Calling, Commands and Gifts

Posted on August 14, 2014 Updated on August 14, 2014

“What do you think your calling is?”

 I think I’ve heard this question a thousand times. It seems like a simple question that demands a single answer. Every Christian seems to believe that God is calling them to do something and there is a long mystical journey to find out what it is. I will probably get all sorts of hate mail for saying this: God is probably not calling you.

See, people take stories from Jeremiah or David or Samuel’s life and apply it to their own. However, we must realize that those callings were one-in-a-million. Let’s look at a couple of things:

1. Commands are not the same thing as calling
2. Very few people in the Bible were actually ‘called’ to do anything.

Think about this: Moses was called. The people of Israel were commanded. Out of those one million people, how many were called? Just Moses. Just one. How many people do you think wanted to be King David? But there was one called to lead and the others commanded to serve. Everyone wants to believe that they are special; called by God to do something different than the rest of everyone else – and that is simply not the case. We are commanded to love God and love others: to take the gospel to the ends of the earth.

Paul said that each of us has spiritual gifts. He believed that each of us had talents that, together, could spread the gospel of the Christ. However, in Romans 12 Paul is not stating that there are only these seven gifts (prophesy, ministry, teaching, exhortation, giving, leadership, mercy). It is quite aggravating to me when people use these scriptures and turn it into something it’s not. Instead, Paul is pointing out that we each have been given talents that can bring fame and glory to our God. For example, I like teaching and I like serving: I know how to get the job done when it needs to be done and I know how to convey messages and concepts that other people might find difficult to understand. Yet, can another person use their gift as an artist to further the Gospel as well as a teacher? I would think so. Can a nurse be as affective a minister as a pastor in the pulpit? Yes!

So then, what do you think is the best way for you to love God, love others, and spread the Gospel? Ministry? Counseling? Teaching? Serving? Maybe you’re a disciple or perhaps a disciple maker?

Micah 6:8 says “…And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?”

Jesus extends this command to us: “’you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first commandment. And the second is like it: ‘you shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”

This focus on finding one’s calling stems from a focus on “me” instead of a focus on God and others. Maybe each of us is called only to do that which the Lord requires. Why would that be so bad? Perhaps we should be less focused on what God might be calling ‘me’ to do, and simply focus on doing the things that He has already commanded us to do.