Is God Calling Me To Preach?

Is God calling you to preach? If you’re not sure, here are three ways that might show that He is.

Biblical Qualifications

These days, just about anybody can be ordained into the ministry but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re qualified. Every Christian man must first pass through a biblical model to see if they qualify. Few would argue that a man that is a drunkard, a reproach, a quarreler, greedy and violent man would make a good pastor. Well then, you agree with God (1st Tim 3:2-3). He shouldn’t be “a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil” (1st Tim 3:6-7). Who would want a pastor that’s “open to charge of debauchery or insubordination” (1st Tim 1:6)? What about someone that’s “arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain” (Titus 1:7)? Again, nobody would probably want them for their pastor but you might think that’s a little harsh isn’t it? Can’t we allow for a few of these types of men as pastors? So you’d be okay with allowing a known drunkard to drive the Sunday school bus? No one can even ask the question as to whether they’d be called to preach if they’re first not violent, a drunkard, charged with known debauchery and insubordination, and just in it for the money (“greedy for gain”). These are not my qualifications for the pastorate; they are God’s and that’s all that matter. For those men who qualify, there are three confirmations that are all men will feel.

An Internal Call

Frequently I hear men tell me that they are feeling a call from God in one way or another. For me, many years ago, I began to feel that being a Sunday school teacher was not enough. I loved to dig deep into the Word of God and to know a subject well enough to teach it but then, it didn’t feel like it was enough in my life. I loved what Paul wrote about this calling that it was from God. “For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth” (1st Tim 2:7). This is confirmed elsewhere by God speaking to Ananias about Paul, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel” (Acts 9:15). This is an internal call by God just as it was with Jeremiah as God spoke to him, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations” (Jer 1:5). If a man feels that he can do nothing else but preach or be completely miserable doing anything else, then he likely has an internal call; one directly from God. So God is the One Who calls and appoints preachers.

An External Call

Some years ago when I came to the church where I’m presently pastoring at, I came to help them create an outreach program for evangelism and we began a nursing home ministry and later, a prison ministry. Take about divine timing; when I came to this church, the pastor was retiring that very week due to health issues and they asked me to fill the pulpit. Later, the church body made a “special calling” to ordain me before the whole congregation. The church believed that I was called to preach. I already had an overwhelming internal call so this seemed to confirm to me that perhaps God was calling me to the pastorate, even though for a time I resisted in thinking, I am not worthy because of my background and past history but I realized later that God doesn’t call qualified men…He qualifies men He calls.

An Overwhelming Call

It is a good thing to desire the office of pastor (1st Tim 3:1) but that isn’t enough. There must be an internal call by God and an external call by a church as we read in the Book of Acts where the Holy Spirit says, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul to the work to which I have called them” (Acts 13:2). Here are some questions you can ask yourself; was there was a particular time when you first heard the call of God? Does it feel like an intense and inescapable inner longing for the work of God? Do you have an insatiable appetite for study of His Word as well as an unparalleled urge to share the Gospel with others and a deep hunger to see lost souls saved? Are you unaffected by severe persecution and trials in this call? Do you have a heart for sacrificial service and giving? Do you see clear and consistent evidence of humility in your life? Is your conduct holy (although not perfect) and do you have a high character that backs the calling? If you can answer yes to these questions and you feel a passion burning in your heart that you can do nothing but preach and a church as called you, then you might be called by God to pastor a church.

Conclusion

Can there be any stronger of an indication of a calling by God than when Jeremiah said, “If I say, “I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name,” there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut” (Jer 20:9). This is exactly what it felt like; a burning fire in my heart that I could not extinguish. God is the one who places members of the body, or the church, as He determines (Eph 4:11) and as Martyn Lloyd-Jones once said, “It is God who commands preaching, it is God who sends out preachers.”

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren Church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Teaching Children the Gospel available on Amazon.

1. Murray, D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones: The First Forty Years (Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1983), 80.