Three Dimensions of Pastoral Call
I. Personally:
1.) I have a commitment to Jesus Christ supported by deep faith.
-------- -------- -------- -------- Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Agree Disagree
Pastoral ministry requires that your faith and allegiance to Christ alone is deeply rooted in who you are and how you understand yourself and others. At the same time you must continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling (Phil 2:12). Your commitment to Christ must be your primary loyalty.
Write a short reflection explaining your answer:
2.) I am rigorously serious about my spiritual life.
Your relationship with God should be alive and a vibrant part of your life. It should be the foundation for all your decisions and life focus.
3.) I enjoy disciplined prayer and Bible study.
Pastors must study the Bible not only for themselves, but for the benefit of those they serve. Long hours of study and preparation for ministry are required for preaching, teaching and discerning the Lord’s leading.
4.) I am continually committed to personal and corporate worship.
Worship is not just a personal matter, but a discipline that binds a group of people together in Christ. It demands our best efforts, our determined focus and consistency. It is a lifestyle of an outpouring of all of who we are for the benefit and use of Christ.
5.) I desire to learn as much as I can about the Bible and the world around me for the sake of others as well as myself.
Pastors must be able to exegete and interpret the Bible for the sake of others as well as continue to learn about Christian tradition, history, preaching, worship, pastoral care, and the world in general so they can minister with relevance and coherence in the church .
6.) When I read biblical call stories, they resonate with my own personal experience.
Some biblical call stories to check out are: Abraham (Genesis 12), Moses (Exodus 3), Samuel (I Samuel 3), Isaiah (Isaiah 6), Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1), Ezekiel (Ezekiel 2), Jesus’ disciples (Matthew 4:18ff; Mark 1:14ff; Luke 5; John 1:35ff; Mark 2:13 ff; Luke 5:27ff), Saul/Paul (Acts 9).
7.) God has spoken clearly to my heart telling me what he wants from me.
Some people hear their call directly from God through an unexpected counter. For others it is more subtle, discerned from common sense, understood by the way God has gifted and equipped you. Having a clear understanding of call, where you are called, what tasks are your assignment from God, gives you an inner determination to trust and follow God even when circumstances on the outside don’t make sense.
8.) My sense of call is continuous and seems to be increasing over time.
Many people report understanding they were called, but chose to ignore the call. Some say that if the call “goes away,” you have simply misunderstood. But a clear call will not go away, but will become increasingly intense over time. Jeremiah described it as a fire shut up in his bones (Jer. 20:9). In this case, the phrase “Time will tell” is very true.
9.) When I meet people, I immediately wonder about their spiritual condition.
This may sound sort of odd, but many people called to ministry report having conversations with people, and even if the conversation has not been spiritual in nature, they describe a curiosity about the underlying issues and circumstances involved in the encounter.
10.) My conversations with people frequently and naturally include spiritual matters.
Another sort of funny thing people called into ministry seem to notice is that they can naturally and easily move the most normal conversations into deeper areas that frequently turn into significant spiritual encounters. This may indicate a natural heart and giftedness toward ministry.
11.) I find that I have a genuine love for people.
Perhaps this goes without saying, but the pastoral call involves getting involved with people for the sake of the love of Christ. Our love for them must be compelling, genuine and heartfelt. Other related attributes include an honest desire to serve people, a fundamental respect for people and the ability to evoke the best in people. You must be able to reach out to people under stress with a perception, sensitivity and warmth that is supportive and loving.
12.) I am willing to allow my will and desires to be shaped to meet the needs of the life of the church.
To serve Christ’s church requires that we allow our own wills and desires to be informed, conformed and inspired by the needs of the people we serve. We must handle stressful situations by remaining calm under pressure and be able to affirm persons toward truth.
13.) I am willing to develop new skills to enhance my gifts in accordance to the needs of the church.
The needs of our congregations should compel and propel us to learn, develop and encourage our own gifts for the sake of others. We must acknowledge our own limitations and mistakes and recognize the need for our own continued growth and learning. We relinquish ourselves for the sake of those we serve.
14.) I am willing to bear the church’s faith rather than merely my own.
Pastoral calling involves living our faith out in the context of community, and within that community, we represent the way our church seeks to embody the Gospel. Our faith is not our own. It is the faith of the church lived out and expressed through us in community. As a pastor, one always represents Christ and the church’s Christian community in the world wherever he/she goes.
II. Confirmation:
15.) Others in my church see me as a pastor.
Sometimes others see our gifts and unique personality as well suited and even conducive to being a pastor before we do. Use other people’s eyes to see the things you cannot see about yourself. Ask people whose judgments you trust. Listen carefully to what they say and take their comments and suggestions seriously.
16.) Others seek me out for counsel for advice.
Since pastors are called upon often for counsel and advice, being someone others naturally feel safe with, able to open up to as well as someone who offers helpful and timely wisdom is sometimes a clue you are called into ministry.
17.) I tend to find myself in positions of leadership that I have not sought.
Pastors are often referred to as servant leaders. Jesus uses the actions of a servant in John 19 to demonstrate how his disciples are to be with each other. Our leadership is not a matter of control, power or hierarchical authority, but flows from service, of doing what God has created us to do. So having others see you as a leader, inviting you to lead, is often a clue that others see leadership in your gift mix.
18.) People have suggested to me that I should consider ministry as a career.
Again, people around you sometimes see the way you are gifted and put together as conducive to a ministry calling. You might consider asking them what they see in you that makes them think that! Food for thought for your own soul.
III. Providence:
19.) I understand myself to have several of the following spiritual gifts: teaching, prophecy, exhortation, apostleship, evangelism, pastor, wisdom, faith.
Leaders usually have a mix of these spiritual gifts that God uses to equip them uniquely for the ministry he has called them to do. This is essentially saying God has wired you to serve him in pastoral kinds of roles.
20.) The way God has made me and equipped me, the needs he has prepared me to meet, gives me a sense that pastoral ministry is what I am meant to do.
When we exercise our spiritual gifts, we genuinely enjoy ourselves. We realize that what we are doing is uniquely a gift of God for the benefit of others. It moves others toward God. There is no other satisfaction quite like it!
21.) My circumstances are such that I can adjust my life to receive the appropriate training, preparation and support.
God does not call you to ministry and not provide a way for you to prepare. Moses prepared 40 years in the wilderness before God called him. Paul prepared 17 years before he went on to minister to the Gentiles. You must be willing to prepare, adjust and readjust yourself to follow God’s call.
Conclusion – the Bottom Line
God can call you to be or do many varied careers for his glory. We should understand ourselves to be at the task of ministry in everything we do (I Cor. 10:31, I Peter 2:9). Everything has spiritual implications and all of our actions either bring people closer to Christ or drive them away no matter what our vocation or life situation is.
The church needs the finest, most creative, most intelligent, most effective to serve as apostles, prophets, pastors and teachers (Eph. 4:11-13) for the well being of the Body of Christ. Too often our best and brightest choose to serve in vocations such as doctors or lawyers, career paths that lead to public accolades and material wealth. And, indeed, God does call committed believers to these careers, but what if the best and brightest chose to serve Jesus Christ and his Church with all their creative energies!
At the same time, God chooses the foolish things of this world to shame the wise and when we are weak, then we are strong in the Lord (I Cor. 1:20-31). Often times it is because of our deficiencies as ministers that God chooses us because then he receives all the glory and it is clear that God as moved, acted and created. “Then they will know that I am the LORD,” Yahweh repeatedly declares in the Old Testament. When we are clearly not adequate, we learn dependence on our Father and faith is developed.
If God is calling you toward pastoral ministry or you’d like to talk to someone further about the questionnaire you just took……
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