Occasionally I come across somebody who remembers an era when I sang a lot or wrote a lot of music. They graciously tell me they miss that, and openly wish I would return to it, or “do something with it.”
Honestly, it feels nice to hear that. But I won’t be singing “He’s Alive” this Easter, and I haven’t written a song that doesn’t end in “oh, doo-dah-day” in 13 years.
Even more frequently, I see somebody who heard me preach, or was in a church where I served as pastor. More kind words. More open wishes.
Truth be told, if feels nice to hear that, too. But so far I’m not planning on preaching this Easter, and I haven’t served in a church leadership role in 16 months.
Do I miss those things? Of course. But that doesn’t mean that the gifts and callings behind them have been shelved or warehoused. Just redirected.
In an often-quoted Bible verse, Paul says that “the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable” (Romans 11:29). He’s referring to the Jews and their place in God’s heart and plan. But the implications are much broader than that. It speaks to Gentile me.
It speaks to you, too.
“God never changes his mind when he gives gifts or calls someone.” That’s how God’s Word translates it. Eugene Peterson says in The Message that they are “under full warranty – never canceled, never rescinded.”
You can run from your calling or abuse your gifts. You can make stupid choices that limit your effectiveness. You can be distracted by the world or rejected by the church, deceived by the devil or pursued by trivia. But your dead ends or detours haven’t changed your gifts and calling, and you’d be wise to recognize that.
Oh… sorry… you still here? I was preaching to myself and got distracted. Anyway…
If you intend to invest your life in a compelling future, you must start from the perspective of what you have been given by God. It’s in your spiritual and personal DNA (Designed Natural Aptitudes).
So what do you do with your gifts and calling when life has a way of changing over time?
1. Embrace the fact that you are called and gifted.
We could talk all day about your gifts never going away, but that won’t help if you never thought of yourself as gifted or called in the first place. So often in Church World we limit our view of gifts and calling to things that take place on a stage or behind a micro-phony.
What a waste.
To say you aren’t gifted is to make the Father a liar, the Son a time-waster, and the Spirit an idiot who plays favorites. The fact is, you are gifted, whether you or anybody else recognizes that or not. And the quicker you embrace that truth, the sooner you can get about exploring – and using – those gifts in ways that serve and save the world and expand the Kingdom.
2. Don’t screw it up.
Sorry. I couldn’t think of a nicer way to say this and be clear.
Every gift or calling has its potential for undermining your credibility to use it. For example, the children of Israel were called out from the nations to be a holy nation, separated unto God. The potential undermining influence: idolatry.
Yep. They blew that one. Repeatedly.
On a more personal level, you may be gifted in unique ways to communicate truth. (The New Testament words for gifts like that include prophecy, teaching, exhortation, word of knowledge or word of wisdom.) But imagine what it does do your credibility if you are a habitual liar.
Suppose you are gifted in areas of leadership. If you betray the trust of followers or fail to lead people where they are destined to go, it can get a little dicey trying to use that gift in the future. Or, if you are gifted to pray for the sick, an unhealthy lifestyle can make it hard for people to take you seriously.
Nothing is more grotesque than a believer turning his gifts or calling into a side show or circus act. Few things are sadder than a gifted, called individual who has been discredited – but still has the gifts and calling.
3. Don’t limit your calling to a job description.
This ain’t your job or career we’re talking about. You may use your gifts or calling there, and hopefully you do, but spiritual gifts and calling transcend how you make your living. We forget Paul was a tent maker and Peter kept his fishing boat. But leaving the tents or the nets didn’t mean leaving their calling. Paul just worked on the bigger “tents” – the church of the Living God. And Peter became a fisher of men.
I once heard George Barna say that the average man in America will have 3-5 careers in his working life. Not jobs – careers. If he is a believer, that man will take his gifts and calling into each of those careers, even if he is not actively using them to earn a living.
4. Recognize the difference between calling and drafting.
People draft. God calls. In people’s minds you may be a number-one draft choice, a free agent, or the latest in the round of cuts. But what God called and gifted you to be, you still are. No one can take that away from you. In spite of your failures, mistakes or the opinions of people, you are still a valued member of God’s kingdom and plan.
People do not make you an exhorter or teacher; He does.
People don’t wire you for service or administration; He does.
People do not anoint you to communicate truth; that’s His job.
Stop looking to people to gift you or call you. Only He can do that. But when you do see evidence of His gifts, exercise them without apology.
5. Respect the confirmation of the Body.
Much as it sounds like a contradiction to the previous point, pay attention to the affirmations you hear from other believers. They don’t call you or anoint you, but they do recognize what God has done in you.
People around me recognized I was ready to move from youth ministry to being a senior pastor before I did. That kind of thing is not unusual. If you’re the only person in a room of 100 people who believes you are gifted or called in a certain way, it may be wise to give that another look. On the other hand, if you are repeatedly hearing from others that you are uniquely gifted in a certain area, even if you don’t agree, it’s probably worth a second look.
6. Live like someone who has been chosen, forgiven and highly favored.
You are.
Nobody deserves or earns grace gifts – and that’s what all gifts and callings are. They are tangible expressions of the goodness and unmerited favor of God. You don’t interview for gifts or calling. You receive them when you believe the gospel and receive Christ as your Lord. Your gifts and calling – regardless of what they are – are trophies of His grace and weapons in His arsenal.
7. Remember always that you are called first to be, then called to do.
And He appointed twelve, so that they would be with Him and that He could send them out to preach, and to have authority to cast out the demons (Mark 3:14-15).
Your gifts and calling are first and foremost means to be with Jesus. They are gateways to spiritual intimacy first – then avenues of spiritual power. When you try to exercise a gift for God before you execute the gift with God, you become like our pal Peter, who, when Jesus was arrested, whipped out a sword to try and defend Him. Good intentions. But comically dumb.
Your will spend a lifetime unpacking, understanding, and applying your spiritual gifts and calling. You may run from them or abuse them, undermine them or use them. But you’ll find that regardless of your performance or perspective, the Giver of Gifts is still giving.
And the Giver of Life is still living.
This was written specifically for me at this time – thank you for using your gift and calling to do so!
there is no Romans 12 :29. At least in my Bible
This article is really insightful!
i hate ministry and gods call. cant we just choose what we want to become
Simeon, interestingly enough, when your heart is toward God, I believe the answer is actually, yes, because they’re actually the same. However, as far as hating ministry and God’s call, etc., you may want to take that up with a guy named Jonah in the Bible. Or maybe even Moses. Callings have a way of finding us.
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This was a very inspiring message Andy. I always looked at this scripture taking it literally that God’s gifts and His calling are irrevocable. Thank you for your explanation. With so many giving their rationale on this scripture, I know sometimes you have to see what the spirit of God is saying to you personally. I know when God called Jonah, Jonah ran in the opposite direction only to still fall face first into God’s call for him. I have been running from God myself but I know now He has called me to do something. I am so introverted Andy that I become overwhelmed with the fear of speaking at times but I always get back drawn to the word of God even when I fall weak to sin. His word is the only thing that intrigues me, provokes me and compels me to learn and do right. I wake up some mornings with a message in my mind and I write it down not sure exactly what God wants me to do with it. I will continue pray on it and I hope one day I will gain some clarity on how to receive His call for me. God Bless Andy and thank you again for this message.
Great message. You are preaching about me, for 20 years I have been on the run from His call but He is catching up with me. When I am thinking of doing a PhD in psychology and business, I feel a strong compulsion to go back and do MPhil in Theology and go back to ministry and I am not sure of what I am going to do in the ministry. I will just obey this time.
I’m trying to figure out my gifts for the good. I can see and can hear. God knows my heart. Reading this encourages me. Thank you.
simple and to the point keep serving the LOrd I found.s this to be a timely message.
Thanks Andy, I appreciate your post. I graduated from bible college when I was 20. Raised & homeschooled our children. 37 yrs. has passed, I still have the same call on my life as when I was 8 yrs old. I’m an introvert too, but when God has something to say through me, His anointing comes & fear fades. I used to be a youth pastor, but when I started steadfastly teaching Jesus is coming back soon, I was asked to step down (in a nondenominational church).. Jesus is coming SOON! And we must sound the alarm, because so many people are asleep. God bless you. I wish I could talk to you in person! Blessings, keep up the good work!
My biggest fear is that a mistake I made three years ago after God plainly and clearly called me into something and opened a door for me has now caused Him to decide to rescind the calling He placed on my life or at best, allow me to have a lesser, more disappointing version of what He originally wanted. When He called me into it, I was in a church that taught legalism, false teaching and was spiritually abusive. When I came out of there, I had so many wrong ideas about Him and was afraid of Him and how He was going to punish me. Stepping into what He called me to also involved a risk of taking on debt, which the cult/church I had been in told me was sinful. Looking back I now see that God kept calling me to take the risk, but I was so convinced of this false doctrine of debt=sin=punishment from God, that I began to doubt that what was in front of me was actually from God and not deception. Rather than take the risk and allow myself to do it, I ran away from it and as a result missed the chance to enter the door that He wanted me to walk through. I backslid severely as a result and went down a really self destructive path for three years where I’ve hardened my heart to Him and am always angry. I think about what I almost had every day and where I could be in my life and walk with Him and it’s humiliating and shameful…now I fear that if I walk with Him again, He is going to put me through the most painful journey I can think of and I will find that because of my mistake, though unintentional, He will decide to take it all away from me forever…
That was Roman’s 11:29 and it has always been a verse that has given me direction and courage.
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This calling topic is better understood now with how it’s been shared. Individually though I wonder how that vocation can meet the advocation to become that person into who you have have called. What to do if you see callings in others but don’t find it in yourself especially when your life depends on money to live and move out of poverty. Please reply and help me develop into one whom is called into specific time and place to be moved into something deeper that brings something of value into a needy world.
Andy’s post was encouraging. Really, the gifts and talents of God are irrevocable. Just know where your heart is, there your treasure will be. Thank you for the encouraging post.
Truly eye opening. At times in life we are sometimes our biggest hurdle. Not knowing when to act leaves people second guessing and often regretting not following their calling. Seaking guidance sometimes is ignored to preserve pride. Andy, your words must often hit home and I can see why people would miss when you sing.
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