Desire or Calling – On the one hand, there seems to be no Biblical indication that the New Testament office of elder or pastor requires a special “calling.” Source: https://www.9marks.org/answer/does-pastor-have-be-called-god/
- The New Testament gives no indication that a pastor must be called by God in the same way that prophets and high priests were called in the Old Testament (Jer. 1:5; Heb. 5:4). Moreover, the New Testament never applies the terminology of “calling” to the pastoral office, but only to the Christian life in general (2 Tim. 1:9; Heb. 3:1).
- If the New Testament taught that pastors must be specially called by God, it seems that there would be some sort of discussion of how that happens and how to discern whether one has been called. Instead, Paul writes, “This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.” (1 Tim. 3:1). Paul doesn’t say, “If anyone wants to be a pastor, he must have a special, supernatural, subjective call from God,” but rather, “If anyone wants to be a pastor, he desires a good thing. Now here are the qualifications.”
- That said, pastoral ministry is not for everyone. It’s spiritually demanding. It’s emotionally demanding. It’s physically demanding. It subjects a man and his family to extraordinary burdens and pressures. So, while we may or may not want to use the term “call” to describe it, a man should have a sober and informed commitment to the work of ministry before he seeks to pastor a church. He should also have a local church’s affirmation of his gifts and character.
Desire or Calling—As a full night’s sleep rarely visits my longing for slumber, many times I am awakened with thoughts of God’s Word. This is not a statement of gloat but a testimony to the mercy of God for allowing me to elicit spiritual thought.
This morning, around 4:30 a.m., after a dream that was full of odd happenings, as most are, I awakened with 2 Timothy 2:15 racing through my mind—not an accident, so I mused upon it. The Holy Spirit shared that it’s not the job of the pastor, evangelist, or teacher to perform the studying for me; it is my responsibility to rightly divide God’s Word.
Remember, Christians, not one pastor, evangelist, or teacher has the market on access to the Throne of Grace and the power available through God’s Word. Don’t be duped into wayward teaching that the buck stops at the pulpit. The buck stops at God’s Throne! Don’t be duped by the “big name” preachers and highly marketable church names that you have heard about most of your spiritual life. The buck stops at God’s Throne because the Priesthood of the Believer has only one Authority, Jesus! We have to get back to the truths concerning the home, government, and the church; we are out of whack.
The Holy Spirit also directed my thoughts to Ephesians 4:11, 12;
“And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:” (don’t forget to read 13-16)
Desire or Calling—Food for thought, as the Lord gave to me early this morning: Do you realize that the word missionary isn’t in the Bible? Of course, the concept is there, no doubt. However, Ephesians lays some interesting groundwork for ministry. If each one of us would do what the Lord has “called” (desire, burden, will, unction) us to do, maybe Mark 16:15,16 would produce more fruit. “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.”
Paul told Timothy “This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.”
Dr. Rice used to say that the desire comes from God, so if the desire is there and the qualification is there, you are probably being called. And even if that is not the case, the desire is a good one, and God blesses when we do good.
Desire or Calling—More on this topic—Click me