Whether it’s a college student choosing a major or a professional questioning a career change, it’s easy for Christians to ask, “Is God calling me into ministry?” This can be a paralyzing decision as we pinball between our desires, how we sense God has gifted us, the opportunities before us, the callings of Scriptures, and the spiritual and physical needs of the world.
But we can greatly simplify and even correct the question by instead asking, “As a Christian, what ministry has God called me to?”
We Are All Called to Ministry
All followers of Jesus have been called into ministry in the sense that we have all received a great commission – to make disciples, baptizing and teaching others to obey Jesus’ commands (Matthew 28:19-20). We have all been instructed with the greatest commandments – to love God and love others as ourselves in everything we do (Matthew 22:36-40). We are all commanded to proclaim the gospel, carry others’ burdens (Galatians 6:2), steward the mysteries of God (1 Corinthians 4:1), contribute to the needs of the saints, and be fervent in spirit as we serve the Lord (Romans 12:11-13) – wherever it is that we serve Him.
Within that sphere of obedience, we could take a host of different roles at a host of different places with a host of different people and still be serving Jesus as we “work heartily as for the Lord and not for men” (Colossians 3:23-24). Whatever we do, we can do it for the glory of God, and this means that Christians no longer have to choose between “secular work” and “sacred work” because there is no secular work that cannot actually be sacred work done unto Him.
Submitting ourselves in obedience to these commands paradoxically ushers in great freedom (as submission to God always does) – freedom to consider nearly any role available to us as an opportunity for ministry.
We Are All Called to Steward Our Gifts
All followers of Jesus have been given giftings and talents that we are called to steward for God’s glory and for serving others (1 Peter 4:10).
God calls some to do so as full-time pastors, preachers, and teachers. Trusted mentors who know us well and earnest prayers for wisdom can be especially helpful in discerning whether that may be God’s leading in our lives.
For most of us, best stewarding our gifts for ministry will look like full-time roles outside of the church — as therapists, physicians, architects, lawyers, consultants, chefs, or stay-at-home moms. If we find a role “out in the real world” that we feel drawn to, equipped for, and eager to do, assuming it does not blatantly contradict God’s commands and that our motivation does not center on our own kingdom but on His Kingdom, it is almost certainly a work that can be done for His glory and through which He can work for our (and other people’s) good.
In any of these fields, we will encounter people to love, serve, encourage, honor, and point to the gospel - many of whom are not (yet) stepping foot into a church, but are now interacting with a Christian – a living temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19) and one who bears witness to the truth – in their workplace. As we work in a way that is not conformed to the likeness of this world – working with integrity, faithfulness, humility, and kindness – we can point our coworkers to the living God we serve rather than the more common gods of comfort, riches, and self-promotion.
Christians in any sector can be working to restore God’s good design for the world by helping bring healing, order, truth, beauty, counsel, or nourishment and pointing back to Him as our hope for one day setting all things right and making all things new.
We Are All Called to Bless the World
The God who will one day make a new heaven and a new earth has, in the meantime, put each of us on this earth with all of its practical, daily, functional needs. If all of us were only ever working fully in the church, who would grow the food we eat? Who would deliver the mail? Who would prescribe the medicine? Who would manage the banks? Who would direct the traffic? Who would build the homes?
As Paul asked, in referring to the Church as the body of Christ, “If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?” (1 Corinthians 12:17)
We are all called to seek the welfare of our city in all the ways it needs to flourish (Jeremiah 29:7) and we can all do so from our workplace, whether that finds us in a church, a cubicle, a classroom, a cockpit, a chemistry lab, a construction site, or a carpenter shop – where Jesus found Himself working before his ministry began.
The first job God commissioned was to Adam and Eve in Genesis as He charged them to work and keep the land (Genesis 1:28). The first time we read about the Holy Spirit filling someone to equip them for a work, it was to design, carve, and craft (Exodus 31:2-5). God sees the necessity and eternal purpose for all work, whether inside or outside of the church, that blesses His creation and is done for His glory, and He calls us to see it the same.
We Are All Called to Serve the Church
All followers of Jesus have been called to serve the church.
Even if we do not sense God directing our steps into full-time vocational ministry, we are still called to serve the body of Christ. We may even find that our full-time job outside of the church enables us to serve the church better, like an accountant who helps manage church finances or a graphic designer who creates content for the church website.
Others may be called to divide their working hours between the church and a part-time job, just as Paul made tents to help fund his ministry work. A part-time worship leader may also be a real estate agent throughout the week. The Christian summer camp counselor may work as an elementary school teacher throughout the school year.
For all of us who are not employed by a church, whether we work elsewhere part-time, full-time, or not at all, our church membership will provide plenty of opportunity to serve the body of Christ – on Sundays, week nights, or the natural rhythms of living in fellowship and on mission with God’s people. We never have to ask whether God is calling us to serve the church – we only need to ask how.
Whatever We Do
In God’s Kingdom, there is no “secular” work that cannot also be “sacred” work when done for God’s purposes. There is no role that cannot be leveraged for His glory, other people’s good, and the welfare of our city.
In all that we do, we can obey the command to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice, confident that this is a spiritual act of worship, as all our work can be (Romans 12:1).
As we seek to minister in the unique ways God has gifted us – both to serve the church and to bless the world – wherever that takes us, we can be steadfast, immovable, and abounding in the work of the Lord because in Him our labor is never in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58).
