c Jason Allen gives a thorough attempt at helping others understand what the
calling of God to ministry in one’s life looks like and what it does not. Allen looks
at various angles of discerning the calling, and his main argument could be
interpreted as God calls, affirms, creates, and sustains a pastor. God gives those
He calls the gift of teaching; as Allen writes, “there is one gift, and only one gift, a
pastor must possess. He must be able to teach.”[1] One can then imply that the
calling begins with a gift of God to teach. However, not everyone who can teach
should teach.
c c c c c c c c c c One will need the church to affirm one’s calling. Allen writes, “the church
appoints its own leaders. Leaders do not appoint themselves.”[2] It is not enough
for the individual to have an internal calling that is not represented by external
reality. Allen describes the ultimate affirmation of the calling when he writes, “the
local church is the arbiter…the final human evaluator of your call.”[3] Therefore,
one requires an external and internal affirmation.
c c c c c c c c c c Once affirmed, God utilizes the tools given by the Holy Spirit to create a
vessel through which His Word reaches the nations. To accomplish this, one must
love the Word, and to love the Word, one must love people, as that is what the
Word commands (1 John 4:7). Allen writes, “Men who hold the office of the
ministry should have the heart of a mother toward the church.”[4] Loving people,
loving the Word, trusting the Holy Spirit’s guidance, and practice all combine to
create the foundations of a man worthy of the pulpit.
c c c c c c c c c c To sustain a presence in the pulpit reflective of the God Christian’s serve,
one will need sustaining by God’s grace. While there are certainly positives to life
in the ministry, it will not come without persecutions (Mark 10:29-30). One will
need the Holy Spirit to enable them to endure the trials, struggles, and burdens
that come with serving God in a fallen world. One will need to cultivate the ability
to defend the faith from those who would attempt to undermine or destroy it.[5]
One must also call on the graces of God to follow Him wherever the calling leads.
As Allen writes, “surrendering to the ministry includes a determination to follow
God’s call wherever it may lead.”[6] This leading may be geographical or to the
more challenging aspects of Scripture in communities or to people that do not
consider God’s Word the authority. One needs to look no farther than Jonah to
understand the consequences of an unsurrendered attitude and the eventual
outcome.[7] Surrendering to God will provide the joyful blessings necessary to
sustain one on the journey to finish the race He has set before those He calls to
ministry.
c c c c c c c c c c Allen makes a quality assessment of what the Call of God to the ministry
should entail. His assessment takes on the wide variety of questions those
entering the ministry may have through external and internal affirmations, the
affirmation of the church, and others towards one’s calling. Allen accurately
embraces Scripture such as 1 Peter 5:1-4 to ground his logic in the Bible and
takes head-on some of the challenging aspects of perhaps having to say no to the
call of ministry.[8] Allen’s overall assessment of the method by which one
confirms one’s calling appears sound.
[Word Count: 558]
[1] Jason K. Allen, Discerning Your Call to Ministry (Chicago: Moody Publishers,
2016).
[2] Ibid., 75.
[3] Ibid., 80.
[4] Ibid., 88.
[5] Ibid., 118.
[6] Ibid., 125.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Ibid., 86.
Bibliography
Allen, Jason K. Discerning Your Call to Ministry. Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2016.
