Thursday, March 15, 2007

Called

What does it mean to be “called” into the ministry? Does your phone ring one day with God on the line?

Preachers tend to make this into something unique and only for the very few. How can I have a special “calling”, if it’s for the many?

How many churches have had résumés sent to them with some aspiring preacher declaring he has been “called” to their church? Quite perplexing for the pulpit committee to work through, especially when there are 12 different résumés declaring the same “call”. The larger the church, the more the "calls".

It's even way cooler for a preacher when he recieves the "call" from a larger church declaring that they know God has "called" him to their church. Usually not a difficutly except when after accepting the "call", he is "called" three months later by an even larger church. No problem if its a smaller church "calling".

I’m always impressed when the sons of preachers are “called” to carry on in their father’s pulpit. Mind you the “call” usually only happens in large churches, with large salaries. This has been a tried and true practice in other settings. They were “called” kings. It certainly saves the pulpit committee a lot of trouble in finding the next guy.

What if you are “called” but there aren’t any vacancies? God really needs to take better inventory of His stock.

I have a deep feeling (call) in my gut, that many are “called” but our system of doing church doesn’t know what to do with them.

5 comments:

Steve Pye said...

I know what to do with them - same thing as farm animals.... put them out to "pastor".

My dad has been preaching at the same church for 24 years now. And he's past retirement age. He's never pastored any other church, and was called from being an executive with the Boy Scouts in Toronto to being the pastor of a piddly little church in no man's land. How's that for a calling? :)

David Grant said...

Amazing how a word used one time in the N.T. has trapped so many.

Seems like a waste of a gifted individual although I doubt if your Dad would see it that way.

Steve Pye said...

Well actually, the church began as a piddly little church... that what he was "called" to. Now, it's probably 3 to 4 times the size it used to be, maybe around 200 attendees at last check, and from what I can tell he's a perfect fit for the church, and the church for him. I can't stand the small town any more, which is why I left, but I would definitely say that his church seems to have a more active congregation than any other in the area.

David Grant said...

Ah, it was your Dad's call, but not yours.

My kids probably felt much the same way when I quit General Motors to go to Bible college for 4 years and then Wawa (4,000) for the next 5 years.

p.s.
Aren't you busy these days?

Steve Pye said...

good point... my "call" was more practical... it was "hey... you want a job?" so I moved.

and yeah, I'm dog busy... but I have been desperately craving healthy spiritual fellowship, and since you and Jamie have both been part of that, I make a point to read certain blogs quite regularly. In exchange for watching television.