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Reclaiming Your Call to the Ministry

By James K. Bridges

God’s call to salvation

The New Testament makes it clear that the Christian church is a divinely called institution. The Greek word for church, ecclesia, means "called out." Each believer who is in Christ has been called.

Jude wrote his epistle "to those who are called" (verse 1*). The believer’s call is from "out of darkness into His marvelous light" (1 Peter 2:9). It is also a call to "lay hold on eternal life" (1 Timothy 6:12). The apostle Paul urged believers to "walk worthy of the calling with which you were called" (Ephesians 4:1). These callings are in reference to the call that Christ gives to all who receive His gracious offer of salvation, for God is "not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9).

God’s call for ministry

There is another calling, however, to which I give attention in this article. It is the call of God to ministry. Paul acknowledged this call in his deep gratitude to Christ Jesus "who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry" (1 Timothy 1:12). Paul later identified this calling more specifically when he wrote: "I was appointed a preacher and an apostle . . . a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth" (1 Timothy 2:7).

The first order of importance to the ministry is the call itself. This is expressed in Paul’s series of penetrating questions in his letter to the Romans: "How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent?" (Romans 10:14,15). Without the appointment and assignment of the messenger, the message cannot be delivered.

The Assemblies of God has always recognized that our Lord has provided for "a divinely called and scripturally ordained ministry" (Assemblies of God Constitution, Article V, Section 11). It is obvious when you study the calling of the prophets of the Old Testament and the apostles of the New Testament, that none of them made application for their jobs. God called them all, although their callings came in a variety of ways. We hold sacred the sovereign right of our Lord Jesus Christ to call His messengers.

Jesus’ call to the Twelve

The calling of the original apostles by our Lord gives us a model for the call to ministry today. Mark 3:13–15 records that event: "And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted. And they came to Him. Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach, and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons."

"He went up on the mountain" (Mark 3:13). Christ sought the mountain atmosphere to issue His call. It gave His disciples a symbolic sense of the strength, height, and holiness of the appointment they were receiving. We must never forget that Christ’s call to ministry is a high calling (Philippians 3:14), a holy calling (2 Timothy 1:9), and a heavenly calling (Hebrews 3:1). It must never be treated as mundane or trivial.

Jesus "called to Him those He Himself wanted" (Mark 3:13). As the Head of the Church, Christ reserves the right to determine who will be His ambassadors. The call to preach still goes forth directly from the Master himself. To Jeremiah God said, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations" (Jeremiah 1:5).

"And they came to Him" (Mark 3:13). Christ will always have people to preach His Word, who will respond to His call and willingly accept His challenge. The question is, Will it be me? Will I say, "Here am I! Send me"? (Isaiah 6:8). When He calls, will I obey?

"Then He appointed twelve" (Mark 3:14). Many disciples were there, but He commissioned 12. Christ is the One who ordains into the ministry. He stated, "As the Father has sent Me, I also send you" (John 20:21). Again He said, "You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit" (John 15:16).

God’s call today

The Assemblies of God grants credentials to preach the gospel, recognizing the call of God on a minister’s life. But only the Head of the Church, our Lord Jesus Christ, has the authority to assign us to such a sacred duty. He alone can issue the divine right to represent His cause.

In our North American culture today, the ministry is facing some distressing times. Ministers are experiencing discouragement and disillusionment in major proportions. James Dobson’s research has indicated that 40 percent of all pastors will be out of the ministry within 5 to 10 years.

For ministers contemplating leaving the ministry, this is an appropriate time to reevaluate their call of God and to fulfill that call. The title of this article, "Reclaiming Your Call to the Ministry," points the minister toward a renewal of his** original call, when the Lord first gave a realization of His purpose for his life.

We must understand that it is not the Lord who has changed His intentions toward us. As James Moffatt translated Romans 11:29, "For God never goes back upon his gifts and call." It is up to us to reclaim what we have allowed to slip away. The good news is that it is possible to rekindle, reinvigorate, and restore what we have lost if we repent and recommit to our sovereign Lord.

Of course, the better thing is to cherish and protect our calling so we do not allow the world, the flesh, or the devil to rob us of that to which the Lord has called us. Every minister must stay alert in maintaining the calling and prevent the erosion so prevalent today.

Reclaim a divine association

Jesus called His disciples "that they might be with Him" (Mark 3:14). The first element of a call is that we might have a divine association with the One who called us. Jesus wants His ministers to have a special relationship with Him so we know Him, not just know about Him. And He wants to be close to us, and He wants us to be with Him.

When the Jews observed the conduct and ministry of the apostles, "they realized that they had been with Jesus" (Acts 4:13). Jesus wants to rub off on us so we will act, think, and live like Him. Christ spoke of a special relationship with His ministers: "He had in His right hand seven stars . . . . The seven stars are the angels [pastors] of the seven churches" (Revelation 1:16,20). Ministers are in His right hand to be observed, encouraged, instructed, corrected, and anointed for the service to which they have been called.

It is important for a minister to reexamine the motives that caused him to enter the ministry. If he has entered the ministry as a profession, a preference over other professions, a desire to do good, a means to earn a living, or because of the influence or advice of friends or ministers, then by all means seek an exit. We must honestly evaluate our motives. If the ministry is merely our personal ambition, there is reason to conclude that it is not a divine call.

A divine call requires that we spend time in prayer and communion with our Lord. The apostles pointed this out when they said, "We will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word" (Acts 6:4). Dr. Chalmers declared that most failures in the ministry were due, not to lack of vision, study, or organizational activity, but to lack of prayer.¹ This is true today. A lack of spending time with Jesus will quickly drive a minister to despair and ultimately out of the ministry.

The minister who wants to reclaim his call to ministry must reestablish a close vital relationship with the One who issued the call. The apostle Paul’s all-consuming zeal for his call led him to say "necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!" (1 Corinthians 9:16).

Reclaim a divine assignment

Mark tells us that Jesus called His disciples "that He might send them out to preach" (Mark 3:14). The second element of a divine call is that we accept the divine assignment to "go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15), and "make disciples of all the nations" (Matthew 28:19).

Preaching is a vital part of the gospel. Paul declared that God had not sent him to baptize, "but to preach the gospel" (1 Corinthians 1:17). He added that God "in due time manifested His word through preaching" (Titus 1:3). As Pastor Odunaike of Nigeria said, "The apostles took preaching seriously and so should we Pentecostals. It is not just a little dressing on the salad of a gospel service. Preaching is the main dish."

Preaching is not in decline as some suggest. Jesus has not rescinded this divine assignment. He said, "This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come" (Matthew 24:14).

R.E.O. White in his book, A Guide To Preaching, has pointed out what preaching has become today. "For some it is self-opinionated dogmatism, an aggressive ego-seeking self-expression, a strutting peacock showing off its feathers and the harmless relief of a hen-pecked husband." But he identifies what preaching should be: "an act of worship in which divine truth is explored and proclaimed from faith to faith, in the power of the Holy Spirit with a view to persuasion and decision."²

Many ministers today have become disillusioned because of what they have allowed their preaching to become and their consequent failure in the pulpit. Bishop Quayle asked his ministers the definition of preaching: "Is it the art of making a sermon and delivering it? Or is it the art of making a preacher and delivering that?" He added: "It is no trouble to preach, but a vast trouble to construct a preacher. Remember that when Gehazi was sent with Elisha’s staff to resurrect the dead, nothing happened. The power of the staff was negated by the hands that held it."³

For a minister to reclaim his call to preach, the Holy Spirit must be allowed to reveal the truth of the inspired Scriptures, the foundation for preaching. Unless the minister is confident that the Word of God is inerrant, inspired, and infallible, effective preaching will not be accomplished. The minister who is called of God must realize that not only must the message be prepared, but the messenger must be prepared as well.

Reclaim a divine authority

Jesus provided His disciples with "power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons" (Mark 3:15). The third element in a divine call is that we recognize the need of the power of God to fulfill the ministry to which Christ called us. We receive authority through the blood of Christ’s sacrifice, the baptism in the Holy Spirit, and the Word of God.

Jesus said, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth" (Matthew 28:18). It is in His authority that the minister is expected to carry out His commission. Paul wrote that "the kingdom of God is not in word but in power" (1 Corinthians 4:20), and that the servants of Christ are to "be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might" (Ephesians 6:10).

A minister must personally know the power of the blood of Christ to redeem if he is to preach this truth successfully to others. Jesus promised that "you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you" (Acts 1:8). However, some Pentecostal ministers have become frustrated because they function with a ritual of Pentecost without the Spirit’s manifestations. This can only lead to despair and resignation. The apostle Paul offered us a model when he described his preaching in 1 Corinthians 2:4: "My speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power." Let us earnestly seek the power of the Holy Spirit in our ministry, and it will be the joy of our Lord to help us reclaim the anointing on our preaching.

The power that exists in the preached Word of God is witnessed in Jesus’ testimony when He visited the synagogue in His hometown of Nazareth. He said, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord" (Luke 4:18,19). The people were "astonished at His teaching, for His word was with authority" (Luke 4:32).

Without the call of God, a minister does not stand a chance against the powers of darkness in this world, for a minister’s authority resides in the call. A minister who has lost the anointing on his life must earnestly seek to reclaim the call. If he does not, he will experience continued discouragement as he attempts to minister the gospel without such an assurance. It is the same as trying to function in the ministry in someone else’s calling. Remember the seven sons of the Jewish priest named Sceva? They thought they could cast out an evil spirit through Paul’s calling. The evil spirit said, "Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?" (Acts 19:15). What happened next was not pretty.

A minister can have no ministry outside his own calling in Christ. If that calling is in question, the minister has cut off his source of authority and power.

Conclusion

The call of God is intended to be carried out by a man or woman of God. When Paul addressed Timothy as "O man of God" (1 Timothy 6:11), he was using a title that referred to one wholly given to the purposes of God. The minister must protect the call of God by pursuing "righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness" (1 Timothy 6:11). We must keep our lives and ministry blameless until Jesus Christ, the One who called us, appears again (1 Timothy 6:14).

James K. Bridges is general treasurer of the Assemblies of God, Springfield, Missouri.

*Scripture references are from the New King James Version.

**One’s calling to the ministry is not gender specific.

Endnotes

1. James S. Stewart, Heralds of God (Vancouver: Regent College Publishing, 2001), 202.
2. R.E.O. White, A Guide To Preaching (Grand Rapids: W.B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1973).
3. Stewart, 190–91.