Helping Parse the Feelings of a Sincere Volunteer
A Travel Free Learning Article
By Norman Jameson
Voice: 919.607.4991, E-mail: NJameson@TheColumbiaPartnership.org, Web Site: www.TheColumbiaPartnership.org
Download Jameson, Discerning a Ministerial Yearning, 9.13.11 Edition
In my most recent contribution to The Columbia Partnership’s Travel Free Learning articles, I raised the issue ministers face with the yearnings of well meaning, spiritually minded disciples who confide that they are considering entering the professional ministry—and the minister suspects they do not possess the tools for success.
In other words, I wrote, how do you best help people define that spiritual yearning in their lives that they interpret as a call to ministry when you see no evidence that they have what it takes to be a minister? [Check out this previous article, Dispensing Advice to the Clueless on the TCP web site.]
While they are questions to aid your own discernment, you can use them in a coaching manner to ask the person you’re dealing with and let him and her come to the most beneficial conclusion on his or her own.
1. Does your inquisitor exhibit a life committed to God? While freedom in Christ limits the rules by which Christians must live, there are some basic fruits for which a world of inspectors is looking. Galatians 5:19-26 is a good general list. A successful minister cannot just dabble in spiritual things.
2. Would your church members be surprised by the decision? If you announced that your inquisitor had been called to ministry, would your church members raise their eyebrows in surprise? Or would they nod in affirmation?
3. Is your inquisitor a mature believer? This may seem like an obvious question but sometimes a young person comes back from a retreat or a revival fired up with enthusiasm to do something for God and their limited perspective leads them to conclude that something is a call to fulltime ministry. Give that revived and enthused person some time to work out a life lived for God off the mountaintop before you encourage him or her to apply to seminaries.
4. Is your inquisitor active in church life? Professional ministry by nature involves church. Even if the ministry is parachurch, success in that realm requires positive relationships with churches and people who love church, both local and on a wider scale. Does your candidate actively participate in the life of your church? He or she doesn’t have to be there every time the doors open, but if he or she never comes to Bible study and attends worship only sporadically, you would be hard pressed to encourage him or her toward full-time ministry.
5. Does your inquisitor have healthy relationships with both genders and across age boundaries? Loners are not typically good ministry candidates. A good minister is at ease with a wide range of people, is positively perceived by them and has a personal “ick” factor near zero. Do you hear the candidate’s name mentioned positively by others in the church? Do others ever suggest your inquisitor as a candidate to lead during a service, or to bring a message on layman’s Sunday?
6. In what condition is your inquisitor’s family life? This is especially important if your inquisitor is an adult. Does his or her spouse respect him or her? Do his or her children evidence living in an orderly, loving household?
7. Is your inquisitor physically healthy? Ministry is a demanding vocation. While there is the rare example of a minister with severe physical disabilities, the cold facts are if a candidate is obese, confined to a wheelchair, has a severe speech impediment or suffers from some other physical incapacitation, the odds of finding a career in fulltime ministry are slim to none. At the same time, such persons often find acceptance in and around the church when they’ve found it nowhere else, so they want to be a part of that ministerial family. But you must speak frankly about professional realities.
8. Can your inquisitor communicate ideas? Ministers communicate primarily with their voices and often with their pens. Is your inquisitor a good communicator? Can he or she make himself understood? Does anyone listen when he or she speaks? Do you return his or her phone calls with anticipation or dread?
9. Is your inquisitor burdened with debt? Whether it’s school loans or a new car or too much house or a lifestyle that exceeds income, a heavy debt burden demonstrates too casual a relationship with money and an immature attitude towards financial responsibility. In most cases the level of financial support in fulltime ministry will not enable a person to climb out of debt who is underwater going in. And ministers are responsible for the proper collection and disbursement of others’ funds. They must have an impeccable personal financial record.
10. Does your inquisitor show mere curiosity or demonstrate passion? A lot of seminary graduates work on loading docks and sell insurance who thought they could clarify their curiosity by immersing themselves in biblical study. Some were wrestling with the devil and they thought the devil wouldn’t find them in seminary. Give your inquisitor some time to come back to you and talk again. See if the spark is burning stronger.
This mental checklist can help when you are working with someone about whom you have doubts as to their potential for success in fulltime ministry—however you define success. Be a coach and ask these questions and let the inquisitor discern his or her own answers.
You are their minister. While you may not agree--especially if you disagree—with their felt direction, you owe it to them to treat their perceptions seriously and help them sort out their feelings. God calls each of us to serve Him with our lives and the best service you might give that person who came to you is to steer them to a path of service as a lay person, keeping in mind in all humility that you may be wrong.
Important Things to Know
Norman Jameson is a Ministry Colleague with The Columbia Partnership and a member of the Funding Ministry Team. He is available for to speak with leaders, congregations, denominations, and parachurch organizations about capital funding and/or communications needs.
The Columbia Partnership is a non-profit Christian ministry organization focused on transforming the capacity of the North American Church to pursue and sustain Christ-centered ministry. Travel Free Learning is a sharing knowledge emphasis of TCP. For more information about products and services check out the web site at www.TheColumbiaPartnership.org, send an e-mail to Client.Care@TheColumbiaPartnership.org,or call 803.622.0923.
