Jeff Iorg

Discerning God's Call

May 27, 2008

My new book, Is God Calling Me?, is available now. Over the past few weeks, I have been sharing some excerpts from the book. Here are some of my insights on discerning God’s call from the new book. 

How do you know you are called to ministry leadership or to some specific ministry assignment? God calls through dramatic experiences, reasoned decisions, and the prompting of others. That sounds so organized! Usually, God’s call is a combination of these experiences. In hindsight, they often seem very clear. But when you are in the middle of discovering God’s call, things are not always so orderly. Life is dynamic, often murky, and not always crystal clear. Discernment is required. 

You are in a relationship with God, an ever-changing process of learning from him, understanding his ways, and discovering more and more about him. This means a call process can often be confusing. You struggle to be sure you are hearing from God because you know the life altering consequences of your decision. This is one issue we all really need to get right!

Inner Peace
We have already emphasized the definition of call as a “profound impression from God.” This is an inner work of the Spirit touching you deeply. A call is an experience with God, an inner experience difficult to quantify. In plain terms, you simply “know it in your heart.” 

The importance of inner peace cannot be underestimated. When God calls, you must come to a core conviction you have heard him speak and you must obey. You will move steadfastly forward, buffeted against opposition and turmoil resisting your call, with quiet confidence God is leading you. The peace of God “which surpasses every
thought, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:7). An inner conviction about your call can give you strength to endure anything – from verbal abuse to financial struggles to martyrdom. 

Part of this inner peace is developing security in Jesus Christ. When you were saved, you were made eternally secure. You do not become eternally secure when you die. You are as secure today, in Christ, as you will ever be. One evidence God is calling you is a deep, settled, inner conviction about the call. God will give you unexplainable peace as you hear from him and obey his will for your life.

Confirmation by Others
Since one of the ways God calls is through the prompting of others, it might seem like needless repetition to include this as an evidence of God’s call. God calls through the prompting of others but he often confirms his call, no matter how it comes, through other people. 

Sometimes, this can be a direct message like the story of people coming to me about my call to Golden Gate. But most of time, this confirmation takes other forms. Sometimes it’s informal confirmation. For example, a friend or church member will compliment your effectiveness in ministry and ask if you have ever considered God might be calling you. Or, perhaps you go on a mission trip, do a really good job relating to people of a different culture, and the host missionary challenges you to consider a call to missions. These informal comments are often the way God first gets our attention about considering his call. 

Other times this can be a more formal process. Seminaries and mission boards require extensive references for candidates who apply for admission or appointment. Part of the reason for this is to gauge the validity of a person’s call by asking others for their perspective on it. After all, why would a church send someone to seminary or the mission field if they had not observed some evidence of God’s call in that person’s life? 

Discovering God’s call, however, is not a popularity contest or a public opinion poll. So, whose opinion should you consider and whose counsel should you heed when considering whether or not God is calling you? Several groups of people come to mind. 

First, consider the input of church leaders. Your pastor, collegiate minister, youth minister, Sunday School teacher, or Bible study leader can be a barometer indicating your call. If any of these people have serious reservations about you being called, you should listen carefully. These spiritual guides know you well, have experience in ministry to gauge your suitability, and want the best for you. If they raise a red flag, pay heed. On the other hand, if any of these are urging you to consider God might be calling you to ministry leadership, you should pay attention. Spiritual leaders who know you well are important sources of confirmation of your call. 

Second, listen to your family. This can be tricky. Some God-called younger leaders come from non-Christian families. It might seem like you should ignore their opinion. Not always. It requires discernment to know how to interpret their input. Some non-Christian families want their children to avoid ministry leadership because it convicts them of their sin, prevents materialistic goals from being achieved, or is otherwise disappointing. If these are the reasons, reject your family’s counsel and answer God’s call. 

Third, listen to your spouse. Ministry is a team effort. When God calls a person who is already married, the spouse must be included in the decision. Even when only the called person will be employed in ministry leadership, a commitment from both partners is still required. Sometimes, this means working together and sharing the same call. Missionary couples often have a joint calling. Other times, however, it means spousal support of a shared calling. For example, one effective pastor is married to a legal secretary. His wife is very committed to her career, yet also totally supportive of her husband’s ministry. Spousal support does not mean you must share the same occupation. But it does mean your spouse will support you and cooperate as you pursue the call.

Effectiveness in Ministry
Another way to discover if God is calling you is to evaluate your effectiveness in ministry. Younger people may not have much experience to measure but they can still analyze and consider the results they have achieved. More mature believers, perhaps persons considering God’s call after many years in secular employment but active church participation, have a longer track record to ponder. 

Effectiveness in ministry does not mean stellar success in everything you have attempted. It means you have seen God work through you, appropriate to your skill level and opportunity, to effect spiritual results in people’s lives. For example, when you teach a Bible lesson, do your students readily grasp spiritual truth? When you visit a sick person, are you complimented on your bedside manner? When you witness to a lost person, is it easy to present the gospel and ask for a commitment? When you preach, do you seem to be carried along by God accomplishing more than you ever imagined? 

These are the kind of questions to ask as you analyze your effectiveness. Another measure is the opportunities God and others give you for ministry leadership. Are you the person people often ask to lead in prayer, lead the Bible study, lead a decision-making process at church, or lead short-term mission teams? Leaders have followers and if people often indicate they want you to lead, then perhaps God is calling you to ministry leadership. 

Another consideration is spiritual results. Ministry leadership is more than using your gifts for God. Ministry leadership is a mysterious combination of God using our gifts to do more than you could have ever done on your own. Ministry leaders often marvel at the results God accomplishes – people saved, lives transformed, mourners encouraged, sick people healed. All of this happens through us. We marvel at how God uses his called leaders. One way to know God is calling you into ministry leadership is he is already doing some amazing things through you.

Joy in the Ministry
God-called leaders have bad days, but for the most part, ministry leadership is a joy for them. They enjoy a deep sense of fulfillment as God works through them. They like people and enjoy being part of developing them into the image of Jesus. God-called ministry leaders find joy in the ministry. 

A particular issue in this area is the joy (or lack of it) from working with people. As ministry leaders say on bad days, “The ministry would be great if it weren’t for the people.” Working with people, all kinds of people, is the most difficult part of ministry leadership. Yet, those same people (and often the exact same people!) can be a source of your greatest joy. 

Ministry is draining. People can be extremely difficult. But ministry is a people business. Finding joy in the ministry is about finding satisfaction working with people. Joy comes from watching people be saved and grow into mature believers. It’s celebrating weddings, anniversaries, graduations, and memorial services. Living, loving, laughing, as well as managing difficult relationships is all part of working with God’s people. If that brings you joy, if you cannot imagine anything more fulfilling, then perhaps God is calling you to ministry leadership.

Realistic expectations about the ministry
God called people enter the ministry for the right reason and with reasonable expectations. Confusion on either point leads to frustration as ministry leaders struggle in a role they were not made for or expect fulfillment of personal needs that never comes. If you want to be in ministry leadership, be sure your desire is in response to God’s call. 

Some people enter ministry looking for personal fulfillment or to satisfy the expectations of others. Ministry leaders sometimes pursue promotions and larger ministry opportunities expecting to find fulfillment through personal recognition or financial gain. Those who enter ministry to please parents or grandparents, or meet the expectations of mentors or other spiritual guides, end up frustrated. You simply cannot base your call on pleasing others or satisfying interpersonal needs. It must be in response to God alone. 

Some people enter ministry for the right reasons but with unrealistic expectations of what ministry will do for them. Ministry is not a means to personal fulfillment. It does not automatically solve issues like poor self-esteem, poor self-discipline, or other character deficiencies. One person told me, “I thought getting into the ministry would solve my moral struggles.” Another claimed, “The ministry was my ticket to feeling good about myself.” One church sent a prospective student to seminary, “So you can straighten him out.” These kinds of issues are never resolved by entering ministry (or ministry training) but must be resolved before you will be sustained in ministry. 

From the outside, it’s also easy to have wrong expectations about what ministry leadership will be like. You might make a short-term mission trip and think you understand what a lifetime of mission service will be like. Then, when you arrive on the field full-time, you discover it is very different than you expected. You listen to your pastor preach and wonder, “How hard can it be?” Then when the weekly grind of preaching becomes part of your work, you are overwhelmed with the demand. 

Be sure you enter ministry leadership or change to a different ministry assignment for the right reason. The reason is God’s call. If God calls you to ministry leadership, answer his call. If God calls you to a new ministry assignment, take it. Be sure you make these decisions in response to God’s call. Avoid the trap of entering ministry to meet your personal needs or having unrealistic expectations of what ministry will be like.




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Who God Calls

May 19, 2008

My new book Is God Calling Me? is now available through LifeWay or other Christian retailers or websites. Here is preview of one chapter that addresses the issue of who God calls. 

Many people struggle with hearing or accepting God’s call because they simply do not believe they are worthy of being called. Some potential ministry leaders struggle with poor spiritual self-esteem, a nagging sense of inadequacy, shame for past sins, and lack of confidence in their usefulness to God. If you are struggling with any of these issues, the comforting news is so are many other ministry leaders. Most leaders have a strong sense of their frailty and moral weakness. We know ourselves and wonder, honestly, how or why God would ever want to use us. 

But he does! God calls people like you to serve him as ministry leaders. He calls real people, with real limitations, and confounds us by using them to do his work. He calls people who have baggage from their past. He calls those who never expected it. He calls people others would have never chosen. He calls according to his purpose and plan. God calls people with a vision of what they can become and empowers them to do more than they ever imagined. 

One good example of this is the people God called and used to bring Jesus to the world. The New Testament opens with a genealogy, a series of “begats” in the family tree of Jesus through Joseph (Matthew 1:1-17). Most people would choose the best and brightest, most hopeful and holiest to create the lineage of Jesus. God chose otherwise.

God calls unexpected people
God included “Judah and his brothers” in the lineage of Jesus. The inclusion of Judah, not Reuben the first-born brother, is noteworthy. There were actually three brothers older than Judah, all passed over in favor of Judah. David, a son of Jesse, is also included in the list. He is another example of a younger brother being chosen over his siblings. In David’s case, he had seven older brothers who were considered but passed over. David was not only chosen to be king, but also to be in the royal lineage of Jesus. 

Israelite culture valued firstborn sons and preserved both family and community through them. For example, a family’s legal residence and identity was maintained through the firstborn son. Property remained in families through transfer rights from firstborn son to firstborn son. The royal and priestly offices were also passed down this same way. Oldest sons also had special responsibilities to protect, defend, and extend a family’s influence. 

Given these cultural and legal mandates, it is surprising Judah and David were chosen. Remember, human ability and natural charisma did not usually trump the cultural expectations of firstborn sons. These mores were preserved without reference to the firstborn’s leadership ability. God did not choose Judah and David randomly, but to make a clear point. God established the lineage of Jesus by his grace and according to his purpose that superceded all legal requirements. 

God chose unexpected people to bring Jesus to the world. God specializes in using people no one expects. Consider these other biblical examples. Peter was a commercial fisherman and Paul a religious terrorist. God used these men to form the early Christian movement from a scattered band of frightened disciples to a missionary force changing an empire. God chose a physician, Luke, to write a huge portion of the New Testament. He changed John from being a position-craving follower to the humble disciple who wrote about God’s love and our need to love each other. In the Old Testament, he used Gideon to lead an army, Deborah to judge a nation, and Ruth to bear a son (Jesse, the father of David). All of these people, by their background and circumstances were unexpected choices, unlikely people to make a significant contribution to God’s work.

God calls immoral people
Three women mentioned in Jesus’ lineage – Tamar, Rahab, and Bathsheba - had dubious moral reputations. Tamar was Judah’s daughter-in-law (Genesis 38). She posed as a cult prostitute and duped Judah into impregnating her. Rahab was a prostitute in Jericho who sided with the Israelites and helped deliver the city into their hands (Joshua 2). Bathsheba, referred to as Uriah’s wife in the genealogy, was David’s mistress. She was complicit with him in both adultery and murder (2 Samuel 11). 

David is also listed in the lineage of Jesus. He is an enigma. He was “a man after God’s own heart” who was an adulterous murderer. Yet, God included him in Jesus’ family tree. Tamar, Rahab, Bathsheba, and David were all guilty of immoral acts still shocking even in our sex-saturated society. 

God chooses and uses people who have sexual sin in their past. Many young adults do not answer God’s call because they are racked with guilt over past sexual sin. They wonder how God could use someone who has violated God’s standards for sexual behavior. Others have been victims of sexual abuse. They feel incredible guilt and misplaced responsibility for what happened to them. They wonder how God could use them when they have such a horrible secret in their past. Still others are victims of sex crimes – like rape or assault. They too wonder why God would call them after allowing such a terrible event in their life. 

Sexual sin in your past does not disqualify you from future ministry leadership. God will forgive your sins. He will restore you if you were victimized. He cleanses you and makes you useful for his service. If God is calling you, don’t use your sexual past as an excuse to disobey. Disobedience to God’s call will have worse ramifications for your future than any sin in your past.

God calls anonymous people
Not everyone God calls to serve him will be a prominent, well-known leader. In fact, most ministry leaders serve in relative anonymity known only to the people in their immediate circle of influence. Several of the people on Jesus’ family tree – like Perez, Hezron, Ram, Salmon, Obed – are anonymous except for being named in the genealogy. They are relatively unknown, except for God including them in Jesus’ lineage. 

There are other examples of people listed in the Bible without any details revealed or recorded about their ministry. When Jesus called the Twelve, he included James the son of Alphaeus and Judas the son of James. Jesus prayed all night prior to selecting these men. They served him faithfully and were still present when the early church organized and launched its ministry. Church tradition has sketchy information about their continued service but they were apparently faithful to their call until their deaths. Still, they served as relatively unknown leaders compared to Peter, James, and John. Sometimes, Jesus puts people on his team who will fill a role and work behind the scenes. Not everyone is a platform leader, public speaker, or executive leader. 

When my children were younger, I coached many of their sports teams. One of the questions I often asked the players in any sport was, “What is the most important position on the field?” The correct answer they learned is, “The position I’m playing!” If you don’t think that’s true, try playing a baseball game without a left fielder or a football game without a right guard. When God puts you on his team he will give you a position to play. Play it! Don’t worry about how insignificant it seems. Do your part in God’s kingdom.

God calls inconsistent people
Two men in Jesus’ lineage were woefully inconsistent, yet considered two of the great leaders of all time. First, consider Abraham. He is an incredibly important figure through whom God inaugurated his covenant relationship with Israel. He is, by all measure, the father of our faith. Yet, he also passed his wife off as his sister on two occasions to avoid conflict and save his own skin. And, what about David? He is called “a man after God’s own heart” but he also took Bathsheba as his mistress and arranged for the killing of her husband. 

What can you learn from God including such men in his plans? God uses people who are inconsistent. Some are afraid to answer God’s call because they know they won’t always live up to God’s expectations. The simple truth is you won’t always live up to your call. You will make mistakes, disappoint God and others, and have days when you wonder why God ever called you in the first place. Don’t despair. God calls you for the potential you have, not the perfection you demonstrate. Your usefulness to God is based on his consistency, not yours. Your call is sustained by God’s faithfulness, not yours. 

On my 25th anniversary in ministry leadership, I wrote a list of insights and conclusions I had learned. One of them was, “I thought I would be a better man by now.” When I started in ministry leadership, I assumed I would make amazing progress in Bible study, prayer, scripture memory, preaching ability, and pastoral skills. I thought I would conquer my anger, master personal relationships, and learn to love everyone. I was wrong. My inconsistency in these areas makes me wonder why God continues to use me. You will have a similar experience. God-called ministry leaders grow in grace but never reach perfection. God delights in showing his strength through our weakness. Weakness, no matter how much we grow in God’s grace, is an ever-present reality for ministry leaders. 

God calls all kinds of people to serve him. Do not ignore God’s call because you do not think you are the type of person God can use. Do not disqualify yourself because of past sin. Realize God calls all kinds of people to a variety of roles, including some very obscure but important assignments that matter a great deal to him. Accept your frailty. God does. Accept your role no matter how insignificant it seems to you. God will use you despite your weaknesses, inadequacies, and inconsistencies. 

Stop making excuses and accept God’s call in your life – whoever you are and wherever he assigns you!



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Three Ways God Calls

May 12, 2008

This is the third installment in the preview of my new book Is God Calling Me? which will be released in June 2008. While the book is targeted to young adults, it is applicable to every leader who is working through the process of understanding and experiencing God’s call. 

Listening to ministry leaders tell their call stories might lead you to believe God calls in an infinite number of ways. Every story is unique. God works with each person in a special way on an individual basis. God also called people in the Bible in a variety of ways, often through unusual means, with each person having a unique experience with God. 

But there are patterns to how God calls. Studying biblical call experiences reveals three primary ways God calls. You will be frustrated if you expect God to duplicate biblical call experiences to clarify your call. Those calls were unique to the persons involved. These biblical incidents are examples of God’s call, not stories to be duplicated or copied. When you discover the patterns in biblical call experiences, you can better understand how God is working in your life. 

As we consider the three ways God calls, it is easy to think one is more spiritual or significant than the others. This is incorrect. When God calls, it is always a supernatural experience. God’s calls are significant because of who is calling and what he is calling you to do. The circumstances of your call are not as important as the Source and purpose. Remember, no matter how God calls, it is always supernatural. 

God calls through sudden experiences, reasoned decisions, and the prompting of others. As each of these is described and illustrated, understand they are broad descriptions of the ways God calls. They are not rigid categories. God’s dynamic interactions with believers cannot be rigidly charted and itemized. Quantifying and qualifying call experiences, however, is helpful for creating shared categories for dialogue and understanding. 

God calls through sudden experiences
The first way God calls is through a sudden or dramatic experience. God called Moses to deliver Israel from Egypt by speaking from a burning bush (Exodus 3). The Lord called Saul (Paul) to ministry leadership on the road to Damascus (Acts 9). Both of these stories include God speaking clearly while revealed in supernatural light. Each was an overwhelming dramatic encounter for the recipient. Each call was unmistakable. 

Sometimes God calls like this. Often this kind of call comes during a life crisis. God intersects our lives powerfully, dramatically, and unmistakably. He speaks clearly, distinctly. A sudden or dramatic experience like this can be emotionally draining. It can also be frightening and cause us to wonder, “What just happened to me?” Some doubt God still calls this way. Biblical examples, the stories of other leaders, and my experience convince me otherwise. 

Some erroneously think this is the best kind of call. Several reminders and cautions help keep this experience in perspective. First, God calls in different ways and all his ways are supernatural. Second, God wants us to seek and worship him, not seek and worship an experience with him. Be careful not to glorify an experience with God more than God himself. Third, these kinds of experiences usually surprise people when they happen. God reveals himself in unique ways to accomplish his purpose, not to titillate our spiritual senses or give us something to brag about. Finally, this kind of experience is rare. Even in the Bible, God did not communicate this way with Moses or Paul every time he called them to do something. So it is with us. God may call you through a sudden, dramatic spiritual encounter but that does not normalize the process for every future call experience. 

God calls through reasoned decisions
A second way God calls is through a reasoned decision or process. Just like a sudden experience, this kind of call has biblical precedent. Paul, the same person who had the sudden experience on the Damascus Road, also heard God’s call through other means. On one missionary journey his mission team, “went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia and were prevented by the Holy Spirit from speaking the message in the province of Asia. Whey they came to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. So, bypassing Mysia, they came down to Troas (Acts 16:6-8).” 

During a night in Troas, Paul had a dream in which a Macedonian man asked him to “come over…and help us (Acts 16:9).” The team then “made efforts to set out for Macedonia (Acts 16:10).” A common understanding of this incident is Paul had a dream and instantly the team was in Macedonia preaching to the Macedonian man. Not so! 

First, the team spent weeks wandering through several provinces trying to discover God’s direction. They walked and walked and walked, while looking for an opening for the gospel or a place to plant a church. None materialized. Second, even after Paul had the dream the team still had to arrange travel to Macedonia. More process! Finally, and somewhat humorously, when the team arrived in Macedonia the man turned out to be a woman, Lydia. 

The team “concluded that God had called” (Acts 16:10) them to evangelize in Macedonia after months of travel, trying other alternatives, a dream, and more travel. Paul, the same man who was called dramatically on the Damascus Road, worked with his team through a reasoned process to discover God’s call to Macedonia. 

God sometimes calls through reasoned decisions, through the unfolding process of circumstances he allows. This type of call is supernatural. God is overseeing the process. Spiritual discernment reveals God’s hand behind the process and his intentional, methodical revelation of this kind of call. 

God calls through the prompting of others
The third way God calls is through the prompting of others. God sometimes sends a messenger, like Samuel selecting David to be the future king of Israel (1 Samuel 16). Other times, God speaks through the church (or Christian community) to reveal his will. One example of this was the initiation of the missionary movement through the church at Antioch. During a worship service, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul (Paul) for the work that I have called them to (Acts 13:2).” 

Paul and Barnabas were participating in the worship service. The obvious question is, “Why didn’t the Holy Spirit just speak directly to these men?” Instead, the Spirit prompted church members to communicate the call to the mission team. They told Paul and Barnabas about God’s plan and commissioned them for service. The call to missions came through the prompting of others. 

God’s calls are sure and secure no matter which of these ways he uses to communicate them to us. Be open to God calling you through sudden experiences, reasoned decisions, or the prompting of others. Your call may come through a crisis, through contemplation, or through the community. God has different ways of calling in different circumstances and seasons of life. However he calls, listen carefully and say yes!


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Three Types of Call Experiences

May 5, 2008

We continue this week with a second excerpt from my upcoming book Is God Calling Me? to be released in June 2008. The book is written to a young adult audience, although applicable to leaders of all ages. My hope is that many 16-24 year olds will read the book and consider the impact of God’s call in their lives. 

Although the word call is used in many ways in popular culture and in Christian vernacular, there are three distinct ways call is used in the Bible. These usages describe three aspects of God’s call – one experienced by every believer and the other two reserved for people called to ministry leadership. Discovering the distinction between these aspects of God’s call clarifies and simplifies this oft-confusing subject. 

These three different call experiences are distinct but usually related to each other. Our lives (and our callings) are a series of experiences, one intertwined with the next to create life’s tapestry. A calling often emerges from a previous call experience and its results. One layer of call creates the framework for the next to unfold. These experiences cascade from one another, building upon one another, and flowing through our lives. Callings connect like the sections of a collapsible telescope. As it’s pulled apart, sections emerge from other sections until it is assembled and useful. God’s calls are like that. They emerge from universal to specific, from previous to current, building on the past and completing the whole. 

There are three aspects, distinct aspects, of God’s call. These are not the ways God calls. That will be covered in a later chapter. These are the kinds or types of calls you may experience. The first is a universal call to Christian service for all believers. The second is a general call for some believers to ministry leadership, sometimes popularly interpreted as vocational or bi-vocational ministry leadership. And third, there is a specific call to a unique ministry assignment or particular ministry position.

A universal call to Christian service
God calls every believer to Christian service. This includes not only serving others, but personal growth resulting in changed behavior (sanctification). Paul wrote, “Walk worthy of the calling you have received,” and then listed character and behavioral expectations of believers (Ephesians 4:1-3). Peter echoed the same idea writing, “as the One who has called you is holy, you also are to be holy in all your conduct” (1 Peter 1:15). Both of these men filled their letters with reminders believers are called to walk in light, be holy, live for God’s glory, and enjoy freedom in Christ. 

God has called you to live differently than people around you and differently than you lived prior to conversion. You are called to a new way of life. God has given you new information and responsibility to live for him. This call, this profound impression from God, was part of your conversion experience. While you may not have understood it at the time, your conversion included your call to Christian service and growth. 

One important aspect of God’s general call is how it relates to a Christian’s employment or vocation. If God has called every believer to serve him, does that mean every believer should be employed full-time in some form of Christian ministry? Should every believer quit his or her job and devote every waking hour to kingdom work? 

Trying to answer these questions in the context of understanding God’s call has led to three erroneous conclusions. Some believe God only calls God only calls believers to distinctly Christian vocations – like being a pastor or teaching in a Christian school. Others take the opposite position that all vocational callings are the same – including the call to ministry leadership. Still others teach a person’s vocation has nothing to do with God’s call to Christian service (which is something you do at church after work!) All of these conclusions are inadequate. 

So, what is the relationship of God’s general call to Christian service and a believer’s vocation? God calls every believer to Christian service. God’s general call to Christian service can be expressed through any honest vocation. God wants and needs Christian teachers, plumbers, attorneys, mechanics, nurses, and carpenters. There is, however, a distinct call to ministry leadership that often results in employment in a ministry job. 

God does not want every believer in a “Christian vocation” (defined as being compensated for ministry leadership) but every believer’s work can and should be an avenue and venue for Christian service. God wants every believer to do his or her vocation in a Christian way. You may not teach in a Christian school but you can still be a Christian schoolteacher. You may practice law in a secular firm but you model sacred obedience to Jesus. God’s general call to Christian service must be lived through your vocation since it is such an important (and time consuming) part of your life.

A general call to ministry leadership
While all believers have a universal call to Christian service, some believers also experience a general call to ministry leadership. Different people label this kind of call experience differently. Different ways of describing this call include a call “to full-time Christian service,” “to vocational Christian service,” “to the gospel ministry,” “to serve the Lord full time,” or “to preach.” All of these descriptions are helpful, but have connotations that are sometimes colloquial, regional, and confusing. 

This kind of call is not a call “to full-time Christian service” because all Christians are already called to full-time Christian service (see previous section!). Every believer has a universal call to Christian service so this second kind of call must be more than that. This call is also not a call “to vocational Christian service.” Some people who have a call to ministry leadership are bi-vocational – intentionally choosing to provide part or all of their own financial support while they lead a ministry. Others are retired or self-salaried through other accumulated resources. Defining a call to ministry leadership in terms of payroll status is inadequate and misleading. 

This kind of call is also not a call “to serve the Lord full-time.” Again, all believers serve the Lord full-time. Neither is it a call “to the gospel ministry.” Ministry leaders do, in a sense, serve the gospel. But, more specifically, ministry leaders serve God by preaching, teaching, and spreading the gospel. This kind of call is also more than a call “to preach.” While preaching is essential, it is not the role or responsibility of all ministry leaders. Defining this kind of call in terms of any particular ministerial function is too confining. 

Describing this kind of call in terms of “ministry leadership” removes much of this confusion. God specifically calls some men and women to leadership roles in his kingdom. They can be vocational or bi-vocational, full-time or part-time, and occupied with preaching, teaching, administrating or any other ministerial role. The key issue is leadership. All believers are called to Christian service, but God calls some believers to ministry leadership. 

This kind of call to ministry leadership is biblical. Some question this assertion. They claim all believers are called alike and there is no special call to ministry leadership. This position seeks to diminish the differences between call experiences and reduce the concept of call to a generic experience for all believers. Obviously, this chapter is based on different model. One biblical example illustrates the uniqueness of the call to ministry leadership and how it differs from, and grows out of, the universal call to Christian service. 

In Luke 5:1-11, Jesus met with Peter and his fishing partners after a long night of futile effort on their part. Jesus taught for a while and then told the tired fishermen to load their boats, sail to a certain place, and cast their nets. A miraculous catch resulted! Peter was overwhelmed and told Jesus, “Go away from me, I am a sinful man!” Jesus replied, “From now on, you will fish for people.” Luke then wrote this poignant conclusion, “they left everything and followed him.” 

The key point of this story related to call is Jesus asked Peter to leave fishing for ministry leadership. It was not enough for Peter to be a Christian fisherman. Jesus wants all fishermen to become Christians and most Christian fishermen to keep fishing. But not Peter! Jesus wanted Peter to leave fishing behind and make ministry leadership his complete focus. 

As a believer, you have a universal call to Christian service. Like Peter, you may be called to devote yourself to ministry leadership. This second call emerges from the first. As you actively serve God, he opens your heart to further service and eventually to answering his call to lead others. 

A general call to ministry leadership is a profound impression from God and a profound experience with God. Answering this call changes your priorities and establishes new directions and requirements for your life. Committing yourself to ministry leadership may require significant sacrifice. Like Peter, you may be called to leave “everything” (however God defines it in your life) and embark on a journey of faith unlike anything you previously imagined. Settling this issue and being sure of your call, as you will discover in a later chapter, is essential to effective kingdom leadership.

A specific all to a ministry assignment
For believers who have been called to ministry leadership, an additional call experience will happen at least once. After God calls a person to ministry leadership, he will later call him or her to a particular ministry assignment. For example, God may call you to ministry leadership in missions and later call you to a certain people group or mission field. God may call you to pastoral ministry and later call you a particular church as a pastor or associate pastor. God may call you to teach and then assign you to a certain school, college, or seminary. 

Some assert this kind of call does not happen, that ministry jobs are just jobs. You apply for them, take the best one you can find, and quit them when something better comes along. While this may be true for some support positions in ministry organizations, it is never true for leadership positions. A clear sense of call is necessary for anyone who assumes a ministry leadership position in a church or Christian organization. 

This kind of call is often easier to discern than the general call to ministry leadership because it involves another person or group actually offering you a position. This confirmation can give you greater confidence God is calling. But be careful about this. Just because someone offers you a leadership position does not mean God is calling you to take it. You must still sense God’s call – a profound impression that establishes these specific parameters for your life – related to the position.


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