A special call from God is essential to the exercise of the Christian
ministry. Reason itself would suggest that He, as a sovereign, would
select His own officers and send His own ambassadors; and the Divine
call of the ancient prophets, the analogous office in the old
dispensation, creates a presumption of such a call in the Christian
ministry. None were permitted to intrude into the prophetic office. God
said: "The prophet which shall presume to speak a work in My name,
which I have not commanded him to speak, shall die" (Deut. xviii. 20);
"Behold, I am against the prophets that steal My words" (Jer.
xxiii. 30; see also Isa. vi.; Jer. i. 4-10). The proof of this is seen
in the following considerations: 1. Ministers, in the New Testament,
are always spoken of as designated by God. This is obviously true of
the apostles and of the seventy, but it is seen also in the case of the
ministry in general. The elders of Ephesus were set over the flock by
the Holy Ghost (Acts xx. 28). Archippus received his ministry "in the
Lord" (Col. iv. 17). Paul and Barnabas were separated to their work by
the Holy Ghost (Acts xiii. 2). 2. The ministry constitute a special
gift from Christ to the church; for "He gave some, Apostles; and some,
prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for
the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the
edifying of the body of Christ" (Eph. iv. 11, 12). The gifts for these
offices are bestowed by God, and the men are sent forth to their work
by God Himself, in answer to the prayers of His people. (See Rom.
xii. 6, 7; Luke x. 1, 2.) 3. The nature of the office, as implied in
the terms used to designate it, requires a personal Divine call. They
are called "ambassadors for Christ," speaking in His name; they are
"stewards of God," entrusted with the Gospel for men.
The ministry, then, is not chosen as a man chooses a profession,
consulting his inclination or interest. It is entered in obedience to a
special call from God, and the consciousness of this is essential to
personal qualification for the work. The emphasis which the Scriptures
place on the Divine vocation of the minister implies a distinction
between a call to the ministry and the ordinary choice of a profession.
This distinction, in one important element at least, may perhaps be
thus expressed: In the case of the minister the work is one to which
the conscience _obliges;_ he feels that he _ought_ to engage in it, and
that he cannot do otherwise without _guilt._ But in the case of one
choosing another profession it is a matter of aptitudes, tastes,
interest; he feels that it is _right_ and _wise_ thus to choose, but
there is no sense of imperative _obligation,_ so that it would be
morally _wrong_ to do otherwise. In the one, there is the sense of
positive obligation as expressed in its strongest form by Paul:
"Necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the
Gospel" (1 Cor. ix. 16); in the other, there is a sense of the
rightfulness of the choice made and a consciousness of the Divine
approbation in making it, but the contrary choice would not necessarily
be morally wrong.
As to the manifestation of this call, two opposite errors are to be
avoided. On the one hand, the call is conceived as consisting in a mere
preference for the work of the ministry, and the result is that men
influenced only by literary tastes or unhallowed ambition rush unbidden
into the sacred office. On the other, it is regarded as a supernatural
manifestation, like a voice from heaven, attended with intense mental
struggles; and, as the result, men who ought to enter the ministry are,
in the absence of such manifestations, deterred from entering it and
mistake their true mission in life. Evidently, this duty is to be
ascertained in the same manner as any other duty. The call, indeed, is
a Divine act, but so also is regeneration; yet in neither case is the
manifestation necessarily or ordinarily supernatural. The evidences of
it are found in a prayerful examination of one's own experience
compared with God's Word. Christian young men, therefore, should be
urged to ponder carefully the question whether God is not calling them
to the ministry. A pastor's utmost wisdom and discrimination should be
employed in inspiring and guiding young men to right thinking in regard
to their life-mission. Many a life-failure might thus be prevented, and
many a noble man whose life otherwise had been devoted to secular
pursuits would be saved for effective service in the pulpit. This call,
I conceive, is manifested in the heart of the individual, in the
convictions of the church, and in the providence of God.
I. THE INTERNAL CALL.--The elements of this are: 1. _A fixed and
earnest desire for the work._ "This is a true saying, if a man desire
the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work" (1 Tim. iii. 1). There
must be desire; for no man will succeed unless the work enlists the
whole enthusiasm of his being. This is more than a love of declamation,
a glow in the work of composition, or a taste for the studious,
literary life of a pastor: it is a quenchless enthusiasm for the work
as the proclamation of God's message and the means of saving men. It
springs from love to Christ and love to the work itself. Paul said:
"None of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto
myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry
which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the Gospel of the
grace of God" (Acts xx. 24). 2. _An abiding impression of duty to
preach the Gospel._ The apostle Paul said: "Necessity is laid upon me;
yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the Gospel" (1 Cor. ix. 16). Not
always, indeed, will this inward impulsion to the work be so distinct
and imperative, but it will always be felt, and with greatest force as
the soul draws nearest to God and the true nature of the ministry is
most clearly perceived. Hence, in determining the question of vocation
much prayer is necessary, and the convictions which predominate in the
soul, when most consciously in God's presence, are to be most carefully
considered. 3. _A sense of personal weakness and unworthiness and a
heartfelt reliance on Divine power._ This, indeed, is not an infallible
test, for youth is naturally self-confident, and in the case of some
most useful ministers a reliance alone on the Divine Arm has come only
after long and bitter experience of self-failure. But a self-confident
spirit should certainly suggest the fear of self-deception, since it
can only spring from a false self-estimate and from wholly inadequate
views of the work. Paul said: "Such trust have we through Christ to
God-ward; not that we are sufficient of ourselves, but our sufficiency
is of God, who also hath made us able ministers of the New Testament"
(2 Cor. iii. 4-6).
II. THE CALL OF THE CHURCH.--This is the expressed conviction of the
church, after sufficient acquaintance with the candidate, that he is
called to preach the Gospel--a conviction resulting from evidences of
his qualifications, such as the following: 1. _Sound conversion._ This
qualification is vital and central. A defect here is fatal--fatal to
the minister himself as almost certain to result in his living and
dying unconverted, and fatal to the people as placing their souls under
the guidance of a spiritually-blind, godless pastor. Few positions have
in them so many elements of danger as that of an unconverted pastor,
since, though officially laboring for the conversion of others, his
very office places him beyond the scope of all the ordinary means
employed by the churches to lead men to Christ and furnishes the
strongest incentives to yield to self-deception. No man should enter it
of whose conversion the church with which he is connected has doubt;
regard alike for the soul of the candidate and for the souls of men
demands that in respect to this primary qualification the case should
be absolutely clear so far as man may judge. 2. _A superior order of
piety._ He is to be "an example of the believers in word, in
conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity" (1 Tim.
iv. 12). He must needs be, in some respects, a model, and must
therefore be in advance of the people in experience and life. No
brilliancy of intellectual or literary or rhetorical qualification can
atone for the absence of a devotional spirit and a pure life in a
Christian pastor. 3. _Soundness in the faith._ He is both to "hold fast
the form of sound words" (2 Tim. i. 13) and to "speak the things which
become sound doctrine" (Tit. ii. 1). A man who is unsettled in his
convictions of religious truth, or who palters to the love of novelty
by a perpetual straining for that which is strange and startling in
doctrine has no rightful place in the pulpit, however popular his
address or large his following. The ultimate result of his work is
almost always disastrous to the cause of truth. 4. _Adequate mental
capacity and training, and scriptural knowledge._ He is to show himself
"approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly
dividing the word of truth" (2 Tim. ii. 15). As the chief work of a
minister is public instruction, it is plain he must possess the mental
force and knowledge requisite to make his ministry instructive. Moral
and spiritual qualifications cannot be made a substitute for
intellectual, for the preacher's work is to unfold and enforce truth in
the pulpit as well as to illustrate it in holy living. Piety,
therefore, essential as it is, if not accompanied with mental gifts and
discipline, is not evidence of a ministerial call. Some good men have
made a life-mistake by taking on them the responsibilities of public
instructors when deficient either in natural abilities or in the
discipline and knowledge which are essential to meet the continuous and
exhaustive draft of the pulpit. 5. _Aptness to teach._ God's Word is to
be committed only "to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others
also" (2 Tim. ii. 2)--men "apt to teach, patient, in meekness
instructing those that oppose themselves" (2 Tim. ii. 24, 25). Great
abilities and learning do not suffice; there must also be the special
gift of teaching, the power to gather and interest and hold the people.
The ablest sermon fails unless the people are awake and attentive. Paul
and Barnabas not only preached the Gospel, but they "_so_ spake that a
great multitude, both of the Jews and also of the Greeks, believed"
(Acts xiv. 1). 6. _Practical wisdom and executive ability._ Nowhere are
these qualities more important than in a pastor, whose good sense,
tact, judgment, power to organize and set at work all the moral forces
of his church, are in constant requisition. A large part of the
pastor's power depends on the possession of certain practical
qualities; in the absence of these, men of great mental abilities and
spiritual worth have failed in the pastorate. 7. _Finally, a good
report of them which are without._ A minister cannot escape opposition.
If faithful to Christ, he may experience, as thousands have
experienced, bitter persecution; but in purity and integrity of
personal character he is to "have a good report" (1 Tim. iii. 7),
"giving none offence, that the ministry be not blamed" (2 Cor. vi. 3),
but "commending" himself "to every man's conscience in the sight of
God" (2 Cor. iv. 2). Without this acknowledged purity of spirit and
life, his work as a minister is necessarily a failure, for otherwise he
cannot keep the consciences of men on his side.
Now, the call of the church is founded on evidence in the candidate of
these qualifications, either in their germ and promise where the
character is immature, or in their fully-developed form where age and
experience have matured the man. This conviction in the mind of the
church is ordinarily an essential evidence of a Divine call; for
plainly, since the individual himself is not the proper judge as to his
possession of these qualifications, the church is the natural medium of
the call, and its decision ought ordinarily to be accepted as final.
III. THE CALL OF PROVIDENCE.--Circumstances may absolutely forbid
entering the ministry, but it is obvious that all difficulties are not
to be interpreted adversely to a call, for such obstacles may be, and
often are, simply a discipline educative and preparatory to the highest
success in the sacred office. The strength and symmetry of character
which have afterward given eminence in the ministry have often been
acquired by means of the struggles encountered in the preparation to
enter it. But God has distinctly promised direction to those who ask
Him: "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord" (Ps.
xxxvii. 23); "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that
giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not, and _it shall be given
him_" (James i. 5). To the man of prayer, the call of Providence comes
in the events of his life, which, as interpreted by the Spirit's
guidance, are finger-boards at every turn, saying, "This is the way,
walk ye in it."
No man ought to enter the sacred work without this distinct
consciousness of a call from God. For, 1. _Without this he obtrudes
himself into the office of an ambassador without a commission, and
incurs the guilt of presumption._ God has not sent him and has given
him no message, and as he stands up to speak in God's name not one of
all the promises of God to His accredited servants belongs to him, but
he is exposed to all the threatenings against those who speak without
command. 2. _Without this also he cannot speak consciously, as an
"ambassador for Christ," "in Christ's stead"_ (2 Cor. v. 20), _and he
of necessity lacks the courage and boldness of him who is conscious of
bearing a Divine message._ True ministerial boldness in the pulpit
depends on this consciousness of being God's servant, bearing God's
message; in the absence of this he cannot speak with authority.
3. _Nothing but this consciousness of a Divine call is adequate to
inspire for the toils of the pastor's office and sustain in its
trials._ Disappointments and discouragements come, in which he must
fall back for support and comfort on the great primary fact that he is
God's servant, specially called to that office and that work; and if
this fail him, all the true sources of courage and strength are
wanting, and his condition is pitiable indeed. Therefore, as Luther
says: "Every minister of God's Word should be sure of his calling, that
before God and man he may with a bold conscience glory therein, that he
preached the Gospel as one that is sent; even as the ambassador of a
king glorieth and vaunteth in this, that he cometh not as a private
person, but as the king's ambassador."[1]
+FOOTNOTES:+
[1] Luther on _Galatians,_ p. 32.
+SECTION II.+