What does it mean to be called by God? When did God call me? How does it happen? Are you special because you believe you are called? Must people call you pastor or by some other name? Does God treat you in a special way and should people treat you differently?<\/p>\n
Are only pastors called by God? If not, what is the difference between other people called by God and a pastor called by God? Should they be in full-time ministry? Are there some misconceptions regarding God’s calling? Please help me, I am a pastor and I must understand my calling and myself.<\/p>\n
Paul’s calling<\/strong><\/p>\n Paul said God called him before his birth, while still in his mother’s womb. How did he know he was called?<\/p>\n I believe God called him for his ministry based on the fact that he wrote 13 books, which were taken up as part of God’s Holy Word, the Bible. The fruit of his life testified of his calling.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n My calling<\/strong><\/p>\n Even before I was in school, when people asked me: “What do you want to become one day?” my usual reply was: “I want to be a ‘dominee’ (we belonged to the Dutch Reformed Church)”. I do not know why I said this, for at that time we stayed on a farm and I cannot even remember having listened to a ‘dominee’ once. At that stage I had not accepted Jesus as my personal Saviour.<\/p>\n Although I did not know when and how this idea started, it stayed with me and grew stronger after I accepted Jesus at the age of eight. After school the question arose: “Must I study to become a pastor?”<\/p>\n A successful pastor once offered me the opportunity to work with him and to give me on-the-job training to become a pastor. I never considered his offer for various reasons – reasons born out of my relationship with Jesus, which became part of my thinking, namely:<\/p>\n I did not want to “cheat” God who called me. His calling was too important to take a shortcut.<\/strong> Although there is much to be gained by in-house training, it cannot take the place of specialised training.<\/p>\n I did not want to “cheat” the people whom I was called to help and to serve.<\/strong> I am called to interpret God’s Word and His will correctly and to help people with their manifold problems and all life’s challenges. I did not dare take shortcuts.<\/p>\n What is the truth?<\/strong><\/p>\n Often people create the impression that there is conflict between the Holy Spirit and applying your mind or studying (cognitive reasoning). I never believed this. My understanding of God and my integrity never allowed me to believe it. My Saviour, the One who baptised me in the Holy Spirit<\/strong>, is also my Creator who created me with a marvelous intellect<\/strong> to be used especially in His service. I am obliged by God to give my utmost best to Him, even today, and to go for the best training while trusting in the Holy Spirit more than ever before.<\/p>\n I agree with Paul who said: “I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind” (1 Cor 14:15).<\/p>\n In Os Gunness’ discussion of the church ‘digging its own grave’, he quoted Bertrand Russel, saying that, “Christians would rather die before they think”. According to Os Gunness this is exactly what they do.<\/p>\n Have you ever allowed the Holy Spirit the opportunity to speak to you about the importance of excellent training?<\/em><\/p>\n Your friend,<\/p>\n Jan Hattingh<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What does it mean to be called by God? When did God call me? How does it happen? Are you special because you believe you are called? Must people call you pastor or by some other name? Does God treat you in a special way and should people treat you differently? Are only pastors called […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-57","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gods-calling","category-i-am-a-pastor-please-help-me","post-preview"],"yoast_head":"\n