Ti has been forever since my last blog post but life is far different now that I'm out of Bible college… but that's not the reason for this blog post, I recently attended desiring God's national conference on missions and a reoccurring theme was that “there is no special missionary call, we have all been called” while I understand exactly what these people mean (they mean that there's not going to be a bolt of lightning that strikes us in the head tying us that we need to go to the mission field) I was reading in Romans1:1 and it says that “Paul a servant of Jesus Christ called an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God” now correct if I am wrong but it seems to me that Paul was called twice. Both words (called and separated) have the idea to be appointed to a purpose.But separate also has the idea to be marked off from others by boundaries. I think both are true we have been called to salvation from the world, and there are those who have been called out of normal Christianity to have a special life of sacrifice and service (let me be quick to say that the normal Christian life is glorifying to God and I mean no way to downplay it but I want us to realize that our missionaries should be paranormal.) What are you thoughts to missionaries receive a specific call or not?
Monday, October 3, 2011
Called twice
Ti has been forever since my last blog post but life is far different now that I'm out of Bible college… but that's not the reason for this blog post, I recently attended desiring God's national conference on missions and a reoccurring theme was that “there is no special missionary call, we have all been called” while I understand exactly what these people mean (they mean that there's not going to be a bolt of lightning that strikes us in the head tying us that we need to go to the mission field) I was reading in Romans1:1 and it says that “Paul a servant of Jesus Christ called an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God” now correct if I am wrong but it seems to me that Paul was called twice. Both words (called and separated) have the idea to be appointed to a purpose.But separate also has the idea to be marked off from others by boundaries. I think both are true we have been called to salvation from the world, and there are those who have been called out of normal Christianity to have a special life of sacrifice and service (let me be quick to say that the normal Christian life is glorifying to God and I mean no way to downplay it but I want us to realize that our missionaries should be paranormal.) What are you thoughts to missionaries receive a specific call or not?
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Great thoughts Stephen. I think your making it more complicated than it needs to be though. As Christians we are called to different things, but we are all essentially called! I want to hear more about this conference!
ReplyDeleteThe Apostle Paul definitely had a direct "missionary call." Some missionaries have a definite "call." This is just a hypothesis, so it's not inspired, but, could you say that every believer has a definite "call" to something, and for the missionary that call is to foreign/home missions?
ReplyDeleteSome people point to Paul's "Macedonian call" as evidence of a special missionary calling. However, this is problematic because Paul had already been a missionary for some time. He was on his second missionary journey. This was more of an instance of God's direction in Paul's life.
ReplyDeleteI think that all Christ-followers have been called to share Jesus with others (Matt. 28:18-20). Yet, Paul also talks about the spiritual gift of "evangelism" (Eph 4:11). This might be an indication that the Spirit has given a special role for some people in the task of global evangelism.
I am with Daniel in that all Christ-followers have been called to share Jesus. Also, I would add that although we do all have different gifts (one may find great joy in showing hospitality, another may find joy in teaching others), there is nowhere in scripture that it says we must practice only the gift which has been given us. Though I may not have the gift of mercy, I certainly hope to display mercy when required. :) In like manner, I believe God presents us all with opportunities to share His life with others. Some have found that this is, indeed, their gift; they find great joy in doing this, and God brings about plentiful harvest when they do. Also, a brother or sister may feel a burden for a specific people group and desire to share the Gospel specifically with that group. We call those people missionaries. But all believers will cross paths with lost ones who are ready to hear the Gospel of God's grace; and in that sense, we are all called to missions. :)
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