Dr. Ligon Duncan reminds us that discerning a call to ministry isn’t something you do on your own. A desire to serve is important, but it must be confirmed by wise, godly leaders in the church. Their encouragement, oversight, and affirmation help you grow and stay grounded when ministry gets hard.
The following is a transcript of the video above.
How do I know if I am called to ministry?
Figuring out your call to ministry should not be done alone. It should be in the company of older, wiser, godly mentors and leaders speaking into your life. You may feel a desire building in your heart to do ministry, to edify other people, to teach the Word of God, to proclaim the gospel, to study so that you can invest in different people, to minister to others relationally, to counsel people, and to encourage people. That’s a wonderful thing. That desire is a wonderful thing. But what happens is that if all you have is that desire, and you don’t have the oversight and accountability to those in authority. First, you won’t have people speaking to help you know the areas you need to grow the most. And secondly, if that’s all you have, an inward desire, when things get hard in ministry (and they will) you will not have the encouragement of saying – you know what, it wasn’t just me who wanted to go into the ministry. Figuring out your call to ministry should not be done alone. It should be in the company of older, wiser, godly mentors and leaders speaking into your life. My pastor, elders, presbytery, and older, wiser men who have already been in pastoral ministry for many years have said – yes, we see that God is calling you to ministry. We see that you have the character that is required for someone in ministry. We see that you have the gift of teaching that is required for ministry. We see the fruit of the Spirit in your life that is required for a minister.” You won’t have that to resist the discouragement of Satan. And let me tell you, Satan is going to try to discourage faithful ministers. He does, all the time. And so, you need not only an inward desire to serve the Lord. You need the outward recognition and counsel of the church, saying that we as the church see that God is calling you to ministry. And so there is both an inward desire and an outward affirmation that is part of the process of discerning your call to ministry, and you can’t do that alone. That has to be done in the context of the fellowship of the church and the accountability to the leadership of the Church. …you need both the inward desire and the outward affirmation of your character, gifts, and competency as part of discerning your call to ministry. So, if you are beginning to feel like I think I might be called to the ministry, the first thing you need to do is talk about that with your church leaders, pastor, and elders, and seek their advice, counsel, and input into your life. And even actively seek their oversight of your life to give you opportunities for service in the church, where they can say, yes, we see the gifts necessary for ministry. And that is a huge blessing in figuring out what God wants me to do, to have the voices of other godly people speaking into my life and giving me a perspective that I can’t find on my own. You know, I need a different set of eyes looking at me to have the perspective that I need. So you want both that inward desire and the outward affirmation of your character, gifts, and competency as part of discerning your call to ministry.
