Contributions from
R. ALBERT MOHLER, JR. and HERSHAEL W. YORK

AM I
CALLED
TO
MINISTRY?

A resource from
The Southern Baptist
Theological Seminary


AM I CALLED TO MINISTRY?

God calls all Christians to serve the cause of

Christ, to proclaim the gospel, and to serve the
local church. However, the New Testament is
clear that there are some people whom God
calls in a unique way to serve the church as
pastors, missionaries, church planters, and
ministers of the gospel.

This resource is for those who aspire to this

form of ministry to help recognize, articulate,
and respond to God’s call to ministry.

CON T EN TS

3 H OW D O YOU KN OW I F G OD I S C A L L I N G YO U ?
by R. Albert Mohler, Jr.

6 HOW TO D I SC ER N A C A L L TO MI N I STRY
by Hershael W. York

12 A C A L L TO FA I T HF U L N ESS

16 COU N T T HE COST
by R. Albert Mohler, Jr.
How do you know if God is calling you?

BY R. ALBERT MOHLER, JR.

How do you
know if God is
calling you?
Has God called you to ministry? Though all
Christians are called to serve the cause of Christ,
God calls certain persons to serve the Church as
pastors and other ministers. Writing to young
Timothy, the Apostle Paul confirmed that if a man
aspires to be a pastor, “it is a fine work he aspires
to do” (1 Tim 3:1, NASB). Likewise, it is a high honor
to be called of God into the ministry of the Church.
How do you know if God is calling you?

THE INTERNAL CALL

First, there is an inward call. Through His Spirit, God speaks to those persons
He has called to serve as pastors and ministers of His Church. The great
Reformer Martin Luther described this inward call as “God’s voice heard by
faith.” Those whom God has called know this call by a sense of leading,
purpose, and growing commitment.

Charles Spurgeon identified the first sign of God’s call to the ministry as “an
intense, all-absorbing desire for the work.” Those called by God sense a
growing compulsion to preach and teach the Word, and to minister to the
people of God.

This sense of compulsion should prompt the believer to consider whether

God may be calling him to the ministry. Has God gifted you with the fervent
desire to preach? Has He equipped you with the gifts necessary for ministry?
Do you love God’s Word and feel called to teach? Spurgeon warned those who
sought his counsel not to preach if they could help it. “But,” Spurgeon
continued, “if he cannot help it, and he must preach or die, then he is the
man.” That sense of urgent commission is one of the central marks of an
authentic call.

“
For I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for
boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do
not preach the gospel.

1 COR I N T HI A N S 9 : 1 6
How do you know if God is calling you?

THE EXTERNAL CALL

Second, there is the external call. Baptists believe that God uses the
congregation to “call out the called” to ministry. The congregation must
evaluate and affirm the calling and gifts of the believer who feels called to the
ministry. As a family of faith, the congregation should recognize and celebrate
the gifts of ministry given to its members, and take responsibility to encourage
those whom God has called to respond to that call with joy and submission.

These days, many persons think of careers rather than callings. The biblical
challenge to “consider your call” should be extended from the call to salvation
to the call to the ministry.

John Newton, famous for writing “Amazing Grace,” once remarked: “None
but He who made the world can make a Minister of the Gospel.” Only God can
call a true minister, and only He can grant the minister the gifts necessary for
service. But the great promise of Scripture is that God does call ministers, and
presents these servants as gifts to the Church.

One key issue here is a common misunderstanding about the will of God. Some
models of evangelical piety imply that God’s will is something difficult for us to
accept. We sometimes confuse this further by talking about “surrendering” to
the will of God. As Paul makes clear in Romans 12:2, the will of God is good,
worthy of eager acceptance, and perfect. Those called by God to preach will be
given a desire to preach as well as the gift of preaching. Beyond this, the
God-called preacher will feel the same compulsion as the great Apostle, who
said, “Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!” (1 Cor 9:16, ESV).

Consider your calling. Do you sense that God is calling you to ministry, whether
as a pastor or as another servant of the Church? Do you burn with a compulsion
to proclaim the Word, share the Gospel, and care for God’s flock? Has this call
been confirmed and encouraged by those Christians who know you best? God
still calls . . . has He called you?
How to Discern a Call to Ministry

BY HERSHAEL W. YORK

How to
Discern a Call
to Ministry
How do I know if God is calling me? How do I know
if God is calling me to a specific place or a specific
type of ministry? These are the kinds of questions I
often receive. It’s important to remember, however,
that God speaks in different ways.
How to Discern a Call to Ministry

5 PRIMARY WAYS

I do not believe in direct revelation where God says to you, “Go to this
church.” You will never hear me tell my congregation, “I’m leading you to do
this because God told me to.” I don’t use that kind of language. It’s harmful
because sometimes you’re going to lead the church to do something that’s
going to prove to be wrong. I led the church one time to buy a piece of
property, then the city would not let us build on it. Had I said, “God led me to
that piece of property,” and then it ended up being useless to us, my
credibility would’ve been shot. I thought it was a good idea and I said that, but
I didn’t claim God revealed it in the same way. So how does God reveal his will
enough to take the next step into vocational ministry?
I think there are five primary ways:

1 WOR D OF G OD

2 D ESI R E

3 GIFTING

4 OP P OR T U N I T Y

5 T EST I M ON Y OF OTH E R S
How to Discern a Call to Ministry

1
The very first way God reveals his will is through THE WORD OF GOD. God
is never going to call you to do something contrary to his Word. He’s never
going to lead you to do something inconsistent with his revealed will. If a
woman comes to me and says she is called to be a pastor, I would disagree
with that right off the bat. I would say no, because God’s Word teaches
specific qualifications for a pastor and she could not meet one of them.
We must always be looking to the Word first of all.

2
The second way is DESIRE. God will usually align our desires with the things
that he wants us to do. Maybe there was something you didn’t desire in the past,
you didn’t really want to do it, but eventually, you feel the desire shift toward
that ministry opportunity. God almost always enables us to do the thing that he
calls us to do by giving us a desire to do it. We find the motivation to do it and
enjoy doing it. And that leads to the third way—gifting.

3
If he calls you to do it, he’s going to enable you to do it by giving you the
GIFTING or at least the ability to acquire the skills you need to fulfill the task.
I’ve shared before that I’m by nature an introvert. But you can’t influence
people very well when you are stuck up in your attic somewhere reading a
book. You have got to be with people. Even if that’s contrary to your
personality, I think he’ll give you the ability to acquire the skills that you need
to do the thing that he calls you to do.
How to Discern a Call to Ministry

The fourth way God reveals his will is through OPPORTUNITY. It’s
inconceivable that God would call you to do something, enable you to do it, give
you the desire to do it, but then give you no opportunity to do it. A lot of times
the opportunity sort of presents itself and that’s when the Holy Spirit begins to
shape our desire, gives us the desire to acquire the skills, or gifts us in ways that
may surprise us.

Maybe there was a time you dreaded the thought of getting up in front of
people, but then when God called you to preach, you began to find the joy in
getting up and opening the Word of God and teaching people. When I say God
gives you an opportunity, I don’t necessarily mean that you get an engraved
invitation. When I went to seminary, I went to seminary in Memphis,
Tennessee, and when I moved there, nobody knew me. I didn’t know anybody,
and I knew no one was going to invite me to preach. I made a commitment that
I was going to preach somewhere every week whether I got invited or not. That
meant I had to find places to preach. I called the West Memphis Jail in the
Shelby County Detention Center, a rescue mission, and a Catholic school for
special needs children, and asked if I could come and tell Bible stories. When all
else failed, I’d go down to the Mid-America Mall near downtown Memphis and
stand on the street corner to preach. I made sure that at least once a week,
usually twice, I was preaching somewhere.

After a few months, people noticed I was serious about preaching, and started
to invite me. So, when I say opportunity, understand that may mean that you
have to look for opportunity. You can create opportunities. If God’s calling
you to do something and giving you that desire to do it, you can find the
opportunity to do it.
How to Discern a Call to Ministry

5
And then the fifth way God reveals his will is through the TESTIMONY OF
OTHERS. If God calls you to do something, he’s going to show other people that
you can do it. This is why we have a practice of ordination in our Baptist church.
The Bible says, “Lay hands suddenly on no man” (1 Timothy 5:22). In other words,
we need to be tested first. The church needs to watch the lives of the people in the
church to see what gifting they show. If someone comes up to you asking if
you ever considered being a pastor, or if you ever thought about a particular
denominational job, this may be a way of God revealing his will to you.

5 PRIMARY WAYS IN CONCERT

It’s necessary to remember that God’s calling is not always any one way—it’s a
concert of ways. His will is always consistent with his Word. He gives us this
desire to do something, maybe a different desire than you’ve ever had before.
He gifts you. Maybe the unique circumstances of your life have contributed to
your ability to do it. He gives you an opportunity and other people see it. Ask
yourself, are people in your church telling you that you are good at ministry?
Have you ever prayed about going to seminary? Have you ever thought about
being a pastor?

Whatever it may be. When those things line up, it’s a good indication that God
may be calling you to vocational ministry. But you need to ask yourself, am I
effective in this? Am I fulfilled in it?

I believe if we are doing the will of God, we will be fulfilled in doing the will of
God most of the time. Are you being obedient to what God has shown you?
God’s not going to show you more if you’re not being obedient to things that
he has already shown you. I don’t have to pray about whether God wants me
to be a good husband. I don’t have to pray about whether he wants me to be a
man of prayer. If I’m not doing the things that are clearly taught in his Word,
he’s probably not going to lead me to do something else or at the very least,
my spiritual hearing is dimmed. If I’m not walking daily in these disciplines I
am unable to hear and discern his will.
How to Discern a Call to Ministry

I WILL SUMMARIZE IT LIKE THIS, if you say to the Holy Spirit, “Oh Holy
Spirit, I really want to be a great pastor,” you might be surprised to know the
Holy Spirit is not interested in that prayer in the tiniest bit. That is not the
ministry of the Holy Spirit. You might ask the Holy Spirit to help you be a
great author. The Holy Spirit yawns at that. That is not the ministry of the
Holy Spirit. There are so many good things that you can desire, but that’s not
the Holy Spirit’s great task. You know what the great task of the ministry of
the Holy Spirit is? It is to glorify the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And when you
pray, “Holy Spirit, would you enable me to glorify Jesus?” That is when the
Holy Spirit says, “Is that what you want? Because that is precisely what I want.
And if that’s what you want, then I will enable you to do it.”

When you begin to desire to glorify Jesus above all else, it is unthinkable that
God, the Holy Spirit, will say no to that prayer. He will always help you glorify
Jesus. The Holy Spirit will not let you make a wrong decision that leads you
away from glorifying him. Make that your passion and he is going to help you
to fulfill his will. If you are a pastor, do it for the glory of Christ above all else.

THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL

NOT LET YOU MAKE
A WRONG DECISION
THAT LEADS YOU AWAY
FROM GLORIFYING HIM.
A Call to Faithfulness

A Call to
PREACH

PASTOR

MISSIONS

TEACH

CHURCH PLANT

Faithfulness
For those who aspire to ministry, God’s call can
be expressed in different vocations, but it always
a call to faithfulness. Faithfulness to the gospel.
Faithfulness to the church. Faithfulness to all that
Christ has commanded.

The call to ministry is first and foremost not a call

to an activity or job but is rather a call to submit
your life wholeheartedly to the Lord and faithfully
follow wherever he leads.
A Call to Faithfulness

QUALIFICATIONS FROM 1 TIMOTHY 3:1-7

1
The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to
the office of overseer, he desires a noble task.
Therefore an overseer must be above reproach,
the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-
controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,
3
not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not
quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must
manage his own household well, with all dignity
keeping his children submissive, for if someone
does not know how to manage his own household,
how will he care for God’s church? He must not
be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up
with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the
devil. 7 Moreover, he must be well thought of by
outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace,
into the snare of the devil.
A Call to Faithfulness

QUALIFICATIONS FROM 1 TIMOTHY 3:1-7

1
The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to
the office of overseer, he desires a noble task.
Therefore an overseer must be above reproach,
the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-
controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,
3
not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not
quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must
manage his own household well, with all dignity
keeping his children submissive, for if someone
does not know how to manage his own household,
how will he care for God’s church? He must not
be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up
with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the
devil. 7 Moreover, he must be well thought of by
outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace,
into the snare of the devil.
A Call to Faithfulness

WHAT SPURGEON SAID ABOUT THE GIFTINGS OF

THE PASTOR IN LECTURES TO MY STUDENTS:

THER E M U ST BE A N A P T N ESS TO TE AC H
AN D SOM E M EASU R E OF T H E OTH E R

IF A M A N BE C A L L ED TO P R EAC H , H E W I L L B E
EN DOWED W I T H A D EG R EE OF SPE A K I N G A B I L I TY,
WHI C H HE W I L L C U LT I VAT E A N D I N C R E AS E

YOU M U ST BE F I T T ED TO L E A D,
P R EPA R ED TO EN D U R E
A N D A BL E TO P ER SEV E R E .

MERE A BIL I T Y TO ED I F Y A N D A P T N ESS TO TE AC H I S N OT

EN OUGH, T HER E M U ST BE OT HER TA L E N TS TO CO MP L E TE
THE PASTOR A L C HA R AC T ER . SOU N D J U DG E ME N T A N D
SOLID EX P ERI EN C E M U ST I N ST R U C T YO U ; G E N TL E M A N N E R S
AND LOVI N G A F F EC T I ON S M U ST SWAY YO U ; F I R M N E SS
A N D COURAG E M U ST BE M A N I F EST; A N D TE N D E R N E SS A N D
SYM PAT HY M U ST N OT BE LAC K I N G .
Count the Cost

BY R. ALBERT MOHLER, JR.

Count the Cost

The gospel ministry has always had challenges; just look at the lives of the
apostles. There’s no reason to think those challenges will go anywhere soon.
Today’s gospel ministers, missionaries and Christian leaders will face every
one of those challenges, and then some new ones. Virtually every day of his
life, the gospel minister will serve in a context of constant challenges to gospel
truth and to biblical authority. Many of these challenges will come with an
invitation, or perhaps a demand, that the Christian leader compromise his
convictions and join the moral revolution that is undeniably taking place.

This kind of compromise is precisely what biblical Christians cannot do.

When the opportunity comes to compromise what Scripture says — and the
opportunity will come for each of us — the only way to respond is with
conviction, with clarity and with grace. Striking such a balance requires the
Christian minister to think strategically about what it means to speak
truthfully and lovingly to a society that increasingly sees us as the moral
outlaws. But abandoning the truth of God’s Word is not an option. This holds
true for individual Christians, and it holds true for theological institutions.

As a theological institution, Southern Seminary — and its undergraduate

school, Boyce College — is relentless about the task of training this
generation of gospel ministers to stand firm as ambassadors of the gospel,
preaching it in churches and taking it to the ends of the earth. We know what
kind of world it is into which we send our graduates, and we are aware of the
demands the world will make on them, but Southern Seminary and Boyce
College will go to whatever lengths needed to make sure that this generation
of Christian ministers and missionaries is prepared.
Count the Cost

A CALL TO MINISTRY
IS A CALL TO PREPARE.

Those who are called as ministers of the gospel are

entrusted with the care of souls and the faithful leading of
Christ’s church. This is a weighty task and pastors
throughout the history of the church have sought to help
those called by God to faithfully prepare for ministry.
Martin Luther taught and trained around his family table,
Charles Spurgeon founded he Pastor’s College in 1855 as a
ministry of his church to prepare the next generation of
men to pastor, and countless books have been published to
help pastors with their task.

In 1859, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary was

founded to help train, educate, and prepare God called
ministers of the gospel for a lifetime of faithfulness to his
church. Our mission remains the same and we are ready to
help you prepare for all that God is calling you to do.

We invite you to learn more about how we are here to help

you prepare for your calling by visiting SBTS.EDU
 A Lifetime of Faithfulness
begins with an education that
is Trusted for Truth.

EXPLORE DEGREE OPTIONS AT SBTS.EDU