What do we mean when we speak of the call to the ministry? Some mean a
wonderful dream, some an angel visitation, some a strange ecstasy, and
some merely the notion that they can speak well. These things may all
have their places, but they are uncertain. The one sure and enduring
sign is the great compulsion.
The Book of Exodus relates how Moses as a young man went out one day and
looked upon his people’s burdens. That was one of the great determining
hours in his life. It was so because when he saw his people’s burdens
their weight rolled onto his own heart. That was the last peaceful day he
ever saw, for our peace is the price we pay for greatness. Thereafter, his
days and nights were troubled with that strange mingling of hope and
despair that comes to a leader. He was under the great compulsion.
John tells how an angel brought him a little book and told him to eat it.
He did so, and in his mouth it was sweet as honey, but as soon as he had
swallowed it, the sweetness changed to bitterness. That is the way with
the word of truth. We must absorb it. The study of it is sweet, but the
weight of care it lays upon us is bitter. It places us under the
great compulsion.
One morning Jesus slipped out in the gray dawn, stood on the slope
overlooking the quiet rooftops of Jerusalem, and wept. What so moved Him?
It was the difference He saw between the city that was and the city that
might have been, the world that was and the world that might have been.
He had dreamed of better things and had discovered how difficult was their
realization. The great compulsion was upon Him.
Key words are interesting in the vocabulary of such a one as Paul. One of
his favorite words was _bondslave_. Another was _must_. A heavy sense of
obligation was upon him. The feeling that took the vocal form of that word
drove him over land and sea, planting the seeds of the kingdom life.
A great vision had gripped his soul. A dream had possessed him. He could
never rest again, for the great compulsion was upon him.