Call to Preach

There is something that has challenged me over the years and especially more today. I hear people speak about their call to preach but they are not preaching. I see men who have reached the age to retire and are quick to lay down their bibles and simply sit. I spoke to one and asked him about his retirement. He said he was very happy to “no longer preach.” I asked him about his call to preach but he was satisfied to sit. I say this because there are churches today that need pastors and I find in some settings a shortage of men who are capable. I have found in my own setting that if I do not arrange in advance, that I will not have anyone to fill my pulpit when I have plans to be out.

      It has caused me to give some serious thought as to what a “call” to ministry—specifically, to the pastorate—consists of. I do believe there is a definite call from God given to His surrendered servants to labor in His vineyard as gifted pastors, elders, or bishops (all words used in the New Testament to refer to the same office that we commonly call “pastor”). Paul said to Timothy that if a man desired to serve in that capacity, he desired a good work. (I Tim. 3:1) In the infancy of the New Testament era, when Saul and Barnabas had been on their first church-planting mission, we read that before returning to report to their sending church in Jerusalem, they first revisited the towns where there had been a group of believers assembled so that they could “ordain them elders in every church.” (Acts 14:23) Interestingly, there was not enough time for these would-be elders to get any specialized training for the task; but of course, it was an extraordinary phase of the inception of the church that Jesus said He would build; and it was an extraordinary Apostle who was doing the appointing of these early elders. There was a proper appointing or ordaining, and there were specific qualifications that had to have been evident in all of the appointees to this sacred office. (I Tim. 3:1-7)

How, then, is a man called of God to be a pastor, bishop or elder? We might broaden the scope of the question to include a missionary, evangelist, or “full-time” servant of Christ.

     Paul was “ordained” a preacher, apostle, teacher of the Gentiles. (I Tim.2:7) He said in I Tim. 1:12 that he had been put into the ministry. His desire for his protégé, Timothy, was that he would be a “good minister of Jesus Christ.” (I Tim.4:6) He exhorted Timothy that he should stir up the “gift of God which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.” (2 Tim. 1:6) Paul exhorted Timothy that he should “neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.” (I Tim.4:14)

     From Paul we learn that he, along with Barnabas, had been separated for “the work whereunto I (the Holy Spirit) have called them.” (Acts 13:2) That work was a church-planting, missionary ministry. Paul would later confide that he had been “appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles.” (2 Tim. 1:11) He would later exhort Timothy to “preach the Word…make full proof of thy ministry.” (2 Tim.4:2) This is consistent with what Paul also had declared to Timothy when he said that God had “saved us, and called us with a holy calling.” (2 Tim.1:9)

     Thus, it is evident that to be a pastor, a missionary, an evangelist, or in some other capacity of Christian service, it wise to know that you are doing what God has called and equipped you to do. How is this to be applied today?

Well, every servant of God is an individual and is dealt with by the Head of the Church individually, within the Biblical parameters set forth above.

     I would like to interject, at this point, a personal testimony; I began to see God moving in my life even as a young child. Before my mother and father were taking me to church on a regular basis, I would ask my mom and dad how one would know they were being called to preach. Later on my mother took me to speak to the preacher at our church and there I prayed and asked the Lord to save me. That did not stop my curiosity about being a preacher. Upon graduation of high school, I moved my church membership and was under the ministry of my youth pastor Don McCulley. I would continue to ask him questions. He told me that he believed that God was calling me to ministry. I became very active in the Baptist Student Union, now BCM. I was asked to speak in so many churches as a BSU student. After 2 years at Dyersburg State I joined the US Army and sent to Fort Jackson, South Carolina for basic training. I was a soul winner. Soldiers would come to me for spiritual counsel. I was just a PFC who loved the Lord and had only the discipleship from my church. There were many who came to faith in Christ in my basic training cycle. During that time, our company had to do a cleanup detail. I was assigned to push a dust mop in the gymnasium. I always was in prayer and looking for an opportunity to share my faith. Then during that time, I sensed the presence of the Holy Spirit in my life in such a mighty presence. I went outside of the gym; I said out loud to the Lord, “Lord are you calling me to be a preacher?” It was at that moment I surrendered to ministry. The peace of God came over me. I immediately went to tell my battle buddy. He then affirmed for me this call, Bert said to me “Runions if it was anybody it would be you.” I knew I would need to be trained for ministry. I finished my time of military service, preaching wherever God would open the door and upon my separation from the military, I then enrolled in Indiana Baptist College On weekends I would drive from Indianapolis to Columbus, Ohio to preach at a small church. I graduated and then later, would attend Seminary. I have never lost my fire to serve. God in His timing placed me where he wanted me to serve. God very strategically, placed certain men in my life who were very inspirational and gave guidance. Don McCulley my first youth minister, Dan Maynard my pastor while I was stationed in Fort Huachuca, Arizona, Bill Chilton my pastor while I was stationed at Fort Benjamin Harrison in Indianapolis. These men were examples to me of God’s calling to ministry.

     That is how God called this preacher to preach His Word when I was still a young man. He has called other men in various other ways. For every man of God called by Him to preach, there is never a doubt that it was God at work, and that the purpose was to ordain whomever He was working on to the gospel ministry. Some have resisted, and they may have even fought His call for some time. But God always wins.

“For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of; for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is me if I preach not the gospel!” (I Cor.9:16)

Listed are some things, I personally think, should be mentioned in regards to the call to preach.

First, Confirmation. It is one thing for a person to have an experience and announce that God has called him to preach. Well and good and praise the Lord! We would anticipate, therefore, that this person would be, in due season and after a reasonable time to prepare some messages, preaching! When and if that happens, there should be a confirmation. The Holy Spirit, first of all, should confirm that call in the heart of the preacher, and there ought to be a confirmation from the hearers of the message. People to whom the preacher ministers will acknowledge that they were blessed, edified, and stirred by the preaching. There will be affirmation from the hearers. If a man has the call of God upon him to preach the Word, the people of God will attest to that by their responses. It does not have to be an overwhelming response, but the people of God will let one know that they are blessed by, and convinced of the call of God upon, the man of God. Often, would-be preachers confuse the “call to preach” with the putting of a man into the pastorate. If you are called to preach, then preach. You do not have to have a pulpit in a well-furnished auditorium with a friendly audience. Preach in a rescue mission, a nursing home, a street corner, a prison—or wherever the opportunity presents itself. If God has called you to preach, you will have a divinely-given burden upon you to share, to warn, and to instruct others of God’s Word and His ways. You will find, or make, opportunities to preach the Word! And, when you do, there will be someone—maybe a few, maybe many—who will affirm to you that God has called you to preach, without a doubt. There will be a confirmation of others to your call. Scripture does affirm that men and not women are called to be the pastor of the local church. There are many roles where a woman can serve in the ministry of the Lord but the pulpit of the local church has been reserved for qualified men.

Second, Conviction. When a young man feels called to preach and announces it to his pastor; or, when a council of ordained men at the time of “ordination” hears his testimony and listens to his statement of beliefs based on his understanding of scriptures. Often someone will say: “So you feel called to preach, to pastor; my counsel is that if you can be happy doing anything else, it would be wise not to pursue ministry as a vocation.” Or another statement usually said is, “What will you do if we chose not to ordain you.” Usually the man being ordained will, without hesitation, will let it be known that he is fully convinced that he could not be happy doing anything else, because he is absolutely convinced and convicted that God has called him to preach. This unshakable conviction is a MUST for anyone who desires the office of a bishop or a full-time ministry vocation. This is the reason when a pulpit committee interviews a “candidate” for a vacant pulpit, the applicant for the office is not concerned about the benefits that may accrue with the position. Preaching in a church may require a man of God to be bi-vocational taking a secular job to help support him financially. He is convinced that God has called him to preach and that God will, sovereignly , take care of his needs. Salary and/or benefits are not the “main topic.” The issues are, rather, does God want me here? What is His will for this church at this time? Or, am I a part of His immediate plan for this local church? A call to preach, to pastor, must be accompanied by an unwavering conviction that God has issued that call and that nothing that man could say or do would change that conviction.

Third, Commission. Every New Testament servant of the Lord Jesus Christ should be identified with a local, New Testament church. It is to the Church that Christ has given gifted servants to “perfect the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.” (Eph. 4:12). No minister of the gospel, called of God, is a “lone ranger.” He operates as an integral part of the local church of which he is a member. Every preacher should be under the authority of a local church. Whether he is an evangelist or a missionary; laboring at home or abroad; independently or under the auspices of a mission or ministry board, his or her first accountability is to the local church from which he or she is sent. The local church commissions pastors, teachers, missionaries, and/or evangelists, either formally or informally, to minister either in the local church or as an extension of that local church as a sending church. Christ is the Head of the body, the Church, and most of the instruction and emphasis of the New Testament has to do with the life and labors of local churches. Churches ultimately, in Christ’s name, should commission laborers to do the work of the ministry, providing for much-needed accountability and equally needed prayer support—as well as financial support, when possible.

Fourth, Commitment. A call from Christ through His Holy Spirit to preach the gospel is not temporary. He issues the call, and He alone revokes it. Of one who is called to preach, someone said he is “an ambassador, not a diplomat; an evangelist, not an entertainer; his business is to preach revelation, not reformation; resurrection, not resuscitation; Christ, not culture; conversion, not civilization; theocracy, not democracy; salvation through the New Birth; sanctification through the Holy Spirit, not through human merit.” (The Good News) To fulfill this great commission, the preacher must have an uncommon tenacity, an unsinkable spirit, an unhuman love, an incomparable motivation, an unparalleled loyalty, and an undying adherence to His Lord and to His Church that will compel him to be faithful to his call until relieved of his assignment by His Master.

The question is, have you been called to preach the gospel? If so, then “Preach the Word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.” (2 Tim. 4:2)

Nothing will be able to stop you, for with His call has come a confirmation, a holy conviction, a New Testament commission, and a rock-solid commitment.

“For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.” (Romans 11:29)

“Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall.” (2 Pet.1:10)

Randall Runions