Recently a seminary student asked me how I hear God and how I know what I am called to do. I wasn’t surprised by these questions. Many seminary classes open at the beginning of the semester with times of introduction when students share their sense of their call to ministry. In other words, they share their understanding of where God is leading them to serve in ministry. In some classes, students write papers about their experience of being called to ministry in response to particular biblical passages (e.g. prophetic call passages such as Jer. 2 or Isa. 6). I have very mixed feelings about this practice. Certainly I believe that some people experience a very specific call to a particular place of ministry. However, I also believe that other people–and perhaps most–experience a general call and are led by God in faith to places where ministry happend. For these people, there is not one place of ministry that is best. The environment of sharing among the other students can feel very competitive, especially for the student who does not have a particular ministry direction.
The only commission that Jesus gave to his disciples was to “go and make disciples.” There is no higher calling. Many people who faithfully served the Lord had what we might view as undefined calls. Still they answered faithfully, led by the Holy Spirit in everything they did. There is no shame in being uncertain about one’s ministry direction. The real call is to serve the Lord, to love Him and to go and make disciples… Everything else is a matter of the leading of the Holy Spirit; and the Holy Spirit can certainly take care of that in tine.
- Learning From My Younger Self - February 10, 2024
- more reflections on ITD - June 30, 2023
- On travel while at ITD: reflections after day 1 - June 27, 2023
- ITD day 1 - June 27, 2023
- ITD day 1 - June 27, 2023
- Job Descriptions, Inclusivity, and Equity for People with Disabilities - October 15, 2022
- Traveling without a Guide Dog: Experience with Cane and Walker - October 14, 2022
- Disability and Church, Intersection - June 11, 2022
- Review: When Chronic Pain and Illness Take Everything Away - June 11, 2022
- Grammar and Style Resources for Writers - June 9, 2022