. Gimme feedback on that site if you find something you like or even if you wish something was different.
Meanwhile, I think I will cruise through some of those other links after work today.
I've found the concept of calling outside the church to be a difficult one for people to understand. Most often people tend to think of ministry as being somehow church sponsored or recognized. The clergy has a tendency to support that kind of thinking. So we don't hear much from the pulpit about the importance of our work outside of the church.
We may all understand, intellectually, that the church is the people not the place, but when we "practice ministry" it's most often tied to the place. To see our calling from Christ as a total immersion of ourselves in the life of others we are truly living out our high calling.
Shiloh, it's funny that you mention the word vocation. I had an automatic technorati search that for awhile that notified me whenever people blogged about "faith" and "vocation." Imagine my surprise when I discovered these bloggers used the word vocation to mean specifically preaching.
They were all writing about "The Vocation."
Weird. As if all other vocations are somehow less important. Don't get me wrong. I value the preaching of God's Word (meaning Scripture) very highly. Very highly.
But I also value the preaching of God's Word (meaning the people who embody Christ in their daily living). Very highly.
Should I be ducking vegetables too? Or cans?! (That's just wrong, Craver.) But it made me smile.
Also, Craver, here are two articles that address work and calling from a biblical perspective.
Is All Work a High Calling?
God Gave Me Some New Resolutions
(Full disclosure: I wrote the second article!)
Thanks for leaving a comment, Ramblin Dan. Duck if you see flying veggies. It's not usually like this, but oh, who am I kidding? It's never NOT like this!! Anyway, I appreciate your two cents.
So Mark, suppose I found an article that I wanted to circulate through my department at work. How do I do it? Would I need permission to print it out and pass flyers out at our weekly meeting? What about an interdepartmental email with a link to an article from High Calling? How does that work?
And guys, if Camy Tang shows up, let's hide and then scare her. She says she's loud... I just want to see how loud. Heh, heh. What's that? Oh, right. I guess it doesn't work like that in the electronic realm. Oh well, it woulda been fun.
I would highly recommend Os Guinness' "The Call" for a good discussion of this topic. It was something he thought and talked about for years before publishing the book and I found it to be very helpful.
So lately I've been thinking about those people we always view as having a really "holy calling from God" - those who practice a monastic lifestyle.
Often calling is in doing something - working for God, but these people spend hours, days, lifetimes in simply being with God and serving each other and those who come to them for help.
I've been plagued by a continual feeling I'm not doing enough (no matter what) when perhaps our vocation is simply to learn to know/love God and serve others in ways He puts before us daily.
Craver -- You are the king of discussion-making, my friend! (Not to mention merry-making!)
I have wrestled so much with the issue of calling in my life. And I have felt the tension LL is talking about . . . all the options I have make my calling seem more like a choice. I also have tried to follow a calling I wish I had. The Lord has always led me back to where he wants me to be. Even if it no longer looks like what I first imagined it.
perhaps my mind is wandering a bit - but when I think of "calling" or "vocation", I don' think of "what do I want to be when I grow up?" And this is a good think, since even at 53, I still don't have the answer to that question.
Rather, my sense of "calling" it to think of Paul in 1Cor 9:16, when he days that preaching the gospel was a necessity for him and again in Acts 18:5 where Paul is constrained to preach the gospel. That sounds more like getting someone into a corral than
humm, wonder how I lost the end of the comment?
Sounds more like getting someone into a corral than them choosing where and who they want' to be.
craver
Great discussion...and to think, I got here too late for the vegetable food fight. Pity.
I don't have this figured out by any means. A couple of weeks ago, on my blog, we asked the question "Does Your Work Matter to God?" and got great responses. It's clearly something we all wrestle with. I think that the call to pastoral leadership is "special", not better or worse, just different. They are held to a higher standard...there are specific standards of qualifications...they care for the church, which is the bride of Christ.
That doesn't mean that the "other" vocations lack meaning or purpose. I am currently reading a book by Gene Veith that specifically speaks to the topic of vocation so this conversation is very timely.
Tal, I don’t have that book, but next time I get around to it, I’ll see if it’s at the library.
Stacey, as my coworker AB suggested, I’m always fully stocked with opinions, but I would have to say that I don’t have an “informed” opinion on monasticism.
Charity, eh, it’s a gift. Just kidding. In this case, it’s not the chef, but the ingredients. Call it grace or dumb luck, but we just happen to be at the intersection of a whole bunch of neat people here, and I am only too happy to reap the benefits! Did she say “king?” All of the sudden, I got a hankerin’ for a peanut butter & banana sandwich.
Halfmom, such was Paul’s ministry. First, he gets knocked off his horse…
ESI, I talked about that with my lunchmates today… “not better or worse, just different.” I would like to explore what “first among equals” means, but other than that, there are high qualifying standards held to many different professions, and eldership is not necessarily a paid position.
How's that for a name instead of "anonymous"?
Food fight? Hey someone just threw a tomato at me...you missed. Now it's on! ;-)
ANYTHING that you do, you should do it wholeheartedly for the glory of God. You are serving God, not man. Whether you flip hamburgers, selling dresses or car stereos, or you're an executive for an international corporation, remember that God placed you there for a reason.
ll good point. The trap with western thought too is that oft we have an ideal of what our life should be and it can be easily turned into disatisfaction when we've not achieved those sorts of goals.
Craver Yikes...I pick this dialogue up less than a day later and there's like a million comments! :) How on earth do you ever follow this? :)
I walked right into that "king" comment. Note to self: Do NOT write the word "king" in a comment to Craver!
Craveman,
I'm finishing my sermon for Sunday and came back to see what happened with the discussion on calling and "Does your work matter to God?" It's a great discussion though lacking in launched tomatoes.
Sunday's text includes these verses: "Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free." Ephesians 6:7, 8.
I'm sure this is the very text "Just Journaling" was citing above. So I would say that God cares very much about the work you do and HOW YOU DO IT!
Pastors/elders/preaching elders need to be very careful not to elevate themselves above people. Paul's command to submit to one another needs to start in the pulpit! Elders are to humbly SERVE the flock of God, not rule over them in authoritarian style.
To Craver's question on permission:
Print and distribute freely.
Email links freely.
We're nonprofit, dude! Just make sure you give the author and the site credit as the source. That's all we need.
And, of course, don't make a profit from our content. Any formal republication in a for profit book would need to be run by the author and us.
(Geez, someone throw vegetables as me. That comment is so boring.)
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