Callings

When I was younger, it was sometimes thought that some people wanted to be evangelists or missionaries only because they lacked the maturity to settle down and do something stable, like getting a real job, or being a pastor.

So, if a young person expressed that he felt called to be an evangelist or a missionary, he was sometimes looked at with suspicion - almost like it showed a character flaw.

But looking back over the years, I reckon it's just as likely - if not more likely - that someone might instead end-up settling down and doing something stable, like being a pastor, when being an evangelist or missionary may actually be his true calling.

Lack of insight. Reluctance to give attention to an inner witness of the Spirit. Lack of encouragement from others. Lack of role-models. Desire for stability. Income. Ambition. Those are some of the reasons I suspect some people who may not really have been called to it have pursued a career as a pastor.

God permits it. He opens doors for them, even guides them to the right church to pastor. Provides for them. Blesses them as much as He can. And there are phases in our lives. But if pastoring isn't a person's true or highest calling, he'll eventually notice a feeling of dissatisfaction - even if he's seen as successful. If his dissatisfaction drives him to seek the Lord, God might then reveal to him what his true calling is.

Maybe it will still be possible for a person to pastor a local church as well. But with some callings it would be impossible to stay. If it isn't really possible and yet he tries to, something's eventually got to give.

It might be his own constitution that starts to show signs of the pressure. Or it might be his relationships which start to feel the strain, if he feels the need to manipulate things around him.

But find God's tailor-made calling for your own life - and things will happen so much more restfully!

God has set forth the apostles last, Paul said, whereas regular disciples were living like kings as a result of the apostles' sacrificial ministries. Being a 'sent-one' might not be an easy lifestyle, but Jesus promised:

"Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's,

But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life"

(Mark 10:29,30).

So ask God, "What do you want me to do?"

And expect an answer within two weeks!

Stick to Your Calling

When I was younger, it was often thought that a lot of people wanted to be an evangelist or a missionary only because they lacked the maturity to settle down and do something stable, like being a pastor. 

But over the years I reckon it's just as likely - if not more likely - that someone might instead want to settle down and do something stable, like be a pastor, even if being an evangelist or missionary or something else may be his true calling. A lot of people who are called to be an evangelist or missionary, or something else, have ended-up becoming pastors.

God has set forth the apostles last, Paul said, whereas regular Christians were living like kings as a result of the apostles' sacrificial ministries. It's really not an easy lifestyle, being a sent-one.

Ambition. Stability. Income. Lack of encouragement. Lack of role-models. Those are some of the reasons I suspect some people have become pastors who mightn't really have been called to it.

God permits it. He even opens doors for them. But if a person feels his lack of satisfaction, then God would reveal to him what his true calling is.

Maybe his true calling is such that it's possible for him to be a pastor as well. But with some callings, it might not be possible. If it isn't possible, and yet he tries to, something's eventually got to give.

It won't only strain his own constitution - it could cause him to feel like he needs to manipulate things around him in ways which could strain his relationships with others. 

But find God's uniquely tailor-made calling for your own life - and things will just happen so much more restfully.

Something the Dead Sea Scrolls Tell Us

The Dead Sea Scrolls reveal that there wasn't really any such thing in the 1st century AD as a unified system called 'Judaism'. Rather there were various different religious groups within Israel, each trying to answer questions like:

'Who might the Messiah be?'

'What, if anything, must we do to hasten his coming?'

'What might his community look like?' and

'Who in Israel is going to qualify to be part of it?'

They even baptised (by immersion)! 

Examples of such groups included: the scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, priests, temple-priests, Zealots, Essenes and the Qumran community.

The looming threat from Rome made it all the more urgent for them to find answers to those questions.

John the Baptist's ministry, his baptism and his message therefore fit relevantly into that scenario. He identified the Messiah, and warned that Jewish ethnicity alone wouldn't cut it - repentance would be necessary. He even had something to say to soldiers. 

The gospel was intended as a powerful answer to each of those questions. 

By calling Jesus 'Messiah' (Christ), the Apostles were asserting that it was through Jesus (through His death and resurrection, and through repentance and faith in Him) that God was indeed fulfilling His promises to Israel (to Israelis). 

So, it wasn't at all an unusual concept that Israel's promises would be experienced not by the nation as a whole, on the basis of Jewish ethnicity alone - but by a select group (aka 'church') within Israel. Because that concept already existed within the various Judaisms of the day.

That's not strictly-speaking 'replacement theology' as if God fulfilled Israel's promises in the church instead of in Israel. No, God indeed fulfilled His promises to Israel, in the experience of Israelis first. The church was at first entirely Jewish. And it was in Jerusalem, the capital of Israel. Only afterwards did Gentiles come to experience the same blessing.

But the point is: Israel's promises were fulfilled through Jesus - through His death and resurrection - through the gospel - through repentance and faith in His Name - not on the basis of Jewish ethnicity - and not through the law. It wasn't necessary for Gentile believers in Jesus to also become proselytes to Judaism. The fulfilment isn't something that's been delayed 'til the future. And there isn't any other basis - for anyone - aside from through the Lord Jesus. 

If anyone today wanted to practise Judaism (not that it's even possible anymore to keep the law the way it was still possible in the early 1st century), the question would have to be asked: which Judaism? because there wasn't a unified system of Judaism in the first century. Rabbinic Judaism was mainly a post-Temple development, which most likely emerged from just one among several other forms of Judaism which thrived while the temple still stood (namely, Phariseeism). Because other forms of Judaism (such as Sadduceeism) couldn't philosophically survive the destruction of the temple and nation quite as well as Phariseeism could).

You Can Have the Meetings You Want

One night when I was going to a youth meeting, I felt the Lord ask me, "Which spiritual gift would you like Me to demonstrate tonight?"

I thought about it for a moment, because in previous meetings we'd already seen almost entire congregations filled with the Spirit and with joy (and laughter); we'd already heard many people spontaneously begin speaking with tongues; we'd seen some interpret the tongues; we'd heard the gift of prophecy; demons were cast out of many; and many were seeing visions.

So I picked one of the gifts which we hadn't seen a lot of yet:

"Discerning of spirits," I answered.

And I didn't tell anyone about my conversation with the Lord.

That night during the meeting, some of the youth started to huddle together in fear, like they were seeing something terrifying in the room. Their spiritual eyes were opened, and they said they could see demons and groups of demons in different parts of the house and near objects in the house.

One young person explained that there was a fierce-looking group of demons standing together on the stairway. Other youth said they saw it too.

Another demon was said to have been seen in another part of the lounge-room. In that part of the lounge room was a certain object. When we looked at the object, we noticed it had pictures of elephants on it.

I had to reassure the youth that they needn't be afraid of demons - demons are afraid of them, because of our authority in Christ Jesus.

The youth told the owners of the house what they saw. The owners were led to renounce things or to repent, as needed. It met a need in the household, and brought relief to their family.

It was all a practical lesson to us about a function of the gift of 'discerning of spirits'.

"...the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal...to another DISCERNING OF SPIRITS..." (I Cor.12:7,10).

God sometimes opens a person's spiritual eyes to see into the (usually unseen) realm of spirits.

On this occasion, they saw demons. Other times a person might see holy angels. Or they might even have a vision of the Lord. Or of people in heaven, perhaps. Activities in the unseen realm.

But it was also a lesson to me that we can have the types of manifestations of the Spirit we desire in a meeting; you can have the type of meetings you desire - as the Spirit wills. You can ask, and you shall receive (see Matthew 7:7).

"...ye have not, because ye ask not" (James 4:2).

'Christ' Indicated Fulfilment

When the Apostles affiliated the title 'Christ' (Messiah) with the person Jesus, it was to assert that the gospel was the very means by which God was indeed fulfilling the promised destiny of the Israelis.

Each of the Judaisms in the first century AD (such as the scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, priests, temple-priests, Zealots, Essenes, and the Qumran community, etc) were a case of the Jews scurrying - in light of their predicament, including a looming threat from Rome - to answer the questions:

Who might the Messiah be?

How must we hasten his kingdom?

What will his (the Messiah's) community look like?

Who in Israel will qualify for it?

Each of the groups among 1st century Judaisms were claiming 'this is the way' and 'we are the people' - they even baptised (immersed).

John the Baptist's ministry and message fit perfectly into that scene. John was unique among the prophets in that he publicly identified Jesus as the Messiah. John's baptism was a baptism of repentance. Jewish ethnicity alone wasn't to be the qualifier, he warned.

So the gospel of Jesus the Messiah was the Apostles' answer to those questions.

Israel's Messiah was Jesus of Nazareth. The true Israel among Israelis who would be blessed to experience Israel's promises, was all Israelis who repented and believed in Jesus.

The cross came to be understood as central to that scheme and message. The resurrection of Jesus from the dead powerfully affirmed it.

The gospel was the joyful announcement to Israelis that God had fulfilled His promises to Israelis and that the blessing was being experienced by all Israelis who repented and believed in Jesus as the Messiah who had died for them and whom God had raised from the dead.

What God had done for Israelis, He had done for all mankind. So at the direction of the Holy Spirit the same announcement and its blessing soon spread among the nations.

The gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is the very fulfilment of Abraham's promise, it's the substance of what was foreshadowed by the law, the fulfilment of Prophecy.

Not just good news - it's great news!

JESUS.