In my last blog, I talked about my journey to answering my call. Today, Rev. Micheli has asked me to consider the future of my calling. He sent me this link and asked me to respond: http://video.pbs.org/video/2365236671/
A quick summary of the video: The decline in church membership has led to a decline in the need for pastors. Likewise, as smaller congregations struggle to pay their bills, it becomes impossible for them to afford a pastor. Many of my colleagues who are graduating from seminary are discovering the reality that a calling to ministry may not take the traditional form within a church. Nonetheless, story after story reveals that those who are called to serve others via pastoral ministry are stepping out in faith and finding a way to fulfill that calling. The concept of ministry is changing; a hard reality for someone who has never seriously considered a different profession.
As I talked with a family friend the other day, they told the story of how their son graduated with a Master’s Degree in Engineering but could not find a job. The thought just amazed me that someone could graduate with such an advanced degree (and the student loans to prove it) and not get hired. But my family friend proves that even as I consider my future in ministry, the story is no different for my colleagues in other programs. The lack of job openings may stem from different roots, but almost all college and graduate students are staring graduation in the face with no real guarantee of a job. We are faced with the question, what do we do when we have a calling to an area that cannot financially support us?
My Pastoral Ethics class last year began by dividing ministry into two categories: calling and profession. At the risk of oversimplification, the former is the reason someone does something, the latter is what they do. While the purpose of the distinction for my ethics class was to show that those in ministry have a professional standard and can’t just do whatever they feel “called” to do, I think that the distinction is worthwhile here as well.
You may have heard the quote attributed to John Wesley, “Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all the ways you can. In all the places you can. At all the times you can. To all the people you can. As long as ever you can.” This quote captures the purpose of continuing to strive after a calling that may never lead to a profession. While it seems foolish from the outside, every parent would tell their child to chase his/her dream, often without giving a second thought about the chances of success. As children of God, our new dream should be a wholehearted love of God and our neighbor (Matt. 22:37-39). Since God has given us the passion and the gifts to serve in any way, the lack of opportunities shouldn’t prevent us from obeying that call.
While the video begins by stating, “the reality is that there are not merely as many jobs as pastors as there were even a few years ago.” I would like to challenge that by declaring that there will always be jobs for pastors, they must simply embrace new means of accomplishing that calling. We must all ask ourselves, how can I use my current situation to serve others?
I once heard a missionary say that he would answer God’s call despite the fact that there was no guarantee of food. Why worry, he reasoned, because if God allows him to starve to death, then just imagine the welcome he would get in heaven for literally sacrificing his whole life. While I think that perspective is a little conceited, to think that he could know with such accuracy the call of God, I think he points to the priority of service to God over making money. Finding a way to serve God in any profession, and wholeheartedly believe that it is ministry is an act of great discipleship.
Whatever your calling, engineering, theology or otherwise, serve the Lord in whatever way that you can, with the confidence that God will use your gifts. As hard as it is to write this, the reality is that a true calling must always be separate than the salary a profession can provide. Finding ways to serve with the gifts and passions that we are endowed is the true answer to a call, not the profession that we take. So even as our graduates are forced to settle for jobs less than their dreams, they must continue to find a way to use the gifts and training that God has given to offer meaningful service. So while from a financial standpoint we all obviously need to earn money, choosing a job should always stem from the belief that one can “minister” in any profession.
Although the concept of a “professional” pastor is diminishing, I press on with my training, so that I can serve as a pastor, in whatever ways available. God will forever be faithful. So may God’s faithfulness be the last word, not our own financial needs.
The post Future – David McWilliams appeared first on Aldersgate.