Hearing, Answering Call From God To Be A Minister

When you give your life to the Lord, He never gives it back.

“I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.” John 10:28

Do you hear a call to ministry? Well, if you do there’s never been a better time than now to take God off of call waiting and see what He wants.

I read an article the other day that said between now and 2020 that something like 50 percent of the world’s clergy will reach retirement age. But even worse is that there are not enough younger pastors coming into the ministry to supplement this loss of leadership. There are a lot of reasons why.

An average work week for a pastor can be up to 75 hours. Fifty percent of pastors leave the ministry in the first five years.

Seventy percent are grossly underpaid compared to other professions with the same levels of education and experience.

Eighty percent are lonely and have no close friends.

Fifty percent suffer from depression.

Forty percent have a serious conflict with a parishioner once a week. It’s a tough gig.

You have to be a jack-of-all-trades. You have to know a bit about family systems; be a part-time politician; know how to teach with a whiteboard; be able to prepare a Power Point; read a P&L statement. Be able to give a reasonable medical diagnosis. Be brushed up on psychology and counseling. Understand childhood problems and be able to use the wisdom of Solomon in legal matters.

You can’t show emotion or be angry. Definitely no crying. Tell no one you’re depressed or feeling guilty. You have to be sinless and never, ever be caught at the liquor store.

Your house has to be clean 24-7 for drop-in visitors and you’re expected to keep an immaculate office.

Feel that call to ministry yet? I’ve got news. God calls us all to be ministers. The Bible says we are a Kingdom of Priests. Each of us being ministers to each other and to the whole world. Some are called to be teachers and others to be prophets. Some are pastors and some to be missionaries.

When God called Isaiah it wasn’t to a life of luxury. Isaiah’s answer was “Here I am, Lord.”

When Jeremiah was called, he was made fun of and ridiculed but God said, “I have plans to give you hope and a future.”

When Jesus called Peter, Peter dropped his fishing nets.

When Paul saw the light, he crawled and humbled himself to the very people he was persecuting. The problem is we compare our calls to ministry with the standards of the world. If we’re not producing 2.3 kids and own a 30-year mortgage and three credit cards then we’re not being successful in life. But that’s not what being called by God is all about.

It’s about giving God glory in all things. About learning to pray and living the Biblical story. It’s about truly understanding the meaning of grace and coming out the other side thankful for it.

If you’re hearing a call to the ministry, don’t wait any longer. Go talk to your pastor. Start a ministry. Practice in your local church. With this coming wave of retirements, I promise you, God is once again crying out, “Whom shall I send?”

How we answer makes all the world of difference.