Called

I thought today that I might spend a little bit of time further exploring an idea that I have eluded to in previous blogs. It is this issue of "Calling". If you have been reading this blog you may know that this is an issue that I have wrestled with since I was 16 years old. It has caused me great anxiety over the years and in many ways has left me paralyzed in my faith and in my life's pursuits.

Some of these ideas may be a bit controversial. I am by no means an authority but read through carefully before passing judgement.

In the church today there are those that express a "calling" to go into vocational ministry. I was one such person. As a teenager I had this compelling conviction in my heart that God wanted more from me, that there were specific plans for my life and that it somehow involved people and the church and serving God and serving others. In my faith tradition when this happens it is often identified as being called to vocational ministry and often times when a person does this they go before the church and make a public proclamation of this decision. When you do this there is special recognition and it elevates your status within that community. After all those that have given their lives to serve the church and to work within that church are very special people and they likely have made a very significant commitment of their lives to God and have a great deal of love and affection for God. We should certainly applaud that type of commitment. It is commendable. The problem is that when we elevate the status of those people to this new level it places everyone else on a lower plane. It is inevitable that it does this. If you have the one you will naturally have the other. If there is a left there is a right and if you have an up you have a down and if you have a more spiritual you have a less spiritual. So the problem is not that these people have made this commitment but that there are others who have not. So the problem then, is that it automatically lowers the expectations for all of those who don't make this commitment. We expect less of them. It is only natural to look to those who have made the elevated commitment and elevate our expectations of those people. I have even heard it said of a person that was once in a vocational ministry position and then left to go into the business world that, "he must not really have been called." I think this is an arrogant and harmful attitude and illustrates the issue that I am writing about.

The problem is that the idea of the professional christian was not original to the church movement. It came later and has been dramatically expanded in the western church in the last half century or so. As we became more affluent as a society our churches became more affluent and so there was additional money to pay salaries for all manor of pastors. Lead pastors, executive pastors, missions pastors, youth pastors, children's pastors, pastors of this and that and you name it. (If you are one of these please do not take offense until you hear me out. ) This has dramatically expanded the problem and expanded the chasm between the two groups of people. Again the problem is not with the people themselves but with what happens when we institutionally support such a structure.

How many times have you heard a pastor say, I am not the church you are. You are the ones that will do the work of the church not me, I am just like you and for the most part it falls on deaf ears.

You see, I believe that God has called us all to lives that are likely radically different than the lives that most of us have been living. We are all called to the ministry. We are all called to surrender our lives totally and completely to God. We are all suppose to study scripture with diligence. We are all called to love those around us with mercy and service and devotion. We are all called to live in complete devotion to God. We are all called to sacrifice. Every single one of us. It is not about a job, it is not about a paycheck, it is about life. I should be no less devoted to God and to people than my pastor. He is no different than me. We share the same salvation, the same faith and the same God and therefore God has the same expectations for our lives. There is no excuse for living less, doing less, loving less or being less.

This issue also comes from a misunderstanding that there is a division in life between what is sacred and what is secular. God created everything and therefore by its very nature every thing is essentially sacred. Granted there are many things that we have taken in harmful directions. But all of life is God's. You cannot separate your life into the stuff that involves
God and the stuff that does not. Most of the time the message is that we need to take a little bit more of the God stuff and sprinkle it in with our non-god stuff to make it better. The problem is that it is all God stuff. Are you in health care, caring for people compassionately was one of Jesus' primary roles in ushering in the new kingdom. Are you in business or a service industry? The proper ordering and distribution of the planet's resources was as responsibility given to Adam. It has been sacred for all time. Are you a teacher? What could be more sacred than teaching, molding and shaping a young mind? Whatever it is that you do it is a sacred occupation. Do it well, to the Glory of God and for the benefit of all people.

So, a couple of conclusions. If you are in a vocational ministry position and you feel like you need to move on to something outside of the church for a paycheck, its o.k. You don't have to feel as though you have turned away from your calling. If you are in a church job and feel that it is your place, keep serving. God bless you and your service, God bless your ministry your life and your family. If you find yourself siting in a seat or a pew on Sunday morning, it is time to see yourself in a new light. Raise your own expectations. God wants all of you. He wants you to love him with ALL of your heart, mind soul, and strength.

God help me to see that all of life is yours. Help me to love you more and help me to see how to express that love to you.