God’s Calling

There are a vast number of ideas concerning what God’s calling of an individual might be.Probably the most popular opinion is that God does not or would not tell a person to be a preacher, a missionary, a teacher or any other specific profession; God just doesn’t speak to a person in that way. Others think that God has a plan for each life, but he will not be all that specific about the plan. There are a number of things that a person can do, so just pick something based on factors such as education, economic advantages, opportunities for ones standing in society, and for some the difficulty of or the time required in the performance of the job. Then some believe that God speaks through his Holy Spirit to reveal exactly what he wants a person to do professionally.

What does God want for every person? The Bible tells us that God is calling all people to salvation through Jesus Christ. For every Christian God’s calling is to take the Gospel message to those who have never heard about Jesus and his saving grace. The Bible says that when we become a follower of Christ we also become his ambassadors. We are to represent him wherever we are or wherever we go and tell others what it is that he offers them. His offer is freedom from sin and eternal life. How are we doing? How many people are becoming followers of Jesus because we are serving him as his ambassadors. Not too well I’m afraid.

I’m not doing a very good job. We have been in Raleigh for three and a half years, and only two people have accepted Christ because of my ambassadorship. Thirteen or fourteen have accepted Christ because Sherri told them about Jesus’ saving grace. But in the past year neither of us have led anyone to Jesus. I’ll have to say that although we were not happy in the church where we first joined when we moved to a Raleigh, we did have much greater opportunities to talk with lost people. We love the church where we are now, are serving in several ways, and have made a lot more friends, but we have not had near the opportunities to share the gospel with the lost. Maybe we should have stayed where we were.

I heard David Platt, the directors for the International Mission Board for the SBC, say this morning that (not a direct quote) God does not necessarily call us to positions of ease, comfort, pleasure, and enjoyment. He doesn’t guarantee that we will always be happy. He doesn’t call us to places of safety or to places where we will be with our family and friends. Maybe God didn’t put us in a church where we liked the music or the preaching, or the type of worship service for a reason. That question and answer session on The Myths of Missions that I watched this morning got me to thinking about several things. I’m retired. Did God want me to spend the rest of my life resting, traveling, doing what I want to do when I want to do it? Or does he want me to spend the rest of my years telling others about Jesus? Does he want me to go to places where I can be with people who don’t know Jesus? These are things all of us who are retired need to consider if we are Christ’s ambassadors.

Tomorrow I will continue this topic by focusing on my experiences with Baptist Church’s efforts to reach the lost.