Listen for God’s Call to Ordained Ministry
Every believer in Jesus Christ is called to ministry, both as laity and clergy. But the future of the church is largely dependent upon gifted young people listening for, and answering the call to full time Christian service as pastors.
I know in speaking with a few of our youth at First Hillsville there are some of you who feel called to full time Christian Ministry such as being a pastor. I for one see gifts of a pastor in several of our young people and some as young as 12 years old.
If you have ever felt that God may be calling you then you owe it to yourself and to the Body of Christ to search for God’s specific call on your life. I know that ministry gets a bad rap, many who are in ministry complain about the low pay and the long hours and on and on it goes. I for one can tell you that any job you do and do well there will be long hours and hard work but I know of none that are as rewarding as leading people to Christ and then discipline them into mature Christians. The rewards really are Eternal and that is the best reward of all.
I am not saying that the call to be a pastor is more important than the call to be in ministry in the church and in the world as a lay person, but right now mainline churches are desperately searching for ways to help young people hear a call to ministry. We need young clergy who will help reach a new generation of people for Christ. The youth know their culture better than anyone and better than any study that can be done to tell us about that culture.
Currently there are only 850 of the 16,000 active United Methodist clergy that are under the age of 35.
Ask yourselves these questions:
Am I afraid that if I answer the call to ministry that I will miss out on what the world has to offer?
Am I afraid that I won’t be able to lead a normal life with family and friends?
Am I just afraid of the unknown?
Do I have a strong desire to help people understand and better handle their problems, temptations and desires in life?
Do I have a strong desire for people to know God better and go deeper in the study of Scripture?
Ask yourself these questions and then let’s talk. Maybe God wants you as one of His pastor’s. If so, there is no way that anything else will ever satisfy. Only “God’s perfect Will” can satisfy.
Ronnie