(This week and next I am sharing my Personal Theology of Ministry. Click here for more posts from the Personal Theology of Ministry series.)

When God calls, God enables:

Therefore I will trust God to enable me to fulfill his calling. An assurance of God’s calling is essential to effective pastoral ministry. Just as Old Testament priests did not take the honor of spiritual leadership upon themselves (Hebrews 5:4), so also the pastor must be called by God. This call contains both inward and outward aspects. Inwardly the pastor must have a sense of God’s call to the ministry. The apostle Paul experienced this as an inner compulsion to preach the gospel (1 Corinthians 9:16). Outwardly the pastor must demonstrate the giftedness and ability to perform the work of the ministry. The pastor should also demonstrate the leadership qualifications for ministry specifically listed in Scripture (1 Timothy 3:1-13; Titus 1:6-9). The inward and outward calls come together at the point when a church calls and the pastor accepts a specific call to ministry within the church. This assurance of God’s calling both initiates and sustains the pastor in ministry. The knowledge that God enables those whom he calls gives the pastor great confidence in difficult ministry situations (Exodus 4:10-12; Jeremiah 4:1-10).

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