Reading: Hearing the Irresistible Self-Evident Calling

Hearing the Irresistible Self-Evident Calling

I was fishing with my cousin Melvin. We were both twelve years old. The fish were not biting. We left the lake and walked right past our grandma's house. My grandma opened her front door and called us into her house.

"Sit down boys," she said.

She did not say one other word. She walked to her Bible drawer and got her well-read, well-worn King James Bible. She opened the Bible to Jeremiah 1. Without an introduction, she started reading with her Dutch accent:

4 Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,  5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.  6 Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child.  7 But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.  8 Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD.

After she read these words, without another word, she closed the Bible and put it back into the Bible drawer.

"Boys, you may go," she said.

We did.

While she read these words my heart was burning in me. I encountered God's calling presence. She read that passage. God was speaking to me. It was at that moment, I knew I had a calling. Even though I was only twelve, God's self-evident presence and calling were revealed to me. I can still hear her reading that passage even though that has happened over 40 years ago. God was speaking to my heart!

What are you called to do? 

What has God been saying to your heart? We all have different journeys. There has been brokenness. There has been redemption. Maybe you have been very far from God, but he is now bringing you back. He wants to make you a "prophet to the nations" What is God telling you right now as you read these words. Your family needs you, your circle of influence needs influencing.

"Called” Christian leaders are everywhere. They dwell in the slums of Ghana. They minister to people in the inner city of Baltimore. They start businesses. They work in factories. They are farmers. Some have been to prison. Some are on probation. These leaders are called in the most remote places, like 100 miles from Saskatchewan, Canada. These leaders are called in places that actively persecute Christians, like Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. Called leaders are just that, they are called. They often do not have formal education. Most cannot afford it, even though that training is needed and wanted. These are the leaders that will be used by God to create a long-term Christian culture.

Rev. David W. Henson, Jr., of White Plains, Maryland, is one of those leaders. David has been serving as a pastor without formal training for over 26 years.

He writes:

David Henson did not minister to people based on what he was going to get out of it. He sensed the call of God. He has ministered for 26 years without formal training. His calling was his ministry currency. He could never afford to get formal training despite the fact that he wanted it and needed it.

The Opportunity

What if the cultivation system for identifying, training, and mobilizing Christian leaders was simplified. What if any called leader could bloom where they are planted. What if they could find local leaders in their local churches, businesses, ministries, and community to participate with them in their education. Could these leaders become their mentor or sponsor? What if high-quality Christian education was available free of charge and brought directly to leaders through an Internet connection? What if the system was set up in such a way that strong accountability pieces were hard-wired into the process so that those who sense the call could be tested in that call? What if the cost to develop all of this was so efficient that we could offer advanced training as a mission where contributions were not lost in the high cost of current models of higher education? What if instead, for a fraction of the cost of traditional Christian colleges, you could train thousands of called Christian leaders?

Christian Leaders College and Institute has made major steps in bringing high-level ministry training to called leaders everywhere. This new paradigm for training called leaders has worked. From its beginning with six applications and three active students in 2006, all from the USA, Christian Leaders Programs has grown to an active student body of tens of thousands of students from all over the world.

Getting Started Class

Christian Leaders has a Getting Started Experience that includes a short Calling and Connection Course or a longer Connection Class that allows anyone to explore their calling and test their resolve to receive ministry training. Later, I will address the thinking behind the Getting Started Class. Let me just briefly introduce this class to you now.

The first part of the class addresses the calling to ministry and walk with God issues. This class introduces to students a reproducible walk with God that is the foundation for their ministry readiness. This class is positioned to be a very cost-effective admissions department. If a student can complete this class, Christian Leaders is more assured that these students warrant a scholarship to continue their advanced training. 

Students are invited to order their student ID card. In this class, the students are invited to finish a profile for the international directory and are now fully engaged in the ministry training programs. Students are asked to become vision partners in their generosity-driven model of education. Students are invited to join a closed social media group called the Christian Leaders Network. This class also teaches them about the use of the CLI platform and technology. After this class is completed, students "graduate" with their first certificate, called the Entrance Award. 

After this class students are invited to participate in and complete the programs at Christian Leaders Institute. They can go as far as they need for their specific calling. They can:

1. Complete certificate-level courses in ministry, including enterprise, restorative justice, and philosophy.
2. Complete Award, Certificate, or diploma-level training for more advanced training awards
3. Become licensed or ordained in various minister roles, with specialization options. 
4. Work toward a degree program. (Some States will not allow the granting of a College Degree until Christian Leaders College is accredited.  

In all these programs, the courses themselves are tuition-free because of the generosity-driven nature of CL. 

The budget of Christian Leaders is funded by Donations and fees. Here is a further breakdown. 

The yearly budget is funded by:

1. Generous vision-driven students and graduates. They have been reached with free ministry training. Now CL partners with their vision to reach others. We are their tool to spread more training to more people.
2. Generous individuals, churches, and foundations outside of the student also want to reach more people. These vision partners see CLI as their mission to raise up more Christian leaders. 
3. Administration donations called "fees" support the administration of the headquarters and other personalization of the CLI graduate experience. These include such things as customer service and official award services.
4. Products and services also contribute to the funding of Christian Leaders.                                                                              

Equipping Called  Leaders

Many people have asked, "Who are the target leaders CL is looking to recruit, train, and mobilize?”  In the remainder of this chapter and the next one, I am going to share some thoughts about who Christian Leaders Institute is looking to train.

At Christian Leaders, we are all about helping the called ones become the sent ones!

The English word "church” comes from the Greek word "EKKLESIA.” In ancient Greek, that means "called out assembly.” This was a called-out religious society. The word EKKLESIA was used by Jesus to describe the type of religious society he was forming. This "called out assembly" is the body of Christ!  While this is a "called out society," it is more than just a religious society, it is a spiritual, organic, and corporate entity. This entity includes all those who walk with God. This entity is advanced through the leading of the Holy Spirit empowering the gifts of believers. 

The Apostle Paul then goes on the make it clear, that the church and the exercise of gifting is to be a loving community, He ends chapter twelve,  

So the church is:
a called-out assembly or society, 
a spiritual organic body of Christ with a message of salvation and renewal
a human association empowered by calling and  gifts given by the Holy Spirit to different believers

The Apostle Paul goes on to say, the church is a place will LOVE lives. 

The church is called out, spiritually alive, organic, and organized by gifts given by the Holy Spirit and a place where LOVE lives!

We read in the New Testament, that this very entity the church was built on called leaders, apostles, ministers and others gifted as the Holy Spirit determined. 

As you read this. What is the Holy Spirit saying to your soul?  Where do you fit? What gifts have you been given? Is God calling you to be a servant leader? A Christian leader? 

Christian leaders are called to put their belief, trust, and faith in Jesus as the seed of all their leadership. Christian leaders cannot lead where they have not been. The starting point is the actual call to faith, responding to the call of the gospel. A Christian leader is born again. If you are not a "Christian" yet, that is the starting point. Give your heart and soul to Jesus Christ. 

The calling of Christian leaders includes higher expectations for living out the faith and greater responsibility; this is true despite the fact that humans are flawed and sinners.

A real walk of victorious faith is foundational to flourish as a leader of renewal, restoration, and revival: Why?

1. Called leaders who minister in their community need the power of the Holy Spirit and the guidance of the Word of God, the Bible.
2. If you are going to "put to death" the old nature and serve the Lord, you need his help to be transformed.
3. You will be more effective in your personal and family life growing with God
4. You are to love others radically
5. You will also be able to share with others if your walk is real, relevant, and reproducible.
6. If you do become ordained, your ministry will be more effectively connected to God in a daily way. (The Bible cautions against being too quick in the ordaining of office bearers: 1 Timothy 5:22 says, "Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, and do not share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure.”)

Christian leaders have a calling by Christ to intentionally order part of their time, actions, treasure and priorities around building the ekklesia, the church. How about you? 

Characteristics of "Called Christian Leaders

Christian Leaders as a ministry training organization is not just some high technology place where we put classes on the Internet. We are very concerned that everyone who enrolls gets excellent ministry training. We also hold to the value that everyone who comes to CL may be called to leadership. We mobilize called leaders who have counted the cost. 

Students, donors, and supporters keep asking, what type of student do you seek to serve? What are the characteristics of the students you desire at Christian Leaders? What are you asking of your students? I think those are great questions, and so important that I think we should talk about them.

Here are some of the characteristics of local Christian leaders, whether volunteer, bi-vocational, vocational or post-vocational. Prospective leaders need to read these characteristics carefully and prayerfully, in consultation with their spouses, mentors, or pastors.

While it can be difficult to discern whether or not you are called by God into ministry, at Christian Leaders, we want new students to consider these characteristics for whatever their calling to serve includes. In the next chapter, we are going to talk about qualifications. If you are a donor or encourager of Christian Leaders, you will be made more aware of what we are looking for in the called leaders that we are seeking to equip.

1. Internal Calling

Traditionally, Christian Leaders are called through an internal call and an external calling and confirmation. The internal and external callings are confirmed in various ways. These callings are confirmed by God and confirmed by others in our lives. This is a curious and prayerful faith journey.

You must have a real walk with God if you want to be God's ambassador! Further, your specific "call" and urgency must come to you from God out of your walk with God. This is called the "internal calling."  Do you find yourself praying and meditating about your call to serve God? Do you find in your prayer and devotional life that God has placed urgency in your heart for reaching others and helping others reach others? Does your heart burn within you through the presence of the Holy Spirit?

The apostle Paul often talked about that urgency.  He begins his epistle to the Romans,

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God... (Romans 1:1)

God still calls people to call others to become leaders of the called community, the church.

2. External Calling

What is God speaking to your heart? This is the internal call. Let's talk about the external call. This calling aspect can be more observable. We read in the Word, "It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers," (Ephesians 4:11). How does your internal calling connect to your person? Here are factors to consider when you are called to serve in the Kingdom of God.

3. Giftedness

What are your gifts? The New Testament explores how giftedness connects to spiritually called Christian leaders. Giftstest.com has a great definition of Gifts. I will quote this website directly. I then encourage you to take the free test to help you figure out your gifts for ministry. I will tell you there is some diversity of agreement for some of these gifts. Some believe that some of these gifts were present in the New Testament but are not present today. Let us not judge one another other about each person's convictions.

4. Interest

In pursuing your call, are you interested in that area of the kingdom? Might I have gifts in areas I am not interested to be involved with? I believe God connects your interests with your calling and gifts.

At Christian Leaders, we deal with a lot of Christian leaders, and we have been involved in planting and pastoring lots of churches. We have noticed that called leaders have an urgency about them, similar to what we hear the apostle Paul speak of in Romans. This interest is vital to a call to church leadership.

I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done -- by the power of signs and miracles, through the power of the Spirit. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ. It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else's foundation. (Romans 15:18-20)

5. Temperament

Christian leaders need a temperament for leadership in the church or in the community. Do they deal with failure well? Are they leaders of peace? Christian leaders have a huge responsibility in the eternal destinies of souls. Will they be able to handle the stress or crack under pressure? People will criticize them. They can easily get caught up in conflicts with those they are calling to faith. Could they learn to deal with their congregation in a compassionate and understanding way?

Over the years we have been tested repeatedly. When we first went into ministry, we were figuring out who we were as leaders. Some prospective leaders have already figured much out about this, while others have much to learn. There will be much testing along the way. Christian leaders need to have a temperament of growing when tested. Truly the apostle Paul had that temperament,

But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. (2 Corinthians 4:7-10)

6. Humanity

Christian leaders are human and they must always identify with their humanity. Some may wonder what is meant by this in relation to calling into ministry, whether ministry in a church, ministry in the community or ministry in the marketplace. Are prospective leaders approachable? Are they interesting? Do they read, browse, and watch interesting stuff that the many people they are called to reach interact with? 

For instance, they might be fans of American football. This ability, to connect with things that people do, will be important for the church leader to relate to them. There are so many honorable things that leaders will hold in common with those they are influencing. A Christian leader needs to be relatable in enough ways for them to connect with real people. Christian leaders should not come off as boring or irrelevant; instead, they should see everything they do as somehow tying into the calling to call people to put their faith in Christ. 

Christian leaders are fun, they have a sense of humor, but their humor does not put people down. They can laugh at themselves and do not take themselves too seriously. They can have deep conversations but also enjoy the lighthearted side of things. Church leaders are not afraid to be real; they are open, and people can actually get to know them. They share the truth of their humanity so that even that humanity itself can serve to lead people to walk with God.

The apostle Paul understood how to be like the people he was reaching, and then became like them. In a striking passage, Paul talks about the osmosis of what occurs when a church leader is connected to his church -- notice how human this is:

I plead with you, brothers, become like me, for I became like you. You have done me no wrong.  As you know, it was because of an illness that I first preached the gospel to you. Even though my illness was a trial to you, you did not treat me with contempt or scorn. Instead, you welcomed me as if I were an angel of God, as if I were Christ Jesus himself. (Galatians 4:12-14)

7. Competency of Lifestyle

Called Christian leaders are sustainable. Are they basically stable as people? Do they do what they say they will do? Are they truthful? Are they moderate in their life choices? Do they have healthy habits? Do they take care of themselves? Are they hurting about something from their past that still spills over in a major way? Are they bitter about something? They should be sustainable and happy with who they are, where they have been, what they are doing, and where they are going.

The apostle Paul was a very interesting man who was very competent. He supported his ministry by making tents, and he still had time to preach, teach, and heavily contribute to the starting of the Christian movement. In fact, at times his stressing of competency was so strong, people today can misunderstand the apostle Paul.

For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: "If a man will not work, he shall not eat.” (2 Thessalonians 3:10)

8. Confirmation

If someone is called to ministry they should have confirmation. They should talk to those who know them best -- their spouse, family, and friends -- about whether or not they could see them as a sustainable leader. Not having their spouse and family behind them in ministry is a red flag.

But you know that Timothy has proved himself because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel. (Philippians 2:22)

In the next chapter, I will talk about ordination. We work with the Christian Leaders Alliance where we guide students to be locally ordained with a confirmation process.

Assessing Leaders at Christian Leaders Institute

God has built and sustained His people for over 2000 years identifying Christian leaders this way. It is true that people have misread their callings, run from this calling, and soiled this calling; but this is the way God has brought renewal and revival. The church is the oldest continuous organization in the world. 

Christian Leaders removes every unnecessary barrier from prospective called leaders.  The internal and external callings and all the dynamics associated with them have brought leaders from every nation and tribe ready to be trained for ministry. We want to make their training available and accessible so that hundreds of thousands of leaders are trained for the mission.

You might be reading this wondering whether you are called into ministry. You might know someone who has mentioned an interest in looking into ministry. 

I believe that every believer has some sort of calling to serve. In some ways, discerning your calling is not just for those called to serve in church ministry. I believe this discernment process is for every faith-driven person. What are you called to do with your life?

We have put together an exercise that will help you discern your calling?  Do this exercise yourself and then include your mentor, spouse, or pastor in the process.  Do not pick too many naysayers. (Note: If someone's spouse is a naysayer that will really challenge your ability to lead in ministry).  

Calling Assessment Exercise

1. Do you see in me a vital walk or the potential for a vital walk with God?

2. Do I possess leadership gifts?  

3. Do you see my communication and interpersonal relationship skills those that you would find desirable in a leader you would be associated with?

4. Do you see that I have a hunger for reaching people? Do you see me as on-fire to proclaim the gospel?

5. Do you see that I really have an interest in reaching people to the point that I would do it for free?

6. Do you see me as having the temperament of a church leader who will be criticized and not become bitter because of failure and challenges?

7. Do you see me as someone who is a person of peace who will help others grow?

8. Do you see me as someone who can take some risks for God?

9. Do you see me as approachable? Do you see me as open and willing to share?

10. Do you see me as someone you can relate to?

11. Do you see me as someone who is stable?

12. Do you see me as someone who is able to be sustainable as a person and as a leader of others?

13. Do you affirm that I have a special calling on my life for ministry?

Christian Leaders Institute is where ordinary leaders can explore their ministry calling and get the necessary advanced training to do well in ministry.