Called to be a church leader?
Are you trying to discover your life calling?
I listened to a fantastic talk at church tonight on calling.
We are all called by God (but not all to be vicars!)
Before we think about our calling we should reflect on these three starting points:-
- Jesus is Lord (it is what He wants us to do)
- Everyone is gifted. No one in the body of Christ does not have gifts that can be used.
- We are called to be fruitful. We don't know long we have got. We are commissioned to bear fruit.
1 Samuel 17:25-47 (NIV)
Now the Israelites had been saying, "Do you see how this man keeps coming out? He comes out to defy Israel. The king will give great wealth to the man who kills him. He will also give him his daughter in marriage and will exempt his father's family from taxes in Israel." [26] David asked the men standing near him, "What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?" [27] They repeated to him what they had been saying and told him, "This is what will be done for the man who kills him." [28] When Eliab, David's oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, "Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the desert? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle." [29] "Now what have I done?" said David. "Can't I even speak?" [30] He then turned away to someone else and brought up the same matter, and the men answered him as before. [31] What David said was overheard and reported to Saul, and Saul sent for him. [32] David said to Saul, "Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him." [33] Saul replied, "You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a boy, and he has been a fighting man from his youth." [34] But David said to Saul, "Your servant has been keeping his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, [35] I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. [36] Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. [37] The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine." Saul said to David, "Go, and the Lord be with you." [38] Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. [39] David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them. "I cannot go in these," he said to Saul, "because I am not used to them." So he took them off. [40] Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd's bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine. [41] Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield bearer in front of him, kept coming closer to David. [42] He looked David over and saw that he was only a boy, ruddy and handsome, and he despised him. [43] He said to David, "Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?" And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. [44] "Come here," he said, "and I'll give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field! " [45] David said to the Philistine, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. [46] This day the Lord will hand you over to me, and I'll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. [47] All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give all of you into our hands."
There are a number of relationships in this story that we can reflect on as we think about calling.
Goliath helps David find his passion.
Our passions and what God is calling us to do go and in hand. Not "what should my passion be?" but "what is my passion?"
The second relationship starts to test his passion
Eliab tests David's sense of calling.
Eliab was the oldest brother who thought would have been called to be king but it was David. Eliab is probably still feeling cross and may be why he reacts to David.
1 Samuel 17:28 (NIV)
When Eliab, David's oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, "Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the desert? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle."
Eliab judges David and says that his heart is wicked.
We both need encouraging people and also the Eliab-like people to help test our calling.
If you have had the sense of call tested you can stand firm in your calling.
Saul helps David articulate what is in his heart.
Saul gives him a chance to speak.
1 Samuel 17:34-37 (NIV)
But David said to Saul, "Your servant has been keeping his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, [35] I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. [36] Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. [37] The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine." Saul said to David, "Go, and the Lord be with you."
He is able to express the passion in his heart. He expresses it so strongly. He also comes under the authority of Saul. David points to his previous experiences and see this to confirm his calling. The experience that has happened in the quiet place can come into the public place.
I'd you are thinking about ordained ministry - can you get someone else excited about your faith. Also those in authority must be willing to come under a place of authority. A third question is how have you seen God at work in your private experiences.
David helps David to recognise his God-given strengths.
1 Samuel 17:38-39 (NIV)
Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. [39] David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them. "I cannot go in these," he said to Saul, "because I am not used to them." So he took them off.
Saul would have been much bigger than David. Is Saul trying to get some reflected glory by giving David his armour. David knows himself and knows that this won't work for him. Are there others who put expectations onto us.
If you are wearing someone else's armour you can't pay to your own strengths.
1 Samuel 17:40 (NIV)
Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd's bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.
What has God called us to do.
What do we feel free and naturally good at?
We must not become self reliant but allow God to use our natural God-given talents. God takes our own gifts and we should use them for His glory.
The living God enables David to fulfil his calling.
1 Samuel 17:36 (NIV)
............. because he has defied the armies of the living God.
It is only David who knows God as the Living God. Do we stay connected to the living God in our life. This what enables David to stand up when the rest of the Israelites are paralysed with fear.
We are called to put the Living God into the equation.
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