| The Changing Face of Call |
This column begins a series of three articles on how we as Christians perceive God's call on our lives during the different seasons of our life. One of the most important questions we could ask ourselves as believers is, “What is the nature and purpose of God's call in my life?”
A Biblical sense of call begins with knowing who we are in Christ and then discovering His will and His work in our lives. An awakening to call may come to us at many different times and circumstances. Perhaps. . .
| • In a financial crisis • At the loss of a child • In a quiet moment of study or reflection • In a church or spiritual life retreat • In deep devotional prayer • In a near-death experience |
Often God has to break through our walls of self-sufficiency and personal ego in order for us to hear His voice. Call is the beginning of a spiritual journey. As Samuel Shoemaker, a well-known Presbyterian preacher, wrote, “Every spiritual journey begins with two words, Help! Help!”
It is not unusual for us to reach the end of our own resources and contrivances before we are “available” to listen or hear the voice of God. The prophet Isaiah experienced that. It was after King Uzziah had died and Isaiah was out of a job that he went to the temple. “In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted…” (Isaiah 6:1). He goes on to say, “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?'” (Isaiah 6:8).
St. Paul's dramatic encounter in the New Testament with the resurrected Lord on the road to Damascus caused him to cry a loud, “Who are you, Lord?” and then “What do you want me to do?” (Acts 9:5, 6)
There are other Biblical references to call. It is described as holy.
“God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according
to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace…”
(II Timothy 1:9).
It is described as irrevocable. “For the gifts and calling of God
are without repentance (changeless)” (Romans 11:29).
It is described as requiring steadfastness. “Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called” (I Corinthians 7:20).
It is described as attainable. “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you are called” (Ephesians 4:1).
I believe that every person who is born again has a call upon his or her life to know God, to make Him known and to make disciples of men. Karl Barth, a well-known theologian of the past century, said that we (the Church) are the “called out” ones. Other references in Scripture refer to those who are called as:
| * | Ekklesia: those who are called out of the world to be in fellowship with Christ |
| * | Laos: the people of God. Those who are called out of the world to be in fellowship with Christ to be the people of God. |
| * | Liturgia: the work of the people of God. Those who are called out of the world to be in fellowship with Christ to be the people of God and to do the work of the people of God. |
| * | Koinonia: the communion of the Holy Spirit. Those who are called out of the world to be in fellowship with Christ, to be the people of God, to do the work of the people of God in the communion of the Holy Spirit. |
| * | Apostles: those who are sent out as an apostolic witness. Those who are called out of the world to be in fellowship with Christ, to be the people of God, to do the work of the people of God in the communion of the Holy Spirit and to be sent out again with the gospel to call men and women out of the world to be in fellowship with Christ. And it just keeps going over and over again. |
Now let me address the popular concept of calling. Most people think of call or calling in a vocational sense: What is that special thing I'm supposed to be doing? Many have associated call with a full-time religious vocation in the clergy or as a missionary. But the Biblical understanding of call is much broader, wider and deeper as it pertains to the body of Christ.
The Biblical definition of call is not limited to a decision about vocation. It encompasses an understanding of who we are in Christ and what we are here for. I believe one of the great tragedies in the history of the Church is the overemphasis of the separation of the pulpit and the pew. Separating the two created a bunch of “professional” Christians whom we have willingly allowed to take on the work God has assigned to each of us. That work includes:
| • Witnessing • Leading others to a saving relationship with Christ • Visiting and praying for the sick • Feeding the hungry • Caring for orphans and widows • Visiting those in prison • Comforting the weak and hurting • Being faithful in the works of grace in our own lives |
Why should we do this work when we have “professionals” to do it for us? Because we have not sought nor listened for the voice of God in our lives. We have had little reason to press into God in prayer and as a result, our lives often have become shallow. We have been robbed of the joy that is our strength in knowing we are in the perfect will of God.
It is true that Martin Luther believed in the priesthood of all believers, yet he taught two principle expressions:
| 1. Each believer is a priest responsible for his fellow man | |
| 2. There are priests in a more specialized sense |
I believe those who are priests in a more specialized sense represent gifts and offices in the body of Christ as described in Ephesians 4:11: apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers.
To prohibit a man or woman from ministry of the Word and sacrament because they fail to meet another person's artificial or extra-biblical criteria has inhibited and limited the church. What IMF seeks to do is recognize the biblically defined characteristics of an elder or minister and affirm them through the evidence of what God has already done in and through their lives.
In the next article on call, I will discuss various changes we experience
and how this affects the changing face of call in our lives.
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