Are you aware that the concept of a “calling” is used three different ways in the Bible.
The first is a call that is extended to every person in the world – the call to enter into a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. This is the very purpose of human existence. And to promote that, God knocks on the heart’s door of every person and calls them to accept the calling. It is then up to each individual to either accept or reject it.
The third calling is probably the one most people think of when they hear the word – the call into vocational Christian ministry such as pastor, missionary, evangelist, church staff member, etc. In Christian circles, we often speak of someone being “called into ministry.”
But what about the second calling?
This important calling is not much talked about but is just as important as the other two. The second calling is the one that is extended to every person who accepts the first one – the call into full-time Christian ministry. Mind you, this is not a reference to vocational Christian ministry. Rather, it is the calling to every believer to take the gospel out into their world. This one is not about one’s earthly vocation (though that is one platform where this calling can be exercised), but about the degree to which an individual makes Christ Lord of their life.
Every believer is called into full-time Christian ministry. The difference between the third calling (vocational ministry) and the second one is a difference in vocation. The vocational Christian ministry calling puts a person inside the institution of the church as a leader. These are the people who serve the body of Christ as servant leaders. In the second calling, people are working vocationally outside of the church institution as they carry out the work of Christ in the world.
So where does that put vocational Christian ministers? What, exactly, does that calling entail? According to Ephesians 4:11-13, the purpose of vocational ministers is to “equip the saints for the work of ministry.” So what is the implication of that? The implication is that the primary ministers in the church are the “saints” (the believers in the congregation), and their teachers (equippers) are the vocational leaders.
Typically, vocational leaders have the opportunity to get specialized training in a Bible school or seminary. But what about the other “ministers” – the person in the pew? Well, their seminary is the church.
To be sure, almost every church provides a level of equipping through a pastor’s messages and in a Bible study class. But looking at how that programmatically plays out in the typical local church, a problem exposes itself. While of utmost importance, those opportunities are limited in two ways – they are not very systematic and are relatively shallow. That is not a criticism, it is simply a logistical fact that it is pretty much impossible to go very deep through those opportunities or give systematic training through them because of the limitations inherent in virtually all church programming. This also puts the church members in a position where they have to try to piece it all together on their own over an extended period of time.
MarketFaith Ministries was created to help address that problem. We are a Christian worldview discipleship ministry and provide resources and training to help church leaders get around those limitations.
It is evident that no pastor or church staff member has the ability to reach into an entire community on their own. Their ability to extend their ministry is dependent upon how effective their congregation members are in penetrating the whole community and bringing people in. And their effectiveness is greatly dependent on how well they are equipped to do the work of ministry.
The task of truly “equipping the saints” requires a vision – in particular, the vision of the pastor. It doesn’t just happen. And implementing the vision requires a deliberate plan – one that begins with a comprehensive foundation.
So, the question is, “What is your deliberate plan to see that your entire congregation becomes equipped to the extent that they are able to effectively do the work of ministry in your community?”
MarketFaith Ministries has a good starting point for that – the One-Day Seminary for Everyday Believers. See below for more information about that. It would be our pleasure to discuss this with you directly. Feel free to contact us any time.
Freddy Davis is the president of MarketFaith Ministries. He is the author of numerous books entitled The Truth Mirage, Rules for Christians Radicals, Liberalism vs. Conservatism, and his latest book Shattering the Truth Mirage and has a background as an international missionary, pastor, radio host, worldview trainer, and entrepreneur. Freddy is a graduate of Florida State University with a BS in Communication, and holds MDiv and DMin degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is a popular speaker, particularly on the topic of worldview and its practical implications for the Christian life. He lives in Tallahassee, FL, with his wife Deborah.
You may also contact Freddy at Leadership Speakers Bureau to schedule him for speaking or leadership engagements.
To set up an appointment to speak to a Literary Agent:
Email: Alfredo Baguio
Call: (702) 605-4354
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