Just for the Pastors 02: It’s More than a Job!

Some of the things I have done in my life are just jobs – working in McDonalds, selling mobile phones, being a school teacher, working in recruitment. The job itself was not really the issue, earning money for my family was the issue. But being a pastor is not that. It is a calling. You do not need a qualification (although you should be a life-long learner), you do not need to go to Bible College first (for some people that helps them learn how to study the Word and develop faith, for others it gets in the way, puffs them up and they rely on that not God), what you need is Jesus Christ of Nazareth calling you into that role.

I was called to be a pastor by Jesus Christ the day I was born again. I had a vision of Heaven and Jesus called me by name. Trust me, on that day, when I was 15 years old, never raised Christian, never lived for anything other than myself, I was not in any way qualified at all. But here is the great truth: the people God calls, God qualifies. He takes care of the whole package. He will put His Words in your mouth, He will grace you with ability you never had.

Ability will never by itself create ministry. But if you are called, God will give you ability, and ability that comes from the grace of calling will always turn into ministry.

Now, what I want everyone to know is that Jesus Christ calls all the fivefold, and if you are called to one do not try and step into another. A lot of pastors in the UK are actually people called to be evangelists, but it is easier to get an income as a pastor and (if you have never travelled a lot you may not ever realize this but) travelling can be very tiresome, so they step into a church but have no grace to pastor. Some pastors are called to be in business, but they want some spiritual validation or maybe familial validation, so there they are preaching nonsense with no grace and no calling.

A friend of mine started a church because it seemed like a good idea, and God confronted him and told him that he was called to be an evangelist and not a pastor, and he shut the church down and stepped into a powerful ministry all over Europe. We have to follow the calling from Heaven!

Sometimes it is more sinister than just a desire to be approved by people, some people become pastors because they like to control people, they like the authority a pastor has (more in some cultures than others), or because they see it as an easy way to make money (it is not!).

Pastors above all people should be able to see these things, because you are going to be helping other people into their callings on a regular basis. You need to know the difference between an apostle and a prophet, an evangelist and a pastor, a teacher and a businessman!

And if you are called to be a pastor, realize now it is the most demanding calling there is – but there will be a great reward for obeying your heavenly calling. At our summer conference this year, Greg Fritz spoke a lot on Isaiah 1.19 which says that if you are willing and obedient you will eat the good of the land. A good pastor is both willing and obedient to serve! Some people seem willing, seem full of enthusiasm, but never seem to actually do anything. Others obey, but with an attitude that makes you wish they had not bothered. But God is looking for the willing and obedient. He was not and is not looking for the talented and educated. He was not and is not looking for the rich and famous. He is and always will be looking for the willing and obedient.

And realize this – there are many good ideas that are not your calling. People come to me regularly and say something like “we should start a primary school” or “we should start a youth ministry” or so on. But people did not call me and I will not stand before them when I die. As a pastor, you have to keep your eyes, ears and heart before Jesus and do what He envisions you to do. Don’t do what you feel or what the people say and ask God to bless it – do what God says to do with a great attitude and that will be totally and utterly blessed.

Selah.