Ministry: Calling or Career Choice

Every man or woman in ministry must decide if what they are doing is a calling or Career Choice. I heard a story a long time ago that took place in an African American church in the south.  A young man decided to go into ministry and this poor church rallied around him and raised money from their meager means to send him to Bible College and off he went.  Finally, the day arrived when he had graduated and it was announced that he would be preaching his first sermon, a very significant moment in the life of a black church.  The place was packed, and he was announced and got up to preach. When he was finished the pastor went up to him and said, “Was you sent or did you just went?”  In other words, are you certain that God placed his hand on you and anointed you to serve Him, or did you decide on your own that this would be a great job for you. Chuck Swindoll once said that if you can do anything else in life than preach, then do it.  Now what both are saying is that the ministry is something you are called to, not just a career choice.  We all know of people who were not called themselves, but mommy called them and forced them to move in that direction.  What prompts me to go back to Scripture and examine this is the number of people who got out of ministry during covid, the lack of true men of God who burn with passion for the Word to be declared,  and instead are driven by what they perceive to be the glamour of ministry and when the going gets tough as it always will they bail at the first opportunity.  We are in desperate need to see men of God driven by the calling of God and the affirmation of the church.  And so, we turn to examine what we mean by calling:

Matthew 4 - 18 As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” 20 At once they left their nets and followed him. 21 Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, 22 and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

Matthew 10 - Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.2 These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

Acts 6 – the next generation of ministry was from men chosen by God - In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews[a] among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. 2 So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. 3 Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them 4 and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.” 5 This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. 6 They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.7 So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith

Acts 13 -1 Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul. 2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.

Ephesians 4 -11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

These are but a few of the examples of how men were called to preach and minister, the outward evidence.  Whenever, someone comes to me and expresses that they feel a calling to counsel others, the first thing that I ask is whether or not they are being sought after to counsel others in the present.  If not I encourage them to examine whether they are really being called.  The same applies to all forms of ministry. 

Finally we should consider the internal qualifications in accepting the call. They are found in I Timothy 3

Here is a trustworthy saying: Whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task. 2 Now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3 not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. 4 He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him, and he must do so in a manner worthy of full[a] respect. 5 (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?) 6 He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. 7 He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’s trap.  If your life doesn’t measure up with these characteristics, search your heart and God’s Word and ask him what areas you need to work on in order to qualify.  This is better done before you enter ministry than after a crisis.  A pastor I know is fond of saying, “God will never take you farther in ministry than your character will sustain you.

©2025 David W. Drake, President, Renewed Hope, Inc.