My Experience of Being Called
Your experience will very likely be quite different from mine. It’s anecdotal and subjective. Still, it seems foolish to write so much about the call to ministry without allowing you to hear about my own.
As a teen, I began to recognize that people chased after and remained dissatisfied with so many things in life, things that didn’t last. For what? I explored the purpose of life, my own purpose, and began to wonder what God had planned for me. I remember being struck by Isaiah’s call, when God asked who would go for him? Isaiah’s answer, “I’m here. Send me!” was inspiring. If God asked me to go, to be a pastor, would I answer the same way? I wondered. God’s words resonated within me: The grass withers, the flowers fade. Life is like a mist, here for a moment, then poof, it’s gone. No sense in chasing after things that will be gone in a puff. I wanted my life to matter. I wanted to be a part of something that was bigger than myself. The only thing I found that outlasted the fading glory of humankind, the only thing that ultimately mattered, was what my Creator asked me to do. His plans are eternal. But I wasn’t quite sure what that looked like for me.
My church youth group went to a week-long conference in the midwest filled with worship, various workshops, and tons of fun. While attending one of the workshops, I was stunned. Freaky stunned. The leader—who I had never met before—somehow knew and spoke to all the secret questions I had stirring within my heart. He talked about the way people often pursue life experiences that neither satisfy nor last. He drew our attention to God, the creator and designer of life’s purpose. And he pointed us to reach past transient human achievements by answering God’s call upon our lives.
It freaked me out! How could he know exactly what I had been thinking and praying about? How could he speak about all of my secret questions stirring within? I hadn’t told him. I hadn’t told anybody! (Other than God.)
I asked the workshop leader about all this at the end of the workshop. His answer was wise. He said it wasn’t him. It was God’s Holy Spirit. “What should I do?” I asked him.
He could have told me anything at this point. Wash my car. Bring me a shrubbery. Buy me a giraffe. I would have done it. But his answer, when I asked him what to do, was, “Listen. And be ready to respond.”
Thank you, Stew Shepherd, if you’re reading this. Your wisdom led to a life of vocational ministry and many, many more disciples. I thank God for the way you allowed him to speak to and through you in those pivotal moments. And to my parents, mentors, and pastor, I give thanks for your eternal investment into me for the glory of God.
After that, I became even more active serving in my church and community. I went to college to get a degree in pastoral ministry, an M.Div., and a Ph.D. in missiology—the works. Over two decades later, I’m happy to report that I’m still a pastor, making disciples, and leading a church where God has placed me. It’s humbling. It has been rough. Worth it. But hard. My call helped me get through the dark valleys.
Some say all Christians are called to ministry (a few even say all Christians are called to full-time ministry). So how is a call to pastoral ministry different, if at all, from whatever call is extended to all Christians?
Jesus made it clear in John 13 when he washed his disciples feet: He wasn’t just serving them. He was setting the standard. He illustrated his expectation of anyone who follows him. “After washing their feet, he put on his robe again and sat down and asked, ‘Do you understand what I was doing? You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that’s what I am. And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you.’” This is one of many places where God made it clear that all followers of Jesus are called to action, to service.
To those who served others, Jesus called them blessed and welcomed them into the kingdom (Matthew 25). God calls us “his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2). We are called to use our spiritual gifts (1 Peter 4) and serve one another (Galatians 5). Throughout God’s word, we find command after command for every Christian to be involved in ministry.
But not pastoral leadership.
