Wrestling With The Call To Ministry: Absolute Surrender

As a man considers the call to ministry it requires a lifetime mindset, and is something to be taken seriously. The definition of unconditional commitment should seem obvious, it is a making a pledge of assurance without restrictions. It requires dedicating one’s life into the hands of the Lord and to be faithful to ministry opportunities. In the book of Daniel, three men who placed their lives into the hands of the Lord were Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego (Daniel 3).

Daniel noted in this account, King Nebuchadnezzar had made a gold statue 90 feet high and 9 feet wide to be worshipped, and sent an order that whomever did not bow and worship this statue would be thrown into a fiery furnace. These three men kept their unconditional commitment to the Lord and refused to worship the idol, and for their disobedience to the king they were thrown into the fire. The Lord rescued them, not one hair on their head, nor one stitch of their clothing was singed. Nebuchadnezzar praised God (v.28) and rewarded the men.

Digging into this story, the three men did not exhibit fear as they knew God would rescue them, and if he did not, they would not serve any other gods. The precept of this story is these men would remain faithful no matter the consequences. A call to ministry is not a call to Easy Street, rather it requires steadfast faithfulness. According to statistics from Lifeway Research, pastors reported 21% of their parishioners had unrealistic expectations of them, 48% indicated the demands of ministry are more than they can handle, and 54% found their role as pastors overwhelming.

As one examines their heart and passion for ministry, it requires arriving at a point of final surrender. The three men in Daniel’s account, were “all-in,” they had surrendered their full hearts to God Almighty. Consider how their dreams, plans, hopes and desires in life were relegated to the background as worshipping the Lord was foremost. They did not let any obstacle get into the way of making the decision of choosing to stay faithful to God. In the same way, in considering a call to ministry, a man must relegate his personal desires placing them aside to step forward to serve God as a pastor, preacher or teacher.

The statistics as reported by Lifeway do not paint a pretty picture for ministry. It will require fortitude, hard work and a fervent desire to fulfill one’s role as the Lord’s servant. “As you discern God’s will on your life, don’t run from your calling.”[i] There are multiple biblical examples of men who shrunk in the midst of a call from the Lord. One of these men was Jonah, God called him to go to Nineveh to preach against evil. He was filled with fear and rather jumping ship, he jumped on a ship to flee the Lord’s presence. Jonah was a man who was off-course sailing away from the Lord’s plans and found himself swallowed up by a fish. Suddenly, he prayed from the belly of the fish was spit out to do the Lord’s bidding. Jonah made his way to Nineveh and he heralded the Lord’s proclamation and the people turned to God. The point of this story for a man considering God’s call is to listen, pray and obey.

It requires unconditional commitment, a true call is to discover oneself in the midst of where God plans, rather than where man plans. It is to realize there are tough places like Nineveh or Babylon. One must realize that even when called to what appears to be a safe place doesn’t guarantee life will be easy as noted in the statistics. Also, realize there are many people who make their way into the four walls of the church each and every week who are lost. Consider Paul’s words to Timothy as he noted there are many unholy people, always learning but never able to come the truth. In summarizing 2 Timothy 3:10-11, Paul shared there will be struggles and to have faith, patience, endurance, to love and he noted that in all his struggles he encountered, God rescued him from them all.

Finally, Pace and Pruitt wrote in their book Calling out the Called: “But if you resist your call, God won’t release you from your call. He desires to use you and is determined to use you! So by faith and with confidence in his faithfulness, we must come to the point of willing surrender and embrace Isaiah’ the prophet’s response. “Here I am. Send me” (Isa 6:8).[ii]

[i]Scott Pace and Shane Pruitt, Calling Out the Called, (Nashville, Tennessee: B&H Publishing Group, 2022), 27.

[ii] Ibid., 29.