How do we affirm the call without doubting it?
In this day and age when an increasing number of young people
profess to have received a Word from the Lord, there is a need to verify. This
is not out of disbelief but out of high regard to the task. It has been said that the Lord qualifies the
unqualified. How do we close the gap between that and the quality assurance
prerequisites? Aspiring pastors have to allow God to lead them to a process of
preparation before stepping up to the position. The church cannot afford to
take risks on an unchanged leader.
Without hearing from the Lord, it makes all other
qualifications worthless. If one is certain and unshakable with the calling, it
is a good start. There is also a collection of job qualifications. Some of
these are innate but most are achieved through life training. Basically, everything
boils down to this: the certainty of the call from the perspective of God and
man, verified by qualifications.
Re-checking is not doubting the call but defending it from
doubts. It takes courage and wisdom to face the question without questioning if
it really was God who made the call.
