Calling Out The Called

I believe every person receives God's call to salvation. I also am convinced that God calls every believer to serve him. That general call to service is best described as a full-time call to discipleship as each of us seeks to grow to be more like Jesus every day. The call to service can have specific dimensions. For example, I have spent some quality time recently revisiting my own call to ministry. I can remember God's call to me as a sixteen year old to surrender my life to the gospel ministry. I have never doubted that call. Like most ministers, there have been times on some Mondays when I wanted to walk away, but I could not because of the reality of that call from God.

I grew up in what was then a fairly typical Baptist church. When my pastor gave an invitation at the end of each service, he always extended the following: the call to give your heart to Jesus; the call to join the church if you knew Christ; the call to believers to rededicate their lives in service to Christ; the call for those who were hurting to come for prayer; and the call for believers to respond to God's call to give their lives in service as ministers and missionaries. At least once a year, he would preach about God's special call to Christian service. It was also a regular topic of conversation in our youth group. It was never a manipulative for pressured discussion. It was a call to Matthew 9:38 obedience. Jesus himself spoke of a ripe harvest and few laborers. Our pastor called on us to pray to the Lord of the harvest to send more laborers into the field. He would then invest time mentoring those of us who sensed that special call.

I would enjoy hearing about your call to ministry. I would also find it helpful to know what you are doing in your church to "call out the called."