The Call
I’ve written a lot recently, encouraging Christians to follow the steps in Romans 12:1-2 to “prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” Those steps are being a living sacrifice to God, not being conformed to this world, and being transformed by the renewing of your mind.
I’ve been asked, “What about the specifics?” If a person is following the steps of Romans 12:1-2, how will they know the specifics? After all, there is no verse in the Bible that says, “I want Joe Smith to work in a shoe store.”
This will sound like a cop out answer, but about all I say about that is that you will know. When the time comes, you will know. Everyone’s calling will be different. The best I can do is tell you how God called me in various areas of my life and pray that you have a similar experience. The rest of this column will get very personal.
I was saved at the age of 15. Shortly after turning 16, I was doing my daily Bible reading. I had not sat down to pray that God would show me what He wanted to do with my life; I was just sitting down to read a few chapters of the Bible, like I did every day.
Starting at 2 Timothy 4, I read the first verse, then the first phrase of verse 2: “Preach the word.” I couldn’t read any further. There are 15 more words in verse 2, but I could not get past those first three. I knew at that moment that God wanted me to preach, but I did not want to. I put my Bible down, and instead of reading four or five chapters, I read one verse and one phrase that day.
In an attempt to just shrug off the idea of becoming a preacher, the next day I started up again at 2 Timothy 4. God, however, would not give up as easily as I wanted Him to. I read the first verse, then the phrase, “Preach the word,” and I could read no more. My heart was heavy. I tried reading further, but my brain, instead of translating the markings on the page into words, just kept repeating the same words: “Preach the word.”
For the next two weeks, every day when I went to read my Bible, I started at the same place. Every day, the same thing, verse one, then, “Preach the word.” Some may wonder why I didn’t just skip that chapter and start reading at the next one. Here is where it gets difficult to explain. I did consider that, and the only reason I can think of is that God would not let me. Then the day came when I read those words: “Preach the word,” and I got on my knees and told God I would preach His Word. A burden was immediately lifted.
Not all the specifics were answered that day. I knew God wanted me to preach, but did He want me to be a pastor, evangelist, missionary, or in some other form of ministry? God would provide specifics for those questions years later.
Moving eleven years further, I’ll explain how God called me to a church and a secular job at the same time.
Julie and I were married with four children. We were living in the farm country of Indiana. God had brought us through several experiences to increase our faith. I won’t get into the details of those experiences today, other than to say that God puts us through circumstances in life that are His training grounds as He works in us, so that He can work through us later.
Financially, those days were rough. I was working full-time for $3.45 an hour (a dime above minimum wage). Julie sold stuff with the old home party style to bring in a few life-saving dollars here and there. I still praise God for that old farmhouse we lived in. The rent was the property’s maintenance, so the rent was paid more in time than in money.
Our Pastor allowed me to preach once a month at the church, and I filled in for other local ministers who were ill or on vacation. I was preaching from time to time, but God was burdening my heart to pastor a church. I did not yet know the specifics of which church, but God would soon work that out.
There was a small church on the corner of two dirt roads, surrounded by nothing but corn fields. Tennessee Valley Baptist Church had no pastor, and only four people were attending. A married couple in their sixties and two octogenarians. Throughout 1987, they called me every two to four weeks and asked if I would come and preach for them. Over time, God placed it on my heart to be their pastor, but one cannot walk into a church and proclaim oneself as their leader. The church must ask.
Then I was asked to be a candidate for a youth pastorship at a church in Pennsylvania. I was only supposed to preach Sunday morning, but after the service, they asked me to preach again that night. When that service was over, they asked me to wait in a side room. They called me out and offered me the youth pastor position. The salary would be three times what I was making and would come with a four-bedroom home, rent-free.
The decision appeared to be a no-brainer. It answered the two big burdens of my heart, the desire to be a pastor, and the financial problems of the family. However, in my heart, I knew God wanted me at Tennessee Valley, but they had never asked. Before I left, I told the church I wanted time to pray about the decision. It was Fourth of July weekend.
It seemed like the issue was solved two days later when Tennessee Valley called and asked me to be their pastor. They were embarrassed when they told me they could only pay me $35 a month.
But preaching should never be about the money. When it comes to a Ministry, a church, or individual Christians, it should never be about the bottom line; everything should always be about what God wants us to do.
I was in a twixt between two. Do I go to Pennsylvania to a situation that appears to solve all our problems, or stay in Indiana and preach every Sunday for a church with four people? My heart was telling me to stay in Indiana; my head was telling me to move east.
Six weeks had gone by. I had not given either church an answer. It was a Wednesday morning, and I decided to throw out a fleece like Gideon. I told Julie that if I did not have a better-paying job by the end of the day, we were moving to Pennsylvania. I drove forty-five minutes to the nearest big town.
A little backstory here. I had interviewed at the Federal Prison in August of 1985. After that interview, I received a letter explaining that after a year, I would need to restart the process from scratch. It was now 1987. All my job application paperwork from two years before should have been destroyed. I did nothing to pursue the prison work after receiving the letter.
I spent that day trying to get interviews. I did get a few, but no one shook my hand and said, “You’re hired!”
Four o’clock came, and I headed home. When I drove into the driveway, Julie came running out of the house, “Fifteen minutes after you left, the prison called, you start Monday!” I called Pennsylvania and humbly rejected their generous offer. I called Tennessee Valley and told them I would accept their call.
If a Christian follows the criteria of Romans 12:1-2, how do they know the specifics? God will work in your heart and in your circumstances, where you will know. I cannot explain it better than that.
Preacher Tim Johnson is Pastor of Countryside Baptist Church in Parke County, Indiana. His weekly column “Preacher’s Point” may be found at: www.preacherspoint.wordpress.com