The Highest Call
or Mama, Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Preachers
Acts 26:19
"So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven.”
(NIV)
What does it mean to be “called”? Today, we are celebrating God’s call upon the live of Pastor Randy Tingle. Today, the Church of God will recognize God’s call upon Pastor Randy’s life by ordaining him to the ministry. God’s call to Pastor Randy did not come to him today, nor has Pastor Randy waited to answer the call until the Church ordained him. The church’s ordination is simply a recognition of God’s ordination.
But What does the Bible say about the call of God for ministry?
Isn’t everyone called? Don’t we all have a calling? Or only a select few? The concept of a call is one of the most profound of all biblical ideas. The Bible is filled with stories about calls to men and women who, when summoned to service, went out and marked their generation in a particular way. Such calls had several commonalities.
First, in one way or another, GOD is the One Who calls. God the Father called Abraham, Moses, and Isaiah.
Isaiah 49:1
“Before I was born the LORD called me; from my birth he has made mention of my name.” (NIV)
Jesus called 12 men “to be with Him” and then sent them out to disciple.
Mark 3:13-14
“Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. He appointed twelve-- designating them apostles-- that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach.”
(NIV)
The Holy Spirit called Saul and Barnabas and others to apostolic opportunity.
Acts 13:2
“While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." (NIV)
In other words, YOU CANNOT CALL YOURSELF TO THE MINISTRY!
A young farmer, standing in his field, observes a peculiar cloud formation. The clouds form the letters G, P, and C, and he thinks them a call from God: Go Preach Christ!
The farmer rushes to the leadership of his church and insists he has been called to preach. Respectfully, they invite him to fill the pulpit.
The following Sunday, the sermon is long, tedious, and virtually non-understandable. When it finally ends, the leaders sit in stunned silence. Finally a wise deacon mutters to the would-be preacher, “Seems to me the clouds must have been saying, ‘Go Plant Corn.’”
Secondly, Biblical calls were quite unpredictable. Gideon responded to the call by saying,
"But Lord, how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family." (Judges 6:15) There was no reason God should have called Gideon. He was not the oldest of his family, nor the strongest, and even his family was the smallest of the small. Yet God called Gideon. The Apostle Paul’s testimony was: “I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles.” (Galatians 1:13, 15-16) There was no reason God should have called Paul, but he did. In other words, GOD CALLS PEOPLE, NOT BASED ON THEIR ABILITY, BUT THEIR AVAILABILITY! God could easily say: “Can You Hear Me Now?” “Good!”
Thirdly, biblical calls were usually mind-boggling and seemingly impossible. What did God call Noah to do? Build a boat big enough to house a floating zoo in the middle of the desert where rain has never fallen. Most likely, Noah, nor anyone, anywhere around him, at anytime in their lifetime, has ever seen the ocean, much less a boat of any kind! We don’t even know if Noah or his sons had any carpentry skills! But God said, “Build an ark,” and Noah did! The call God gives is so compelling that it gives courage to the one called. In other words, WHAT GOD CALLS US TO DO WILL RARELY MAKE SENSE TO EVERYONE ELSE!
Fourthly, calls to ministry in the New Testament are confirmed by the church.
Acts 13:1-2
“In the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul. While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”
(NIV)
In other words, WHILE GOD’S CALL MAY NOT MAKE SENSE, GOD CONFIRMS HIS CALLING TO US THROUGH PEOPLE WHO LOVE GOD AND ARE PRAYING FOR US.
Finally, each Biblical call was unique. No call seems to be exactly like another. All the calling plans of God are customized, particular to the job God wants done.
It’s a high calling!
It’s a holy calling!
And it’s a hard calling!
It’s a high calling.
Acts 26:19
"So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven.”
(NIV)
Doesn’t God call everyone? Yes and No. EVERYONE is called to serve the Lord. But not everyone is called to preach or to lead God’s people. The Bible records for us in the book of Numbers that some 254 men took a stand against Moses and Aaron, saying that all God’s people were just as holy and Godly as them, so why should they be the leaders? Those words sound religious and maybe even reasonable. But read the story from Numbers the 16th chapter and you’ll find that those who said such things got themselves swallowed by an earthquake. Go figure! No, the reality is that God has always selected out certain people, given them unusual authority, and anticipated that they might suffer for His sake!
Mamas, don’t let your babies grow up to be preachers if you want them to have a career. Preachers have a calling, not a career. Churches do not hire a preacher! Churches call a pastor, a shepherd, to lead, feed, and tend to the sheep. Listen to the precarious situation the church will find itself in if it “hires” a pastor:
John 10:12-13
“The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.” (NIV)
It’s a Holy calling!
Mamas, don’t let your babies grow up to be preachers if you want them to have a life of leisure and luxury. The call of God must always be answered by our faithfulness.
Ephesians 4:1
“As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.”
(NIV)
II Thessalonians 1:11
“With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith.”
(NIV)
1 Peter 1:15
“But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do.” (NIV)
It’s a Hard calling!
Mamas, Don’t let your babies grow up to be preachers unless you want them to be rejected by people they love. As preachers your babies will know the joy that comes from giving their hearts away for the people of God and having those very same people trample their hearts under foot by not responding to the message of God.
Once you are called, financial security, location, notoriety, applause, and power become increasingly less important. Obedience becomes the primary issue. Let others feel free to build fortunes and empires; the call binds you to surrender yourself to the will of God.
“Whatever we do, it is certainly not for our own profit but because Christ’s love controls us now.” (2 Corinthians 5:13) (TLB)
Mamas, don’t let your babies grow up to be preachers because it will cost them their lives. Some of them, literally. Men and women have answered God’s call to ministry and become martyrs. Others have undertaken unspeakably difficult and discouraging tasks and barely survived.
Last Saturday afternoon, May 7, 2005, three explosions rocked the city of Yangon, Myanmar. Pastor Julie Winn and her son Isaac were purchasing food at the market for the following day’s meetings. They were shopping in the market at the moment one of the bombs exploded nearby. Initially, church members were unable to locate Julie; however, her son Isaac was found with serious burns on his back. Julie was later found with severe burns on the right side of her body; on Sunday, May 8, she underwent surgery. Julie Winn passed away at 7:20 AM, May 10, as the result of complications from her injuries.
She had served as the pastor of the Taukyant Church of God (in a suburb of Yangon) for the past three years. Her husband, who previously pastored the church, passed away three years ago, at which time she assumed the pastorate of the congregation. She also directed the local Children of Promise program in a community outside of Yangon. She leaves three children: Daniel (14), Isaac (13), and Blessing (9).
Mama, don’t let your babies grow up to be preachers unless you are willing for them to give up their lives for the cause of Christ.
Mark 8:35
“For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.”
(NIV)
HEAVEN STILL SPEAKS! Mamas, don’t let your babies grow up to be preachers if you feel they might hear the voice of God! Heaven still speaks to men. God’s way of speaking can be many and varied but there is a moment of certainty that God has put His Hand upon you. And when He calls you, you know it!
