Ministry vs Calling

In the book “The Sacred Echo” by Margaret Feinberg a statement is made that gave me pondering material early this morning.

“Your calling never changes…But your ministry, well that can change every five minutes. The problem is that all too often we sacrifice our calling for the sake of the ministry. The ministry becomes so important, so central, that we lose the most important thing.”

As soon as I read that, my mind began to search for areas in my life where my calling is suffering because of a ministry path. I find scripture that tells me to make my calling sure, but no place that locks in ministry style. In fact, I am finding more and more that ministry variety is a fantastic tool to help us in our calling. Cultural trends will cause us to adapt ministry to the society. The laity is highly educated today, there is less trust in central authority than there was 50 or 60 years ago. There is a weakening of denominational loyalty, meaning that people are less likely to choose to be under my ministry simply because their parents or grandparents were. There is also a weakening of clerical authority as many ministers have damaged the Kingdom by poor choices and moral failures. These trends are a result of “Ministry” taking precedence over ‘Calling”. Prioritizing our thinking will keep our ministry fresh and in line with our precious calling.

2 Peter 1:10 Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall,

Indicators of our real calling

I have found that one of the keys to fulfillment in life is to know that you are in the calling that is right for you. I was reading this morning in John Maxwell’s book: “Life@work”. In it he writes about indicators of the real calling. How to know that it is right.

If it is a God-given direction it will have the following qualities:

The sense of urgency will be persistent and relatively long standing. It will be more than a passing fancy.

You will have a desire to get equipped to get the job done. God equips those He call and calls those He equips.

You will find that you will not quit when encountering hurdles. Sometimes that can mean persistent pursuit against all odds.

The Apostle Paul wrote a chapter that stands as a beacon to those who persevere through difficult struggles. A true call from God brings that kind of perspective.

2 Corinthians 4:7-18 We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves. We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies. Yes, we live under constant danger of death because we serve Jesus, so that the life of Jesus will be evident in our dying bodies. So we live in the face of death, but this has resulted in eternal life for you. But we continue to preach because we have the same kind of faith the psalmist had when he said, "I believed in God, so I spoke." We know that God, who raised the Lord Jesus, will also raise us with Jesus and present us to himself together with you. All of this is for your benefit. And as God's grace reaches more and more people, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory. That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won't last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don't look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.

Marching Orders

For many years my daily schedule includes a time of Bible reading in a pace that gets me through the Bible in a year. Although I have read all these scriptures many times, certain places still cause me to stop and chew thoroughly before swallowing. One such place is Jeremiah chapter 1. In the call of Jeremiah I find God handing him his concise orders and leaving no doubt as to the direction of the call.

The Call of Jeremiah Chapter 1:
4 The word of the LORD came to me, saying,
5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew [a] you,
before you were born I set you apart;
I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."
6 "Ah, Sovereign LORD," I said, "I do not know how to speak; I am only a child."
7 But the LORD said to me, "Do not say, 'I am only a child.' You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. 8 Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you," declares the LORD.
9 Then the LORD reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, "Now, I have put my words in your mouth. 10 See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant."

I believe God takes that kind of notice to every person. I am glad my call is different than Jeremiah’s call, but is it really? Everything stated in that call can be applied in some way to our lives. Indeed we have been set apart by God to “bloom where we are planted”. We must master the art of speaking forth the Word of God and daring to go anywhere, knowing that God is with us and will rescue us. We too have an appointment with our world that involves tearing down the old and building the new.

Go for it!!!

A planned course

Here is a proverb that started my day this morning:

“In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.” ( Proverbs 16:9)

A podcast I was listening to yesterday made the following observation:

Our gifts give us our ability
Our anointing gives us our purpose
Our calling gives us our direction

A couple thoughts this morning on those. I have been studying the properties of gifts. God has gifted all of us with ability to think, dream, plan and counsel. If I am waiting for God to drop a complete version of all the details, I may be waiting a long time. The Proverb said “In his heart a man plans his course.” As I look at the call of Abraham, which was one of the great examples of gifting, anointing and calling, I find that God did not so much tell him where he was going. But God did tell him where not to stay. If I am stuck in a rut of tradition, I may be comfortable but not using the gifts at my disposal.

Going faster in the wrong direction is never the right answer. Choosing a path and pursuing it takes the direction of God. I am moving today from the present to the future. When God called Abraham, He told him to get out of his tent and try to count the stars. God then told him that it was a picture of Abraham’s offspring. That picture of the future guided Abraham’s entire life after that.

“Get out of your tent and look around” Good advice !