A lightning bolt it was not. Having gone through seminary, I’ve met men who knew in an instant that they were being called to the ministry. Others possessed a sure and steady resolve that had grown over the years. By contrast, I was confused about the idea of a “calling” and I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it when I thought that mine had arrived.

Being in the pastorate, it is quite common for people to share with me that they are feeling “called to the ministry.” It’s interesting that so many of us have such different perspectives on what this actually means. The most recent “Acts 29” e-mail newsletter addresses this very topic, and they offer “Ten Ways to Test God’s Calling In Your Life.” This idea of “God’s calling” is an especially one for many to discern. It can be over-emphasized to asking which pair of socks God would have me wear today, or it might be virtually ignored as though God were simply not interested in the details of our lives or active in shaping those details. We must strive above all to be biblical as we seek how most effectively live out these truths.
Though it could apply to many areas of life, it also applies directly to this discussion of ministry. The Acts 29 list is as follows:

Ten ways to test God’s calling in your life:
1. Is it within the principles of Scripture?
2. Does it demand God’s participation?
3. Is it contrary to selfish desires?
4. Will it challenge my faith?
5. Am I pursuing God through it or running from a problem?
6. Am I being patient with it?
7. Does it build up others?
8. Is it within my God-given abilities and spiritual gifts?
9. Has Godly counsel encouraged it?
10. Am I experiencing peace in it?

Scott Thomas
Director
Acts 29 Network

There are several practical helps to a list such as this one. It reminds us to involve others, asking “Has Godly counsel encouraged it.” This is a foreign concept to many of us who forget that the “Lone Ranger” even had companionship and have come to believe that we truly can “pull ourselves up by the bootstraps.” Seeking the counsel of others is either not on the radar for some people, or it is simply uncomfortable.

Scripture repeatedly admonishes us to seek counsel on important decisions, reminding us that “Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety” (Proverbs 11:14).This is also a reminder that the “call to ministry” is not simply internal and subjective. Rather, it must be witnessed to and verified by others. This is not to say that if someone dislikes my preaching “style” that I am not called to the ministry, but it is to say that if those whose judgment we trust doubt aour calling, perhaps we should as well. Are we trusted with teaching opportunities and what is the feedback when such opportunities are presented?

I know that in my own calling to ministry, this objective element came very much prior to the subjective, personal grasp of that same call. While I realize that this is not everyone’s experience, I find it helpful to review the process God brought me through to the pastorate. I was given several teaching opportunities which received (for the most part) positive feedback. Others began to question the presence of a call long before I did. In fact, I leaned heavily towards the academic side of things and entered seminary with the plans to continue through to the Ph.D. and to teach in an academic environment.

Somewhere during the seminary experience though, God literally broke my heart for the church. Through a series of events including conducting my grandfather’s funeral and taking “The Doctrine of the Church” with Mark Dever, God literally changed me from the inside out. I remember explicitly that several professors at Southern made the same comment: “If you can picture yourself doing anything other than full-time ministry and being content, then you ought to because ministry must be a calling.”

This last concept has been one that my wife and I have continually returned to, not only while finishing seminary, but throughout the process of finding the right place to serve and even through the first year-and-a-half of that ministry. I won’t lie: ministry is often difficult and if one enters into without a clear sense of calling from the Lord, it will not only be unrewarding but it will quite likely be damaging. We must take the idea of the call to ministry seriously because we take the Church seriously. Not that we want to discourage people, but it is not “one career choice among many,” and it cannot be entered into lightly.

We must not only be thankful for the Acts 29 list and men like John Piper who are willing to “Plea for Radical Ministry,” we must encourage those who feel this call and who serve us. The ministry can be a lonely, even alienating place and if God’s people to not uphold His servants, I know from experience how easy it is to become discouraged. But we can take joy in the fact that with the call, God also provides the equipping because it is His kingdom, His name and His renown that are ultimately at stake and He will not share His glory with another (Isaiah 48:11). For that we can be grateful.

• Read Brothers, We Are Not Professionals by John Piper