Every Christian has been called to do something by the Lord. That’s a simple truth but so many people do not realize this. Now if you were Jesus Christ and there were billions of people on the planet who do not know you would you just call the pastors to reach them, or would you call every single Christian to be part of a local church, call them all to grow, call them all to world mission? I know the answer, the Bible knows the answer, but do you know the answer? You are called.
Now the Bible says that many are called, but few are chosen (Matthew 22.14). Many means lots of people. That includes you. But sadly, most Christians do not believe they are called. They think their pastor has to do it all for them, they think they are called to just sit down and listen to a TV ministry, they think they are called to just be unfruitful. No you are called! You are called to be fruitful, you are called to be part of a church, you are called to contribute, you are called to do something for God.
It’s true to say you are called to be healthy, you are called to be wealthy, you are called to live a great life on earth. When we teach on that, lots of people are interested. Many people like to hear teaching on God’s unconditional love… for them. They listen to sermon after sermon about how much God loves them, and sadly just that diet, that imbalanced diet, leaves those people starving for other nutrients, and leads to selfish and very unfruitful Christians. My job as a pastor is not just to feed you what you want, but to feed you what you need to be equipped to do the works of the ministry!
Keith Green used to a sing a song called Asleep in the Light that says “You don’t need to hear a call, you are already called”. That thought did not come from him, it comes from John’s gospel, where Jesus tells his disciples “you did not choose me, I have chosen you”. If you are a disciple of Jesus, He has already chosen you and called you to be fruitful. You should be fruitful. You should be making sacrifices in your life that involve doing something for the kingdom of God. It still amazes me to meet Christians who do nothing for Christ. They can’t even go to church if the pastor disagrees with them over one point, because their entire Christian life is not about the kingdom it is still all about them – their comfort, their ministry, their spotlight, their feelings, their this and that. You were only saved because Jesus did not care about His own comfort or prosperity or career or future or reputation, and got involved in the greatest act of grace in the universe. Then we call ourselves grace people, but never give up anything to help rescue anyone else ever! That’s not grace. That’s laziness and deception!
Not every call is like Paul the apostles involving Jesus knocking you off your horse. That can still happen and still does happen today, but some people will not get off their sofa unless that happens to them today. But God prefers to call with an inner witness, with the small, still voice, what I call the spiritual voice. You just see a need and something deep inside you is touched and compassion rises up inside you and you need to then step out and stop waiting for an angel to visit you! Your desires to help and love and show kindness does not come from satan or your flesh – that’s God!
In our eldership training, we start at 1 Timothy 3.1 which says if you desire to be an elder, you desire an excellent task. How do you become an elder in the church? It all starts with you wanting to become an elder in the church! It’s that simple. I have never been knocked off a horse, I have never been slammed to the ground, I have never looked Jesus in the flesh in the face. But I am 100% called to be a pastor. I know exactly what I am and what I am called to do.
What are you called to do? You might feel like a failure right now. Moses was, and God still called him. Moses said “who am I”, and God said “Called by me”. Of course you are unworthy for the call, and only the least self-aware people do not realize they are not worthy to be called. I know you are unworthy to change the world. You know you are unworthy to change the world. God knows you are unworthy to change the world. But God still called you. If you fail to accept the call of God because you are unworthy when God called me and a host of others equally if not more unworthy, you are missing out!
Another thing Moses said (in Exodus 4.1) was that when I speak people will not believe me. That’s how I felt when I started preaching, I felt that I was not credible, that people would never believe God spoke to me. I didn’t look like in my mind someone who God speaks to, someone who could help others, someone who could change the world. I don’t have anything special about me. But God still called me and God still uses me. God loves using people that are nothing special! If God can cause a donkey to give a prophetic word, He can use you.
Jeremiah did not think he could express himself well, he told God “I can’t preach, I’m just a child”. Some of us are called to share our faith and don’t think we can do it well. If you listen to some good preachers, who have been preaching for decades, you do start to think how can I ever speak like them! But God calls people who have never spoken to speak! God calls us to action!
Gideon was called and he was from the least family in the least clan. You can believe God has called you! God has called you to a specific purpose. Do what it takes to find it out. The first step is to stand up. Stop sitting around waiting for a talking donkey and start being the talking donkey! Stop waiting for an angel and be the angel. Stop waiting for a man of God and be a man of God! You are called.
Get up, go to church this weekend, go to a small group, serve your church in some way, and start expecting your calling to manifest. I challenge you, it will change 2021 forever.
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