The Road Not Taken: September 2007

There is a somewhat now famous sermon that was preached here at Asbury last year in which the Dean of the Chapel, Rev. JD Walt put a huge and very gaphic image of the crucified Jesus on the multimedia screen behind the pulpit and proclaimed... "Behold, this is your syllabus..." A lot of times we 'pastor types' talk about calling as if we are somehow supremely chosen to a task so high that no one else deserves to stand with us in that endeavor....just look at those pastors who are most prevailent in society today...the ones you see prancing around on Sunday mornings. However, if I recall Jesus didn't say "Go therefore and become pastors and clergy baptizing all in the name of the trinity..." Jesus just said go....Certainly we are called...but above all else, we are called to Christ, and we must remember that in every endeavor. Here is an excerpt of a paper I am writing for a class here at good ole ATS that has to do with this subject. Writing this paper helped me with a lot of things

“Calling is the truth that God calls us to himself so decisively that everything we are, everything we do, and everything we have is invested with a special devotion, dynamism, and direction lived out as a response to his summons and service.” (Guinness, pg. 29)

There have been times in my faith journey that I have thought myself especially worthy of the calling to parish ministry; an arrogant and prideful way to look at a vocation which requires exactly the opposite. The above words are found in the opening pages of The Calling. And it is with these words that Os Guinness defines calling for all people in all places and in all time, including me. I must never forget that God has sought me out not as a Pastor, a student, a father, a brother, a husband, a teacher, or a coach. First and foremost God has called me to be a Christian. It is with the understanding of that definition of calling that I can begin to talk about my spiritual autobiography because it seems, looking back on every major event in my life, that they have all been a part of God’s call.

Both of my parents are ordained deacons in the South Carolina Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. So, needless to say that I was raised in a Christian home, with great Christian influence, and my values were surrounded by that faith. This background in Christian faith may be a reason why I can always remember having been aware of God’s presence, at least to a certain extent. I didn’t always listen or like that fact, but I know that it was true. From a young age I can remember thinking about God, wondering who he was, what he was capable of. In 1995 a tornado ripped through the town I grew up in destroying large parts of it. I was 11 at the time and can remember praying and asking God to pull the town through this tragedy and time of sadness. In the tenth grade I had what can be described as my “Aldersgate experience” at a youth retreat at the beach, when, for the first time I can remember openly professing Christ. When I was about to graduate College and was applying to various seminaries, and going through the certification process for candidacy, I was asked to write about my calling and in doing so was required to look back on my life and my calling. And it seems to me now that all those experiences from musings on God as a child, the tornado, to my own conversion experience, happened not because I was special, but because God was calling me. God used those events in my life (and many more) to draw me near to him. At such a young age I did not know to what he was calling me to and still do not know the whole story completely; just that he was and is calling me, as Guinness says, “to himself (Guinness, 29).” I find it very true what Dr. Johnson-Miller said in a lecture the third week of class. She was talking about the fact that if God had revealed to her everything that was going to happen in her life all at once, all the ups and downs and details in between, that she would not have been able to handle it. Similarly, if God had told me at the age of 10, 15, or even 20 all of the experiences that I would have from then till now (not counting what is in store for the future) then I would be completely overwhelmed and not believe that I could do these things. So God simply called me to himself through musings as a child, tragedy, and happiness. This is what Guinness calls God’s primary call on someone’s life (Guinness, 31), the call to him. At a young age, because of the environment and values that I was raised in and around, I was able to hear God’s primary calling on my life. My call to ordained ministry and to wherever that takes me is my “secondary call”, always subservient to my primary call as a Christian believer (Guinness, pg. 31).

Having established my primary calling, I can now talk about my call to Christian ministry in light of God’s mission to the world. I think there are several passages in scripture that can fall under the heading of God’s mission to the world. But I think that one of the best and most simple is the Great Commission text. To me there is nothing more simple than Jesus’ command to go out and make believers. What is interesting here is that Jesus dosen’t say “Go into the world and become pastors, baptizing them….” It just says to go and do it. There have been times in my life when I have felt like the only way I could serve God would be by being a pastor. I thought that if I wanted to minister to people I could only do that in a church, or church setting. But I have discovered that I was entirely wrong because I know people who are not members of the clergy who have served as a great Christian witness as business men and women, as there have been times in my life when I have served Christ and others but not been a member of the clergy. I have ministered to others as a teammate, classmate, co-worker, and friend. So, my call to Christian ministry came as a process; processes of discerning God’s will and his purpose for my life. In Divine Guidance, Susan Mutto and Adrian van Kaam address this issue writing that discovering God’s will does not come in a sudden flash or singular event. Rather, discovering the will of God for your life comes through “a universal call to holiness.” Only when I follow the “intimate Christ” can I discover the divine will for my life (Mutto and van Kamm, 13). I had experienced God’s primary call to all people and in all time when I was younger, but not until later, as I draw closer to God through personal holiness, did he begin to reveal to me the next step. Only when I answered my primary call to draw closer to God, was I truly able to discern a secondary calling. In college I was involved in a small group ministry and really found my “nitch” there. So when it came time to graduate, I began exploring what I could do and do the same kinds of things that I did in college ministry. For me, that was parish ministry; fulfilling the call to ordained ministry. This is what Guinness talks about as a secondary call. Specifically he defines our secondary calling as: “Our secondary calling, considering who God is as sovereign, is that everyone, everywhere, and in everything should think. Speak, live, and act entirely for him (Guinness, 31).” I am a follower of the most high God first, and only second am I a future minister.

“We in the West find it incomprehensible that theological ideas still inflame the minds of men, stirring messianic passions that can leave societies in ruin. We had assumed that this was no longer possible, that human beings had learned to separate religious questions from the political ones, that political theology died in 16th century Europe. We were wrong. It’s We who are the fragile exception.” The New York Times Magazine, August, 2007

I was in Starbucks the other day looking around at all the quirky ultra-hip things that Starbucks sells in their coffee shops. You know what I mean, those special “Starbucks” edition CDs from artists who need a career boost, the various “organic” drinks and sodas that are flavored from pear, to guava, to pineapple (what ever happened to Coke?), crappy art on the walls, and the list goes on. On the magazine rack next to the aforementioned CDs, were a few leftover copies of last month’s New York Times magazine, with the quote from above adorning the cover. After reading this intriguing quote, I had to read the article inside, which I did and found that it was completely the opposite of how I interpreted the cover quote. What I found inside the magazine was a typical arrogant liberal Western writer talking about how the great ‘secular state’ was in danger because of religious extremism. And how they were aghast at how people could merge theology and politics. While I certainly don't condone religious extremism, especially killing in the name of God, these words started turning things in my mind….

I’m a westerner, and I still believe that theological ideas can inflame the minds of men, that messianic passions can leave societies in ruin, albeit in a good way. It seems that in every major Christian revival throughout history, theology has merged with politics. Look what Jesus did. In a world ruled by the rich and the powerful, his Gospel was for the weak and humble. He turned the world upside down. Fast forward to Europe in a time when the church was the state, and corrupt at that, the reformers stepped in and turned society upside down. And in a time when religion had become endless dogmas and practices came the awakening of heartfelt faith from the likes of Wesley, Whitefield, Finney and the list goes on. In light of these events, I certainly don’t think that it is incomprehensible for theological ideas to inflame the hearts of men - history shows that.

I loved the imagery found in the quote: “inflame”, “minds of men”, “messianic passions.” Increasingly delving into the history and practice of Wesleyan theology, these images are bold to me and stir within me an attitude of renewal and revival. Have we as Christians become so caught up in our society that we have forgotten the roots of our faith? As a Methodist church (for those who are not Methodist insert your denominational affiliation here) have we forgotten the roots of our beginnings? I pray for the day when ‘theological ideas’ do turn society on its head again.

More on this later….