Dear ______:
Of course! I’m happy to tell you the story of how I came to believe that I was called to ministry. I thought you’d never ask. It all comes down to a parable and a sound investment strategy.
The process started back as an undergrad at the University of Washington. I was heavily involved in the university ministries department (affectionately “UMin”) at University Presbyterian Church. My pastor and mentor was the late Steve Hayner — he went on to be president of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and of Columbia Theological Seminary.
Steve opened doors for me to learn and serve, so that by my senior year I was chair of the leadership team for a ministry training small group leaders for Bible studies and prayer groups across the campus. I was teaching regularly. People were coming to me for counsel and support.
I was absolutely loving ministry.
I wanted to head off to seminary.
I had one problem: I had never heard the voice of God telling me I was “called.”
The year after graduation was my chance to put it to the test. I was offered a volunteer internship at First Presbyterian Church in Berkeley under someone else Steve had mentored: Mark Labberton, now the president of Fuller Theological Seminary.
I had majored in Business Administration. Mark found me a part time job as assistant business manager of a small grad school in Berkeley, “New College for Advanced Christian Studies.”
Doing both ministry and business provided clarity:
Ministry was life-giving. Administration sucked me dry.
If I’d known about St. Ignatius of Loyola, I’d have called these responses “desolation” and “consolations,” and done some discernment. Unfortunately, I didn’t.
But I still had a problem: No voice of God was telling me I was “called.”
For reasons I simply do not remember (call it the Holy Spirit), day after day I found myself meditating on Matthew 25:14-28.
You know the story: It is called the “Parable of the Talents.”
- Rich guy goes on a journey.
- Servants take charge of varying amounts of money.
- Rich guy comes back.
- Servants tally their profits.
- Rich guy gives out rewards.
The measure of money was the Greek “Talent.” From that (huge) unit of money we get our English word for a personal aptitude or ability. The connection was not lost on me.
Lesson 1: The rich guy gave the servants total freedom.
The master did not give the slightest indication of what they should do with his money.
Maybe God gave me that kind of freedom too. Maybe I had some choice in what I did with my life. Maybe either ministry or business could be a God-pleasing option.
Lesson 2: Whatever the profit, the rich guy was pleased.
Whether the servant invested a lot or a little, whether the profits were large or small, the rich guy was pleased. I didn’t need to find the perfect choice. Maybe I could take a risk. Maybe I didn’t need to know in advance that investing my life would reap huge profits.
Lesson 3: The only action that bothered the rich guy was no action.
One fellow buried the money and just gave it back. That really ticked the rich guy off. Weeping and gnashing of teeth ensued.
I never did get a voice from on high telling me to go into ministry.
Instead I got some talents entrusted to me. What was very clear was that I needed to invest those talents. The choice was wide open. In the end, my Master would receive all the profit.
What I needed was a sound investment strategy.
I loved my Master. The question I had to consider was where I might invest my life’s resources to get the best gain for him.
That is the question for you too.
Every talent you have actually belongs to God. God has entrusted it to you. God is looking for his mission to profit by his investment in you.
Tally up your talents. Consider the options. Invest.
My advice? Stop looking for specific directions. Choose.
Blessings,
Gary
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I’d love to hear from you in the comments! When was a time that you had to choose for yourself rather than following specific instructions? How did it work out?
This post is part of a series. To go to the beginning, click here. To go to the next installment, click here.
Gary – Surely you jest!
“Every talent you have actually belongs to God. God has entrusted it to you. God is looking for his mission to profit by his investment in you.” Perhaps, this seems simple because you have personally lived it for a while. Yet it is actually quite profound. It seems you are implying that there are also given specific talents and gifts, and that the possibility for specific instructions exist.
As believers, we operate under instructions given nearly 2000 years ago in God’s Word. I really don’t get specific instructions with rare – very rare exception. For the church, other than the specific instructions given in Acts, (i.e. stay in the city until….) there seem to be general commandments for heart, mind and soul, and body behaviors, on a daily basis. Seems to me, our instructions are already given. Your choice of parable is a good one. We have our orders, we are told that God has provided gifts and talents according to faith, but the details of how we live out this truth is left up to us. God has supplied all we need. I love the investment analogy. It is so true. We all have 24 x 7. I call that God’s great equalizer; so if you don’t have time to read the Bible, it is a matter of priorities, not time.
But to answer your question – I can think of only 3 times in my life where I received specific instruction. Stories for another day. How did it work out? Well, after ensuring the instructions did come from God — (in no instance did they contradict scripture), twice people were saved from incredible pain and suffering due to interventions that removed them from abusive situations. The last time, the instruction was specific, I was told to stop what I was doing (praying) and make a phone call urgently. It was the day my dad died. Had I not listened and immediately made that call, my mother would have witnessed my dad’s death. Was it a burning bush? No. It was an urgent thought interruption in a time of intense prayer. We are cautioned very strongly in Revelations NOT to add to God’s word. I don’t believe any of these instances of “promptings” from the Holy Spirit, add to God’s word. They did however, give me momentarily specific information which required urgent action.
Thanks Susan. I’m not sure where the jest might have been. But I’m glad to hear your stories of direct guidance.
What I was asking about was sort of the opposite — where people have had to do without direct guidance and make a choice, based on what people know about God (via Scripture) and what they know about the resources God has placed in their lives.
Blessings,
Gary