Serving Others

Volume I - Called into Ministry....Qualified for Ministry?

We’ll begin with the basic assumption that someone claiming to be “called into ministry” is a Christ follower to begin with. Of course we’ll ignore the irony that there are most likely many servants within the church and even pastors/elders who don’t actually “know Christ”. Jesus himself predicted that this would be the case. We’ll assume that the subject is indeed a true believer and we’ll even give them the benefit of the doubt concerning their calling - as it can be hard to judge the veracity of one’s calling from God. And many people count on this - that’s why you hear so many people use the phrases “God told me….” or “God spoke to me…..” because who can argue with a private conversation between one person and God?

One of the first things to look for would be a servant’s heart, both in and out of the church. What has this person given of themselves in order to better others? The obvious avenues for this service are usually restricted to time and money - a mistake that many churches make. In other words, those who give the most of their money and/or the most of their time are the best servants. This is a shallow way of thinking though, concerning servant hood, stewardship, gifts, and talents. The first thing that needs to be done is an accurate evaluation of one’s God-given gifts and talents.

to be continued......