It is a fallacy to claim as most people say, that God would put an affliction, sickness, poverty or hardship on you to compel you to preach the gospel. That’s cheap blackmail. And God is not a blackmailer. It is false teaching.
Your Great commission is your call to serve in the kingdom of God; not necessarily to preach or evangelise. It is your divine assignment or purpose here on earth; your great personal commission is the call of God upon your life to serve Him in whatever capacity to grow His kingdom.
God’s call could be in, or outside the vineyard
God’s call: Could be in, or outside the vineyard
Such a call could be in, or outside the vineyard. It is God’s prerogative to decide, you have no hand in it. All He wants is your cooperation for you to say, like the prophet Isaiah, “Lord, here I am, send me”.
What distinguishes the call of God from your personal life project is that His call comes with an anointing or spiritual gift/empowerment to enable you to fulfil the call; whereas, all you need to actualize a life project is talent, mainly.
In either case, divine grace is also very essential. This piece is intended to get a lot of confusion off the heads of our youth about focus or direction. Many youths don’t know why they are here on earth. They don’t know their purpose. I hope this piece will help them understand it.
Let me make this very clear. Talent is not a spiritual gift; but an anointing, like say, healing anointing is a spiritual gift; not everyone has it, though. Anyone can, however, receive healing by faith. Everyone is talented in some way, and I believe that everyone who is a child of God has one form of anointing to serve God one way or the other, in some field.
The term Great Commission is used by theologians to describe the last directive Jesus Christ gave to all believers before He ascended into heaven. This instruction is in the Bible book of Mk 16: 15-18, where He said Christians should go into the world and make disciples of all nations.
This is the Great Commission. It is a statute of general application and it applies to all Christians. With this great mandate as mentioned earlier comes divine empowerment called anointing, to enable you to achieve this goal of growing the kingdom of God. But you may not be a preacher to do it. You can grow the kingdom with your peculiar grace in a different field or profession.
Many young Christians are going into ministry these days on the claims that the economic difficulties they are facing, is evidence that God has called them to preach the gospel. Some claim that they had a strange spiritual encounter, affliction, sickness or attacks because they did not heed the call to ministry. That’s wrong.
When young folks read exploits of wealthy and popular televangelists like Bishop T. D Jakes, Rev Chris Okotie, Pastor E. A Adeboye, Pastor W.F Kumuyi, Tunde Bakare, etc., and juxtapose these with the call of many Bible characters, they are inspired to launch into ministry head-on. A tiny, negligible few succeed somehow, while many are confronted by the nightmarish experience of poverty, hunger and failure.
The biggest problem of the Pentecostal church today is that most of the young ministers come into ministry unprepared. They are usually not well instructed in things of God before plunging into ministry. A one-month or 12- week crash programme in a so-called Bible college is not enough to equip you for ministry. It is a fallacy to claim as most people say, that God would put an affliction, sickness, poverty or hardship on you to compel you to preach the gospel. That’s cheap blackmail. And God is not a blackmailer. It is false teaching.
Now, the question: How do you know your divine call or assignment? You should first understand that the word of God can come to you mainly through revelation, inspiration and illumination. Let me put it in the proper context. When God calls you, He speaks to you in a clear, small, still, audible voice, just like you do when you whisper to someone.
That’s why we call it a call. He calls in a voice. That’s how He called Bible saints like Samuel, Paul, Isaiah, Moses, Adam, Jeremiah, Solomon. God’s style is to call in an audible voice. You can find time to read the stories of those He called in the Bible.
Before I started this column, I struggled in the wrong ministry. Then, I asked Him: “Lord, what’s my call?” He replied:” what made you famous?” I said writing.” Immediately; I called the then managing director of SUN Newspaper, Mr Eric Osagie. I said, “Please I need a column.” I sent him two samples. After reading the article, he said: “Great Pieces! You can start the column (Motivation Power). I’d give you space every Friday”. You see, if God calls you, He’d help you do the job. That’s the beauty of it. Everything would work in your favour. And not all calls are in the five-fold ministry of Pastor, Teacher, Evangelist, Prophet and Apostle.
There are several other gifts like administration, helps leadership, counselling, writing, exhortation, faith, healing, etc. Read Romans 12:4 – 8. All gifts are important, and together, they make the body of Christ function in harmony. No gift or call is little; they are indispensable to each other. If one organ of the body is dysfunctional, the whole body is sick. Read also 1 Cor 12 – 31
Young people should understand this clearly. If you have a call, you don’t have to struggle with it too much because God will help you fulfil it. If you are facing challenges in health, marriage, or business, it is not God calling you to set up a church. Ask for direction, He’ll give you a strategy to prosper.
Memory Verse: Unless the Lord builds a house, its builders’ labour in vain – Ps 129:1
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Send Your Nagging Questions To PASTOR TELL ME –
ladibest16@gmail.com 09059243004 (SMS, email, WhatsApp only)
Questions:
Q: Can I marry an unbeliever?
A: No. it’s dangerous
Q: When is the right age to marry?
A: It depends on the individual. I got married at 37
Q: Is the Pope the head of Christians?
A: No. Jesus Christ is the head of his Church. The Pope only heads the Catholic Church.
Ayodeji is an Author, Rights Activist, Pastor and Life Coach. He can be reached for prayers, speaking engagements and counselling on 09059243004 (SMS, email & WhatsApp only).
