Prompt:
After reading Allen’s treatment of Discerning Your Call to Ministry, define his main
argument and analyze his assessment. How has your call to ministry been similar
to what Allen promotes? How has it differed? What were the objectives and
subjective elements to your call? Is it okay to question God’s call on your life for
ministry? Why or why not? c
Main Argument and Assessment
c c c c c c c c c c If, as Jason K. Allen advises, preaching is properly defined as being “able
to explain God’s Word with skill,” and which he personally defines as “teaching
with passion,” then his insistence upon possessing a persistent, undeniable,
longing so to do necessarily accompanies it.[1] This particular insistence, upon the
irresistibility of one’s call, quickly becomes the center of most of this portion of
the text. Indeed, Allen examines this essential characteristic of the calling in
various ways (various modes of verification of one’s call, for example).[2] Thus, it
is evident that the text intends the reader to understand that a calling is not to be
taken lightly, is by the intentional hand of God, must be affirmed, and should be
understood as a lifelong commitment (given that “commitment” is thoroughly and
accurately taken).[3]
Similarities and Differences
c c c c c c c c c c To be sure, my ministerial situation is not at all like Allen’s. He is called to
the traditional pulpit. Conversely, while it is increasingly clear that I possess an
inherent skill for exposition of biblical texts, I feel little to no interest in
conventional pastorship. (Clearly, God intends something different for me though
it is not yet fully revealed.) What is shared here, on the other hand, is an absolute
passion for expounding upon the Gospel in the interest of saving souls and
spiritually enhancing lives by the same. Of this, there is no doubt.
Objective Versus Subjective
c c c c c c c c c c Objectively, I share with Allen the understanding of the universality of
evangelism and discipleship as the proper response to the Great Commission
(Matt. 28:19-20).[4] Moreover, we both appear to have no appreciation for play-it-
by-ear church operations nor “preaching that yearns to respond to itching ears (cf.
2 Tim. 4:3).[5] This was likely the most obvious to me.
c c c c c c c c c c Subjectively, my calling concerns a deep need to teach—whether through
preaching or otherwise. For some time now, I have had an intense longing to help
people “get it” when it comes to matters of Christian orthodoxy. In fact, it is not
uncommon for people to express that they never quite understood an element of
Scripture before they heard the way I explain it. That appears to drive me all the
more. The persistent nature of this experience is what convinces me of my calling
to this particular vein of ministry.
Okay to Question?
c c c c c c c c c c Absolutely! If one has questions of the Lord and does not ask, then one
is, as my father puts it, “living a lie” anyway. In my understanding, God is, first, not
the least bit threatened or offended by any of our questions. Second, I believe He
intends questions to be an indication as to where there may be gaps in one’s
collection of knowledge or reasoning. Further, I understand God’s response to our
questioning is encouraged (at least in part) in Matthew’s “ask...seek...find” (cf.
Matt. 7:7). Finally, the idea of sacrilege or faithlessness connected to questioning
something as serious as a call to ministry is an outdated congregational notion
which should never have survived in the first place. It seems to me that one is in
more danger of mistaking a calling when one does not doubt somewhat as
opposed to when one does. In any case, where else does one expect to render
and relieve doubt if not before the Lord?
Bibliography
Allen, Jason K. Discerning Your Call to Ministry: How to Know For Sure and What to
Do About It. Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2016.
[1] Jason K. Allen, Discerning Your Call to Ministry: How to Know For Sure and What
to Do About It (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2016), 61-2.
[2] Allen, 72-82. c
[3] Ibid. Chs. 4-10. c
[4] Allen, Ch. 7.
[5] Allen, Chs. 7-10.
