Calling or Goal?
One thing I believe all ministers (and we're all ministers) struggle with is reconciling their goals with their calling. Paul had this problem, Elijah had solved this problem, the list goes on and on.
Let's start with Paul, the man we attribute the message of grace to, the guy who wrote 80% of the new testament...
Eph 3:8 - To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,
we can clearly see here that Paul was called to minister to the Gentiles. Throughout Paul's 'career' we see him repeatedly going to areas a great jewish influence. Paul's goal was not lining up with his call, which many times brought him disaster, pain, persecution, even death. Don't be mistaken, we will have persecution when we're teaching grace and righteousness to people, but when we're lining ourselves up with the call God's given us, we can avoid the disaster and trial that comes along with following our own goals.
Now Elijah is a great example of answering the call and ignoring your own goals.
1 Kings 17:2-7 - 2 Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, 3 “Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. 4 And it will be that you shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” 5 So he went and did according to the word of the LORD, for he went and stayed by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. 6 The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the brook. 7 And it happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.
Elijah set his own goals to the side, followed the call of God and was not only fed, but was able to minister to people along the way. after this he goes on to the widow and shows the power of God to her and her son. Ministry presented itself!
So how do we make the distinction? it's actually pretty simple. Sit down, turn off the tv, radio, cell phone, close your email and get a piece of paper.
Write down the GOALS for your ministry FIRST! everything you can think that you're striving for, reaching toward and spending time on. Get them all down.
Then, flip the paper over and write down your Calling! Most of us can sum up our calling in one to two sentences.
Then, compare the two. I think you'll find, much like I did, that there are plenty of things we've been striving for that were never meant to be a part of our ministry. That's not to say that they're bad things, just things that are in the way of us fulfilling the call on our lives.
If God's called you to teach, does that mean that you are to be teaching to a church of 10,000, or to 1,000 churches of 10?
If you're called to lead worship, does that mean you'll have a record deal?
If you're called to minister one on one to people, does that mean you're called to be a senior pastor?
If God called you to plant a church, are you supposed to stay there?
I think if we can all step back, view our situations from God's perspective, renew our calling, and remove the goals we've set on ourselves, we'll spend 2010 living in fulfillment rather than frustration, and our local churches might see some change, but they'll explode with growth when we're all doing what we're called to do rather than shooting for something that's not ours to fill.
when we aim too far away from our calling we not only frustrate ourselves, but we limit the ones who are truly called to fulfill that role, frustrating them. let's stop the cycle!
peace,
caleb miller
Let's start with Paul, the man we attribute the message of grace to, the guy who wrote 80% of the new testament...
Eph 3:8 - To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,
we can clearly see here that Paul was called to minister to the Gentiles. Throughout Paul's 'career' we see him repeatedly going to areas a great jewish influence. Paul's goal was not lining up with his call, which many times brought him disaster, pain, persecution, even death. Don't be mistaken, we will have persecution when we're teaching grace and righteousness to people, but when we're lining ourselves up with the call God's given us, we can avoid the disaster and trial that comes along with following our own goals.
Now Elijah is a great example of answering the call and ignoring your own goals.
1 Kings 17:2-7 - 2 Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, 3 “Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. 4 And it will be that you shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” 5 So he went and did according to the word of the LORD, for he went and stayed by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. 6 The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the brook. 7 And it happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.
Elijah set his own goals to the side, followed the call of God and was not only fed, but was able to minister to people along the way. after this he goes on to the widow and shows the power of God to her and her son. Ministry presented itself!
So how do we make the distinction? it's actually pretty simple. Sit down, turn off the tv, radio, cell phone, close your email and get a piece of paper.
Write down the GOALS for your ministry FIRST! everything you can think that you're striving for, reaching toward and spending time on. Get them all down.
Then, flip the paper over and write down your Calling! Most of us can sum up our calling in one to two sentences.
Then, compare the two. I think you'll find, much like I did, that there are plenty of things we've been striving for that were never meant to be a part of our ministry. That's not to say that they're bad things, just things that are in the way of us fulfilling the call on our lives.
If God's called you to teach, does that mean that you are to be teaching to a church of 10,000, or to 1,000 churches of 10?
If you're called to lead worship, does that mean you'll have a record deal?
If you're called to minister one on one to people, does that mean you're called to be a senior pastor?
If God called you to plant a church, are you supposed to stay there?
I think if we can all step back, view our situations from God's perspective, renew our calling, and remove the goals we've set on ourselves, we'll spend 2010 living in fulfillment rather than frustration, and our local churches might see some change, but they'll explode with growth when we're all doing what we're called to do rather than shooting for something that's not ours to fill.
when we aim too far away from our calling we not only frustrate ourselves, but we limit the ones who are truly called to fulfill that role, frustrating them. let's stop the cycle!
peace,
caleb miller
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