DO I HAVE GOD'S CALL TO MISSIONS (part 2)
[continued from last month's article]
There are three entities involved in the call to missions:
- God
- The Individual
- The Church.
It is God Who calls; the Individual who yields; and the Church who sends. The Church creates the context within which the call is generally experienced, provides objective affirmation of its authenticity, and in cooperation with the Holy Spirit sends the missionary.
God – the One Who Calls: From among those He has called to salvation, God then calls those whom He wants to serve as missionaries. Paul understood the importance of God’s call and expressed it in 1 Timothy 1:12, stating that God “enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry.”
Historically the idea of volunteering for missionary service has influenced many, however, the Biblical truth that it is God Who calls those whom He chooses stands in opposition to this concept. Simply volunteering for missionary service is not enough, there must be the call of God experienced by the individual and verified by the church. Without this the individual merely serves in his own strength without God’s enablement.
The Individual – the One Who Yields: The part of the individual is neither to generate a call nor volunteer for missionary service, but to recognize and accept God’s call if or when it comes. Being willing to serve is never enough, but it is part of God’s process (Acts 9:6; 1 Tim. 3:1). A desire to serve often precedes God’s call to missions.
The Church: the Ones Who Affirm the Call: The individual may believe strongly that God has called him to be a missionary, but this subjective sense of calling is never enough by itself. The church has a crucial part in this process, being able to evaluate the individual on the basis of prolonged observation of service, commitment, and yieldedness. If an individual declares that he has been called, but his church refuses to affirm his declaration, the calling must be questioned. When God calls a person not only will he have assurance of the call but also a Spirit-led church will have assurance as well.
Next month’s segment will look at six keys to affirming God’s call to missions.
Adapted from The Call
by Dr. David Haag
Available on www.ebm.org/resources
