The call to bivocational ministry

One of the search committees I'm working with recently interviewed a candidate.  A traditional question that is often asked is for the individual to explain his or her call to the ministry.  When the committee asked that question the candidate could not respond.  The best answer he could give was that a friend suggested he attend seminary, which he did, and now he is looking for a ministry but had no idea what he was looking for.  In fact, he told the pastor search committee he really didn't think he wanted to be a pastor.  Well, at least with this church, he will get his wish.

When they told me of this interview I thought back to my own sense of call to the ministry.  I had only been saved a couple of years, but in that time I had accepted a number of leadership roles in my church.  Despite the things I was doing, I always had the sense God had more for me.  One day my pastor and I were riding to a meeting when he asked if I had ever felt called to the ministry.  I admitted that idea had come to me more than once, even as a young child.  A couple of weeks later he visited my wife and me to discuss this further.  Several months after that discussion I requested that our church license me to preach, and I began to fill in at various churches when I had the opportunity.

After about a year of this a church I had attended as a youth invited me to be their interim pastor.  I served there about six months in that capacity until they called a pastor.  By that time I was convinced God had called me into the ministry.  The one problem I had was that I had a good job, a wife and two children, and no education beyond high school.  The traditional college and seminary route didn't make sense to me at this time in my life so I wasn't sure what doors, if any, God would open for me to pastor a church.

A few months after ending my time as the interim pastor I learned of a small church in our county that was seeking a pastor.  I sent them a resume, and a few months later became their pastor.  I served there for 20 years before accepting a different call to ministry.

During my time serving as a bivocational pastor of that church I did pursue some education, but I never felt called to leave bivocational ministry.  Somehow, I knew this was the calling God had on my life.  Numerous fully-funded churches contacted me during that time asking me to meet with their pastor search committees, but I never felt led to leave the church I was serving nor did I feel led to leave bivocational ministry to serve in one of these larger churches.

Os Guinness has written a very helpful book titled The Call: Finding and Fulfilling the Central Purpose of Your Life.  One chapter is titled "Do What You Are."  In the chapter he refers to Paul's role as a tentmaker.  He writes, "But tentmaking was never the heart of Paul's calling, it was only a part, as all of life is.  As a part of our calling such "tentmaking" at worst is work that frustrates us because it takes time we wish to spend on things more central.  But at best it is work that frees us to get to that which is central. By contrast, whatever is the heart of our calling is work that fulfills us because it employs our deepest gifts."  The book offers a wonderful discussion of the importance and value of knowing God's call on our lives.

Throughout my ministry I have known that my calling was to bivocational ministry.  Never did I dream that God would allow me to publish books and lead workshops and conferences on the subject, but that was part of his plan as well.  My initial call was to a small, rural church where God placed me for two decades, and then he opened up that call to allow me to serve pastors and churches around the world through my writings and speaking opportunities.

The call to bivocational ministry is a real call of God upon people's lives.  Some resist it because they feel it is a call to insignificant ministry, but no ministry is insignificant.  Anywhere God has called a person to serve is a worthwhile place of ministry, and we should always give it our best efforts.  And, what we do not know is what God's future plans are for our ministries.  Looking back we can often see that the things we began doing prepared us for greater responsibilities later.  If you have been called to bivocational ministry, embrace it and thank God for the opportunity to serve in such a wonderful ministry.