Recently, I've been reading through Steve Farrar's book, King Me, along with several other men from our Adult Bible Fellowship. Throughout Chapter 7, Farrar is discussing the role a father plays in guiding his son, neither forcing his son to fulfill his own unreached goals, nor letting his son wander in uncertainty. How does this idea work out practically?
I began to consider this topic more when my pastor, David Doran, preached on 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 this past Sunday. In that passage, Paul is praying for the Thessalonian believers, pleading with God that these Christians might be worthy of their calling. What was their calling? What is my calling? What is my son's calling?
Every Christian has the same calling, in one sense. All of us who are saved are irrevocably and effectually called to salvation by the work of God's Spirit (2 Thessalonians 2:14). But I think there is another sense in which we all have different callings. God directs each of us to serve Him in a particular way, by means of a specific vocation or job. How can I identify the vocation to which God is calling me? How can you?
I am convinced that God wants me to serve Him as a pastor. Why? Did I hear a voice? Did I experience a particularly moving message, followed by an emotional invitation? Did I open my Bible and point to a verse that persuaded me of this fact? No. Instead, I believe I am in the process of following a simple, yet biblical, pattern.
Consider 1 Timothy 3:1. Paul makes a simple assertion. "If you want to be a pastor/overseer, you desire a good thing." This is the subjective component of the calling to ministry. I have a desire to preach, to pastor, to serve in that capacity. This desire may well be God-given, since God initiated the work of salvation (Philippians 1:6, Philippians 2:12-13) and continues to work in the Christian's heart. If I don't want to pastor, or if I'm only doing it because my parents, friends, or seminary professors said it was a good idea, then I'm likely to quit when the task becomes difficult. But Paul urges that the desire alone is not enough; we can easily deceive ourselves, substituting what would please us for what would please God.
Paul continues in 1 Timothy 3:2-7 by outlining specific qualifications. This is the objective component, which confirms the desire is God-given. If I desire to be a pastor, but my life in no way matches Paul's criteria, then I need to soberly consider my own character. If I wanted to be a surgeon, but had a 2.0 GPA, I would need to consider another vocation. If my character doesn't match the criteria Paul lays out, I need to consider whether in time I can live up to those expectations. I want to be clear: Paul does not demand perfection; he himself admitted the need for continual growth in obedience (Philippians 3:12). Still, there must be growing conformity to these character qualities. How can the people in my church trust my intentions if I'm constantly trying to sell them some product instead of finding out their needs, their hopes, their hurts? How can I lead the church in an orderly way if my own son is a slob, or a troublemaker, or the class clown? I must be striving to live out 1 Timothy 3:2-7 each day by God's grace.
Assuming I have the subjective desire and I am meeting the objective qualifications, I'm still not ready. The decision of who should lead the church can't be made in isolation by the one who wants to be a pastor. For example, there is the pattern implied in 1 Timothy 4:14 where Timothy was commissioned by the church, specifically her leaders. In another instance, Paul and Barnabas didn't set out as missionaries on their own; they were sent out by the church at the direction of the Holy Spirit (Acts 13:1-5). While the Holy Spirit is not going to audibly direct a specific church to choose me as their pastor, there needs to be some measure of external confirmation of both my desire and qualifications for that role. God gifts all of us for specific roles, beyond merely natural abilities, and those gifts are to be used in the service of the local church (Ephesians 4:11-13).
So there are at least three components of the call to ministry, specifically that of being a pastor. There is a subjective desire, which I believe comes from God. There is a growing conformity to the qualifications of 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-9. Finally, the local church must confirm both the desire and the qualifications, so that the congregation can serve as a filter to exclude the man who is unfit in his doctrine or his character to serve in the role of their pastor. This is a simple pattern, but I believe a biblical path to recognize the call to ministry.
In the next post, I will explore a potential application of the biblical pattern for the call to ministry. I believe this pattern can be useful in determining a God-pleasing vocation for any person, not just for pastors or missionaries.
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