Are You Called?

My entire life has been lived in the pentecostal church culture. There has never been a day in my life when I wondered whether or where I would go to church. But lately I have been giving much thought to the topic of "the call". Throughout my lifetime I have heard many different preachers talk of their call to ministry and it always sounded emotional, mysterious and specific. As a result, for most of my life I considered myself among the "not called" because I never had a specific revelation concerning ministry. The fact that I had specific abilities and general predispositions toward things of God were ignored because I hadn't received a "call". I did things for the Kingdom when I saw a need and knew that I had ability to help with that need, but I never saw it as "evidence of a call" and I never had a career minister challenge me or encourage me in any other way than as a good church member.

A couple of years ago I made the decision to pursue ministry credentials for several reasons, none of which are pertinent to this post. But I was disturbed in the application process when there were questions about the "clear evidence of a call", because I was never awakened in the middle of the night and given a vision concerning the specific call placed on my life by God. I just wanted to do some things that would only be possible with ministry credentials. I wondered if I was an imposter.

In Bible study and reading of books related to this topic I have decided a few things. First is that I believe that God does call people in a miraculous, mysterious, and specific way, but that not everyone gets that kind of call. Second, that everyone who has received salvation is called to ministry. We are all to be involved in evangelism and discipleship and we should all be preparing and ministering constantly. Thirdly, God gave me the gifts He gave me to be used for His Kingdom purposes. For me to see a situation which I am uniquely suited to do and not to do it because I haven't felt "led" or "called" is wrong. Fourthly, the qualifications for ministers listed in the New Testament focus much more on character than calling.

I would encourage you that if you have a predilection toward some type of ministry activity, don't wait for a shining light from Heaven to get involved. Obviously there are issues of preparation and submission, but don't live your life without doing ministry because you haven't experienced "the call". That is an excuse; not a reason.