Calling -- What Do Calls Look Like?
Last week we discussed the call of the world versus the call of our Savior. We described the differences between the two and why it’s better to answer the call of our Savior. However, it’s difficult to do that if you don’t know what that call looks or sounds like.
Think of it this way:
On February 22, 2001, a young woman named Leyla and her daughter, Erika, were visiting friends in Edmonton, Canada. Leyla was partying with a friend that night, while leaving a relative to babysit 13-month-old Erika. When Leyla returned home, the babysitter left through the back door -- a door with a broken latch.
In the early hours of the morning, Erika walked out of the house through the door with the broken latch. She was wearing nothing more than her diaper -- in February -- in Canada. The temperature outside was about -11 degrees Fahrenheit.
Erika was found a short time after 3:00 AM by her mother, frozen and unbreathing in a snowbank about 25 feet from the house. She was immediately taken to a local children’s hospital. Upon arrival, she was considered to be clinically dead -- she had no pulse for 2 hours and had a body temperature of 61 degrees. Compare this to the “normal” temperature of 98.6 degrees and you can begin to understand the incredible hypothermia she suffered.
Leyla, Erika’s mother, was detained by provincial police for five hours on suspicion of child neglect, and even though she was never formally charged, she became the subject of intense media scrutiny. She ended up moving away from Edmonton to avoid the media attention.
Erika didn’t understand what snow was really all about, or that it was dangerous. She didn’t really know why it was bad to wander around outside, at night, with no clothes on. She was only 13 months old -- she was barely walking by herself! Nevertheless, she had to suffer the consequences.
The news is not all bad, though. Erika is better known in Canada as “Canada’s Miracle Child”. After being placed under a warming blanket in the hospital, Erika’s heart spontaneously started beating again. She was in the hospital for six weeks, during which time the doctors rushed to save her fingers, toes, feet, and hands from amputation due to frostbite. Thankfully, amputation turned out to be unnecessary -- all she required was skin grafts and therapy due to a slight deformation of her left foot which requires her to wear special shoes.
Erika’s story is a great example of what can happen if someone is not prepared. Erika didn’t know enough about the cold to really understand how to react to it, and she paid the price. The same is true for all of us -- if we don’t know enough about something, we won’t be able to react to it correctly.
If we don’t know what God’s call can look like in our life, we won’t be able to answer it properly. The problem, though, is that the call of God is different for every person! We’re not all called to the same purpose for God’s Kingdom. 1 Corinthians 12:12-20 says, “Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many. 15 Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body.” Ephesians 4:16 adds, He (meaning Christ) makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.
In these verses, the “body” is the body of Christ, or the church. The body of Christ is set up and organized just like a human body. Every part of the body has it’s own separate function and purpose. The same is true for calling. If someone is called to be a ditch digger, does that mean they’re not as “spiritual” or “good” as someone who is called to be a preacher? Of course not! On the flip side, someone who is called to be a preacher is not necessarily any more helpful to building God’s Kingdom than a ditch digger would be.
So this means that we are all called to different things by God Himself. The Bible says this in Romans 8:28: “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” Called according to HIS purpose. If God calls a person to do something, is that bad? Can it be wrong? No! Of course not! How could it be? The Bible says repeatedly that God is perfect and blameless. More than that, Jeremiah 1:5 says, “I knew you before I formed you in your mother's womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.” If a perfect God knows us before we were even born, wouldn’t it make sense that He would know what is best for us? So, if God calls you to be a ditch digger, but you really WANT to be a professional athlete, it’s easy to think that God is wrong. Likewise, if God calls you into the ministry, it’s easy to think that God made a mistake -- He can’t want you in the ministry, right? That’s only for holy people, not normal people like yourself.
What if I told you that we’re all called to the ministry? Every single one of us -- every believer in this world is called to the ministry. Jesus Himself said this! Matthew 28:18-20, “Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Jesus didn’t say, “OK, some of you need to go do this, and the rest of you can rely on them to reach the world for you.” He said, “Therefore, go”. He wasn’t just talking to His disciples, either! Check out verse 20: “Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you”. Jesus gave His disciples a command to go make disciples. He then told them to teach these disciples to obey all of His commands -- including the one to go make new disciples!
So if everyone is called into the ministry, does this mean that everyone who is not a preacher, missionary, or evangelist is disobeying the call of God? No! Everyone is called to the ministry, yes; but that doesn’t mean that everyone is called to be a preacher. Ministry is more than just preaching a sermon every week. Ministry is any activity in which a person can spread the Word of God. That’s it! Yes, preaching a sermon every week is a form of ministry -- of course. But so is witnessing to the person manning the concession stand at a football game!
Think about it like this: none of us are of the world. In other words, we don’t belong here! Jesus said so Himself in the book of John (17:16): “They do not belong to this world anymore than I do”. But yet, we still live in the world. This means that everything we do has both a physical and a spiritual side to it. Right now, I am physically standing here speaking. My physical body is moving (I talk with my hands a lot!) in a way that, I hope, helps communicate what I’m saying. However, spiritually I’m not just talking, but I’m sharing with you a truth that God first shared with me. I’m really doing two things at once. In the same way, we are all called by the Lord in two ways -- we all get a physical call and a spiritual call.
Another way of describing the physical call is to think of it like a professional call. Every person, whether a believer or not, has a strong professional call. This is what people talk about when they ask you what job you want to have when you get out of high school. If you won the lottery, and never had to work to earn a paycheck again, what would you do? Your professional calling is how you make a living.
My professional calling is to work with computers. I feel it deep down in my innermost being -- I was put on this earth to write computer programs, design database reports, and other things that involve computers and other expensive toys. I do it as a hobby, I do it for a living, and I do it because I love to do it. Each one of you have a professional call in your lives. You may not know what it is yet, and that’s OK. Your professional calling may not come until you’re older. The important thing, though, is to understand what that calling is and how to react to it.
But when you know what your professional calling is, how should you react? You react by guiding your life to make that calling a reality. If your calling requires a college degree, then you need to research colleges and start saving money for tuition. If your calling requires specialist schooling, like welding or law enforcement, then you need to research what the requirements are to apply to those schools and make sure you meet those requirements. Even Paul had a professional calling. Acts 18:3 says, “Paul lived and worked with them, for they were tentmakers just as he was.” Regardless of what your professional calling is, it’s always something that you work to improve yourself.
Spiritual call is a different animal entirely -- your spiritual call is rarely something that you choose. In fact, very often it’s the exact opposite. Your spiritual call is God telling you that He made you, He designed your talents and personality and everything else to work together to further His Kingdom in such-and-such way. Sometimes, this is as simple as volunteering in a soup kitchen or with an organization like the Boys and Girls Clubs as a mentor. Other times it’s more complicated -- volunteering to serve in a church in some fashion, or even to lead a ministry in a church. If your professional calling is how you make a living for yourself, your spiritual calling is how you make a life for another.
My spiritual calling is this, right here -- youth ministry. God told me specifically that I’m not supposed to get a paycheck to do this, my calling is to be a volunteer youth pastor. When Pastor first came to me and asked me to be the new youth pastor, I didn’t want to do it. But I prayed about it, and God told me, “I am calling you to do this.” And now, I love it, and wouldn’t have it any other way. Pastor Glen himself had something similar happen in his life. He started going to school to be a pharmacist. God called him to go into full-time ministry, though, so he obeyed.
In Pastor’s life, his professional and spiritual call match. Only in those who are specifically called to go into full-time ministry will see their professional and spiritual calls match each other, however everyone’s calls work together.
But what happens if you’ve already missed your calling? What do you do if you’ve already received a professional or spiritual calling, but you’ve ignored it because you didn’t want to do it?
Well, think back to Erika, the little girl who went out into the snow. She had a miracle happen in her life, and she was literally brought back to life. The same is true for those who have ignored their calling -- God is merciful, and will allow them to come back to their purpose. However, just like Erika has some minor damage in her body from her experience, those who come back to God’s purpose after running away may have some scars of their own.
When thinking about your calling, remember that God always gives two calls -- a professional call and a spiritual call. Your professional call is how you make a living, your spiritual call is how you make a life. In both, your callings are designed by God for you specifically, so you can best further His Kingdom here on Earth.
