Called: Conversion
“In order further to prove a man’s call, after a little exercise of his gifts, such as I have already spoken of, he must see a measure of conversion-work going on under his efforts, or he may conclude that he has made a mistake…” Charles Spurgeon in Lectures To My Students
Perhaps you read the quote of Spurgeon and you began to be defensive in your own mind. I know I did. I love to preach the gospel!! Jesus death on the cross and His resurrection are the center piece of all of scripture. Yet in youth ministry we get sidetracked by how many of our kids smoke pot, have sex, or do other things that are not approved of. While it is true that these things do not honor God, it is also true that without a commitment to Jesus there is no spiritual reason for any person to avoid such behavior.
Love is one of those words that brings all kinds of different thoughts to mind. Sometimes I begin to think about Beau Jo’s Pizza and how much I love it. Other times I think about my wife and kids, they are amazing!! I also think about the ultimate message of love found not in what Jesus said, but in what he did. Too many people look for words of love when they should be looking for deeds of love. What Jesus did in coming to earth, dying, and then going to Father to be our mediator (Hebrews 9, Phil. 2) is what defines true love. How could we as ministers of the gospel not preach of such love?
Ephesians 4 speaks of the calling which God has placed on people’s life. I am not gifted like Billy Graham, and I will likely never see thousands come to Jesus they way he did, Spurgeon did, or many of today’s evangelists. I do not believe I have that gift, certainly not in that measure. On the other hand the most loving thing I can do is tell people of the love of Jesus.
What if I was faithful in telling others of the love of Jesus and never saw anyone come to saving faith? Then I would be a faithful worker whom God has gifted to other things besides preach. Being called to the ministry is not about putting out a good effort; it is about whether you are designed to do God’s work in that specific context. It is about whether you would bring more honor to god by doing something else. How should we measure our calling in this area? Here are a couple of thoughts:
- If a person is called, they must be able to clearly and effectively present the gospel.
- If a person is called they should understand the purpose of preaching is spiritual. Though there are times to deal with drugs, sex, and rock n roll in a message, those should be dealt with as an application of a spiritual and biblical truth, not as the primary purpose of a message.
- If a person is called they will see people come to Christ as a result of their ministry. I don’t know how many, and it would be presumptuous of me to throw out a number. It may not be every time they preach and it may not be every other, but it should be noticeable and regular.
- If a person is called they should have a desire and even a passion to see people come to Jesus.
What if you are not called? If you are not called, figure out what God has gifted you for and go do that whether it is in or out of the church.
Comments
AMEN! Great post bro!
This is one of those areas where Spurgeon may not have had the full perspective or biblical warrant for such a conclusion. I wonder if he collapsed his experience (all the wonderful fruit of his preaching) into a basic universal principle and tried to apply it to every context. The reason my mind goes in this direction is that I think of men like Nate Saint and Jim Eliot who were called by God to preach the Gospel to the Aucas but did not see any fruit before they died. However, fruit was born from the follow-up efforts. But I don’t think we can say they weren’t called by God to preach the Gospel. I get Spurgeon’s point, but I would think that in missionary circles it could lead to some discouragement and doubting of one’s calling while on the field in a tough area. Thanks for the post — it got me thinking.
Those are good points. Thanks for the comment. I wonder if those men had seen more fruit earlier in their ministry? I don’t know the answer, I will have to do some thinking on that.
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