a special call from god is essential to the exercise of the christian ministry. reason itself would suggest that he, as a sovereign, would select his own officers and send his own ambassadors; and the divine call of the ancient prophets, the analogous office in the old dispensation, creates a presumption of such a call in the christian ministry. none were permitted to intrude into the prophetic office. god said: “the prophet which shall presume to speak a work in my name, which i have not commanded him to speak, shall die” (deut. xviii. 20); “behold, i am against the prophets that steal my words” (jer. xxiii. 30; see also isa. vi.; jer. i. 4–10). the proof of this is seen in the following considerations: 1. ministers, in the new testament, are always spoken of as designated by god. this is obviously true of the apostles and of the seventy, but it is seen also in the case of the ministry in general. the elders of ephesus were set over the flock by the holy ghost (acts xx. 28). archippus received his ministry “in the lord” (col. iv. 17). paul and barnabas were separated to their work by the holy [p. 14] ghost (acts xiii. 2). 2. the ministry constitute a special gift from christ to the church; for “he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of christ” (eph. iv. 11, 12). the gifts for these offices are bestowed by god, and the men are sent forth to their work by god himself, in answer to the prayers of his people. (see rom. xii. 6, 7; luke x. 1, 2.) 3. the nature of the office, as implied in the terms used to designate it, requires a personal divine call. they are called “ambassadors for christ,” speaking in his name; they are “stewards of god,” entrusted with the gospel for men.
the ministry, then, is not chosen as a man chooses a profession, consulting his inclination or interest. it is entered in obedience to a special call from god, and the consciousness of this is essential to personal qualification for the work. the emphasis which the scriptures place on the divine vocation of the minister implies a distinction between a call to the ministry and the ordinary choice of a profession. this distinction, in one important element at least, may perhaps be thus expressed: in the case of the minister the work is one to which the conscience obliges; he feels that he ought to engage in it, and that he cannot do otherwise without guilt. but in the case of one choosing another profession it is a matter of aptitudes, tastes, interest; he feels that it is right and wise thus to choose, but there is no sense of imperative obligation, so that it would be morally wrong to do otherwise. in the one, there is the sense of positive obligation as expressed in its strongest form by paul: “necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if i preach not the gospel” (1 cor. ix. 16); in the other, there is a sense of the rightfulness of the choice made and a consciousness [p. 15] of the divine approbation in making it, but the contrary choice would not necessarily be morally wrong.
as to the manifestation of this call, two opposite errors are to be avoided. on the one hand, the call is conceived as consisting in a mere preference for the work of the ministry, and the result is that men influenced only by literary tastes or unhallowed ambition rush unbidden into the sacred office. on the other, it is regarded as a supernatural manifestation, like a voice from heaven, attended with intense mental struggles; and, as the result, men who ought to enter the ministry are, in the absence of such manifestations, deterred from entering it and mistake their true mission in life. evidently, this duty is to be ascertained in the same manner as any other duty. the call, indeed, is a divine act, but so also is regeneration; yet in neither case is the manifestation necessarily or ordinarily supernatural. the evidences of it are found in a prayerful examination of one’s own experience compared with god’s word. christian young men, therefore, should be urged to ponder carefully the question whether god is not calling them to the ministry. a pastor’s utmost wisdom and discrimination should be employed in inspiring and guiding young men to right thinking in regard to their life-mission. many a life-failure might thus be prevented, and many a noble man whose life otherwise had been devoted to secular pursuits would be saved for effective service in the pulpit. this call, i conceive, is manifested in the heart of the individual, in the convictions of the church, and in the providence of god.
i. the internal call.—the elements of this are: 1. a fixed and earnest desire for the work. “this is a true saying, if a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work” (1 tim. iii. 1). there must be desire; for no man will succeed unless the work enlists the whole enthusiasm [p. 16] of his being. this is more than a love of declamation, a glow in the work of composition, or a taste for the studious, literary life of a pastor: it is a quenchless enthusiasm for the work as the proclamation of god’s message and the means of saving men. it springs from love to christ and love to the work itself. paul said: “none of these things move me, neither count i my life dear unto myself, so that i might finish my course with joy, and the ministry which i have received of the lord jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of god” (acts xx. 24). 2. an abiding impression of duty to preach the gospel. the apostle paul said: “necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if i preach not the gospel” (1 cor. ix. 16). not always, indeed, will this inward impulsion to the work be so distinct and imperative, but it will always be felt, and with greatest force as the soul draws nearest to god and the true nature of the ministry is most clearly perceived. hence, in determining the question of vocation much prayer is necessary, and the convictions which predominate in the soul, when most consciously in god’s presence, are to be most carefully considered. 3. a sense of personal weakness and unworthiness and a heartfelt reliance on divine power. this, indeed, is not an infallible test, for youth is naturally self-confident, and in the case of some most useful ministers a reliance alone on the divine arm has come only after long and bitter experience of self-failure. but a self-confident spirit should certainly suggest the fear of self-deception, since it can only spring from a false self-estimate and from wholly inadequate views of the work. paul said: “such trust have we through christ to god-ward; not that we are sufficient of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of god, who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament” (2 cor. iii. 4–6).
[p. 17] ii. the call of the church.—this is the expressed conviction of the church, after sufficient acquaintance with the candidate, that he is called to preach the gospel—a conviction resulting from evidences of his qualifications, such as the following: 1. sound conversion. this qualification is vital and central. a defect here is fatal—fatal to the minister himself as almost certain to result in his living and dying unconverted, and fatal to the people as placing their souls under the guidance of a spiritually-blind, godless pastor. few positions have in them so many elements of danger as that of an unconverted pastor, since, though officially laboring for the conversion of others, his very office places him beyond the scope of all the ordinary means employed by the churches to lead men to christ and furnishes the strongest incentives to yield to self-deception. no man should enter it of whose conversion the church with which he is connected has doubt; regard alike for the soul of the candidate and for the souls of men demands that in respect to this primary qualification the case should be absolutely clear so far as man may judge. 2. a superior order of piety. he is to be “an example of the believers in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity” (1 tim. iv. 12). he must needs be, in some respects, a model, and must therefore be in advance of the people in experience and life. no brilliancy of intellectual or literary or rhetorical qualification can atone for the absence of a devotional spirit and a pure life in a christian pastor. 3. soundness in the faith. he is both to “hold fast the form of sound words” (2 tim. i. 13) and to “speak the things which become sound doctrine” (tit. ii. 1). a man who is unsettled in his convictions of religious truth, or who palters to the love of novelty by a perpetual straining for that which is strange and startling in doctrine has no rightful place in the pulpit, [p. 18] however popular his address or large his following. the ultimate result of his work is almost always disastrous to the cause of truth. 4. adequate mental capacity and training, and scriptural knowledge. he is to show himself “approved unto god, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 tim. ii. 15). as the chief work of a minister is public instruction, it is plain he must possess the mental force and knowledge requisite to make his ministry instructive. moral and spiritual qualifications cannot be made a substitute for intellectual, for the preacher’s work is to unfold and enforce truth in the pulpit as well as to illustrate it in holy living. piety, therefore, essential as it is, if not accompanied with mental gifts and discipline, is not evidence of a ministerial call. some good men have made a life-mistake by taking on them the responsibilities of public instructors when deficient either in natural abilities or in the discipline and knowledge which are essential to meet the continuous and exhaustive draft of the pulpit. 5. aptness to teach. god’s word is to be committed only “to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also” (2 tim. ii. 2)—men “apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves” (2 tim. ii. 24, 25). great abilities and learning do not suffice; there must also be the special gift of teaching, the power to gather and interest and hold the people. the ablest sermon fails unless the people are awake and attentive. paul and barnabas not only preached the gospel, but they “so spake that a great multitude, both of the jews and also of the greeks, believed” (acts xiv. 1). 6. practical wisdom and executive ability. nowhere are these qualities more important than in a pastor, whose good sense, tact, judgment, power to organize and set at work all the moral forces of his church, are in constant requisition. a large part of the pastor’s power depends on the [p. 19] possession of certain practical qualities; in the absence of these, men of great mental abilities and spiritual worth have failed in the pastorate. 7. finally, a good report of them which are without. a minister cannot escape opposition. if faithful to christ, he may experience, as thousands have experienced, bitter persecution; but in purity and integrity of personal character he is to “have a good report” (1 tim. iii. 7), “giving none offence, that the ministry be not blamed” (2 cor. vi. 3), but “commending” himself “to every man’s conscience in the sight of god” (2 cor. iv. 2). without this acknowledged purity of spirit and life, his work as a minister is necessarily a failure, for otherwise he cannot keep the consciences of men on his side.
now, the call of the church is founded on evidence in the candidate of these qualifications, either in their germ and promise where the character is immature, or in their fully-developed form where age and experience have matured the man. this conviction in the mind of the church is ordinarily an essential evidence of a divine call; for plainly, since the individual himself is not the proper judge as to his possession of these qualifications, the church is the natural medium of the call, and its decision ought ordinarily to be accepted as final.
iii. the call of providence.—circumstances may absolutely forbid entering the ministry, but it is obvious that all difficulties are not to be interpreted adversely to a call, for such obstacles may be, and often are, simply a discipline educative and preparatory to the highest success in the sacred office. the strength and symmetry of character which have afterward given eminence in the ministry have often been acquired by means of the struggles encountered in the preparation to enter it. but god has distinctly promised direction to those who ask him: [p. 20] “the steps of a good man are ordered by the lord” (ps. xxxvii. 23); “if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of god, that giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him” (james i. 5). to the man of prayer, the call of providence comes in the events of his life, which, as interpreted by the spirit’s guidance, are finger-boards at every turn, saying, “this is the way, walk ye in it.”
no man ought to enter the sacred work without this distinct consciousness of a call from god. for, 1. without this he obtrudes himself into the office of an ambassador without a commission, and incurs the guilt of presumption. god has not sent him and has given him no message, and as he stands up to speak in god’s name not one of all the promises of god to his accredited servants belongs to him, but he is exposed to all the threatenings against those who speak without command. 2. without this also he cannot speak consciously, as an “ambassador for christ,” “in christ’s stead” (2 cor. v. 20), and he of necessity lacks the courage and boldness of him who is conscious of bearing a divine message. true ministerial boldness in the pulpit depends on this consciousness of being god’s servant, bearing god’s message; in the absence of this he cannot speak with authority. 3. nothing but this consciousness of a divine call is adequate to inspire for the toils of the pastor’s office and sustain in its trials. disappointments and discouragements come, in which he must fall back for support and comfort on the great primary fact that he is god’s servant, specially called to that office and that work; and if this fail him, all the true sources of courage and strength are wanting, and his condition is pitiable indeed. therefore, as luther says: “every minister of god’s word should be sure of his calling, that before god and man [p. 21] he may with a bold conscience glory therein, that he preached the gospel as one that is sent; even as the ambassador of a king glorieth and vaunteth in this, that he cometh not as a private person, but as the king’s ambassador.”
