The Importance of Calling

Several years ago, our congregation had the tragic experience of suddenly losing a dear 13-year-old teenage girl to a previously undiagnosed heart issue. She was running with some friends and collapsed to the ground. The doctors were not able to save her. This was a real jolt to her family, of course, but also to our entire church family. The fact that this occurred two days before Christmas added to the trauma of the event. Lacey’s funeral was three days after Christmas. The church was filled with hundreds of hurting family members, friends, fellow students, schoolteachers, and administrators. As I stood before this gathering of bereaved souls, I was somewhat stressed, as I knew that they were all expecting a word of comfort and perhaps even an answer to the “Why?” question. What strengthened me to step up confidently to the platform and lead the service? It was remembering that the Lord called me to be the shepherd of this flock and that he promised to give me everything that I needed to fulfill that calling. God’s grace enabled me to lead that congregation through a meaningful time of worship and comfort.

I believe that forgetting the importance of God’s initiative in calling us to be leaders can be a serious mistake. The result can be discouragement, feelings of inadequacy, and even thoughts of giving up the ministry. It’s not just crisis points that can weigh us down but also the ongoing daily burdens of working with people plus teaching and preaching preparations.

The Divine Call

When we, as leaders, consider the motivation to carry out our pastoral duties, we must remember that he called us to serve in this office. When Paul reunited with his beloved Ephesian elders in Miletus, he reminded them to “Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood” (Acts 20:28, emphasis added). The remarkable privilege and responsibility of caring for the flock was not something that they took upon themselves because they thought it was a good idea.

No, the Holy Spirit “made” them overseers. It was the call of the Good Shepherd through the Spirit that brought them to this place of service. In the same way, remember that you did not become a leader in the church because you thought it was a good idea or some other earthbound motive. You became a leader because you responded to the call of the risen Lord. Let’s take a look at the elements of the divine call to serve.

The Call to Faith

The foundational call for every Christian is the call to faith in Jesus Christ. Paul reminded the Corinthians that “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:9). Similarly, he told the Thessalonians, “He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:24). Through the work of the Holy Spirit in your heart, you responded in faith to the gospel call. Sometime following your conversion there was a call to serve in church leadership.

The External Call

Most of us have experienced a gradual and progressive growth in our grasp of the call to office in the church. For me, it took a few years from the “knock” that led to my conversion to the realization that God was calling me to be a shepherd of his flock.

There were many factors that led to this conclusion. First, there were the doors of ministry experience that the Lord opened. Serving in the campus ministry through which I heard the Good News is where it all began for me, and then came the opportunity to take on the role of youth leader in a local church. I discovered that I had some gifting in public ministry. This was confirmed by the people whom I served.

Theologians refer to this dynamic as the “external” call, that is, the confirmation by others that this might be what the Lord has in store. Of course, the consummation of the external call is the confirmation to office in the church through ordination. This is the recognition by an ecclesial body of your gifts and calling represented by ordination. If you are a pastor, this comes through a presbytery or another church authority.

The Internal Call

However, what is referred to as the “internal” call is of equal importance. This is the inclination of the heart to serve. or what Paul refers to as the “aspiration” to be an elder (1 Timothy 3:1). You can have all the affirmation in the world from others, but if you do not have the internal burden of the Spirit to serve, it would be a huge mistake to move forward. Martyn Lloyd-Jones wrote that “this is something that happens to you: it is God dealing with you, and God acting upon you by His Spirit; it is something you become aware of rather than what you do. It is thrust upon you; it is presented to you and almost forced upon you constantly in this way.”

For me, this conviction grew over time to the point where I became convinced that the Lord was calling me to aspire to the pastoral office. As it is for most, it was the synergistic impact of internal/external callings that led to this conclusion. Ultimately, it was Jesus Christ, as Lord of his church, who was calling me to serve. So it is for you. Please don’t forget that it is Jesus himself who has called you to be a leader in the church.

The Providential Call

Having spoken about the importance of the external call (confirmation from others) and the internal call (conviction in your heart), there is also the matter of the providential call.

The providential call is the opportunity to use your gifts among a congregation or group. The ultimate confirmation of your calling is the specific invitation to serve in a specific church or ministry.

If you are struggling right now about God’s call to minister, could it be that the Lord is about to make change in your providential call? Is he preparing you for a call to another ministry? It is quite rare that an individual serves in only one place over the course of his life. In my 40-plus years of full-time pastoral ministry I served three congregations.

These different providential callings did not shake my fundamental confidence in God’s call to serve as a pastor but were redeployments by the sovereign Lord who called me to serve in the first place.

Take Some Time to Reflect

If you find you are getting discouraged and bogged down in the day-to-day challenges of ministry life, take some time, perhaps a whole day, to reflect first on the Lord’s call to faith, and then on his call to serve. Take time to reflect on the circumstances and people used by the Lord to help you become his child through faith in Jesus. Then think about the influences the Lord used to call you to serve as a leader, remembering that it is he who influenced you to aspire to serve in this way. Think about the Spirit’s work in your heart, remembering that “the Holy Spirit has made you” a leader (Acts 20:28).

When going through challenging times in your ministry, it is a mistake to forget not just the answer to why you are in ministry but to forget who called you into ministry. The promise to every believer applies to you as you seek to serve our Lord: “He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it (1 Thessalonians 5:24).

©2023 Tim Witmer. All rights reserved. Used with permission.