Luke 4 (NKJV)
16 So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought
up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and
stood up to read. 17 And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when
He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.
"Anointed...to preach the gospel..."
I think I was seventeen. I may have been eighteen when I made an appointment to speak with my pastor, Billy T. Ball, to talk about "going into the ministry." I started working in the churches' bus ministry as soon as I got my driver's license. I had worked in Vacation Bible Schools since I was fourteen or so. When I was sixteen and seventeen I volunteered as a summer church camp counselor. I began to understand the burden I had for the youth that God placed in my life in various situations (one of which was becoming an assistant manager of a fast food chain at sixteen). I loved kids even though I was still a "kid" myself. I felt like I had a place in God's Kingdom working with youth.
I had also had two distinctly divine encounters with the Lord during this time in my life, both of which seemed to provide me with the tools to finally articulate what I felt in my heart. Trying to sort out the burdens for specific people, the draw to reach out to them, and exactly what it was I felt God "calling" me to do was a challenge that I needed help to face. So, as I said, I made an appointment to talk about the strong feelings I had in my heart.
Billy T. (as we called him, which, was a heartfelt term of endearment) looked up over his half reading glasses and after a couple of silent and very uncomfortable minutes, he simply said, "What's on your mind?"
With my heart pounding, I managed to squeak a few words about feeling God's call on my life. I finally summarized the whirlwind of emotion with, "Bro. Ball, I feel God is calling me to youth ministry."
Again, there was a deafening few moments of silence, and again, he peered at me over the top of his half glasses. Finally, a smile spread over his face and said, "There's no such thing."
I wondered if I'd heard correctly. So, I think I said something like, "I'm not sure I understand..." (By this time I was quaking in my shoes!)
He simply repeated what he had said before, "There is no such thing as being called to youth ministry." As my pastor in whom I had the greatest confidence explained what he meant, I not only felt at ease, but knew in my heart that what he spoke was absolutely true.
In a few short minutes, Bro. Ball taught me that God calls people to proclaim His Word. That's what ministry is. There are a myriad of reasons why this is so but speaking to my original query, he simply told me that my call was to proclaim the gospel. If that proclamation was made to a group of teens, that was fine, but that I should be always ready to proclaim the gospel to whomever and wherever the opportunity arose. I left that meeting with a new understanding of God's will, my purpose in life, and how I would accomplish that which God had called me to. It was liberating to say the least. That short but poignant conversation was one of the sparks that would eventually set my whole being on fire.
Over the years as I studied the prophets, particularly Jeremiah; and, as I studied the New Testament which (obviously) gives us detailed information about Jesus and how He fleshed out His call, I found absolutely nothing that would even hint that what my pastor had told me about ministry was not true. I have served the church in nearly every possible "ministry" and in every instance, without exception, proclaiming the gospel has been the root and foundation of it all.
There is no such things as specialized ministry. It's a bird that doesn't exist. There is no such thing as being "called" to youth ministry or music, Christian education, or any other ministry to an exclusive group or segment of the church. There is one calling, made possible by the anointing of the Holy Spirit, and that is,
"...to preach the gospel..."
The next time you hear someone say "I've been called to the ministry," ask them, first, if they have been anointed by the same Spirit that anointed Jesus. Next, ask them if they have been anointed to preach the gospel.
That's all you have to ask, and there's nothing you have to do except to pray that the Holy Spirit would given them heartburn just like the disciples in Luke 24.
