A church member approaches his/her church elders and says that he/she believes God has called him/her to vocational church ministry. How can church leaders decide if an individual is indeed called to that ministry? I prefer the term vocational church ministry rather than full-time ministry because all are called to serve God full-time but some are freed from the need to make a living, or partially free from the need to make a living, so they can commit more of their time and energy to church-related work. So how can the church discern if a brother or sister is called to full- or part-time church-related work? I believe we can do so by working with three criteria — competence, character, and communal affirmation.
- Competence
Romans 12:3–8 teaches us that we have all been given spiritual gifts, Spirit-empowered abilities, and we are responsible for exercising those gifts. The implication is that no single person has all the gifts. This is important to note because there was a time when a pastor was expected to be multi-gifted. Because the pastor was paid, he was expected to be good in every area of ministry. This was an impossible and unbiblical expectation. It led to many churches being unhappy with their pastors and many pastors burnt out trying to be good in every area.
Gifts need to be strengthened and honed with practice, reflection, and mentoring. Still, it is right to ask if the person considering vocational ministry gives evidence of abilities that he or she will need in the role that he or she feels called to.
- Character
It is interesting that the two passages that give the qualities for church leaders, 1 Timothy 3:1–13, Titus 1:5–9, do not mention spiritual gifts. (Note that these passages talk about qualifications for leadership in general, and not about vocational ministers in particular.) If the pastorals were written by Paul later in his ministry, we can assume that believers knew his teaching in passages like Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12 . Spiritual giftings would have been assumed. What cannot be assumed is maturity in character.
If we are to set apart someone for vocational ministry, we need to be sure that he or she exhibits some degree of Christlike maturity for a number of reasons. First, a lot of Christian leadership has to do with modelling. Hence Paul exhorts the Corinthian Christians to follow him, as he follows Christ.
Next, maturity in character means leaders can exercise their spiritual gifts humbly. A leader who is very gifted in the gifts of the Spirit but weak in the fruit of the Spirit could become very proud and lead people astray.
- Community Affirmation
Acts 6:1–7 describes the selection of a group of leaders that probably eventually became deacons. What is interesting is that the apostles did not appoint the serving leaders. They gave the church the criteria and asked the church to choose. In Acts 13:1–3 which describes the setting apart of Paul and Barnabas for ministry, the Lord didn’t speak to them directly. He asked the church to set them apart.
Therefore, the church and her leaders have the duty to discern whether someone is called to a ministry. By seeking the Lord and looking at the person’s gifting and character, the church can affirm if a calling is indeed from the Lord. Gone are the days when so few went into vocational ministry that the church was so relieved when someone claimed God had called him or her and just affirmed the call without any vetting.
We need all of God’s people to rise up to serve the Lord. We resist any false clergy-laity distinction. The Spirit has been poured out on all (Acts 2). All are gifted to serve. Some are called to vocational ministry. And we do need our best people there as well. Therefore, we need to discern carefully and encourage the right people to step up. There are other criteria for vocational ministry, like knowledge of the Word. But we definitely need to ask:
- Does this person have the gifts for the work he or she feels called to?
- Is this person mature in Christ? (This should include knowledge of Scripture.)
- Does the church affirm the calling?