From Him, For Him and By Him 

I began ministry in a church plant. My first Sunday included my wife and me, an older couple helping to start the church, two women and four children. By the end of six years, we had around 80 people in attendance regularly and a pastoral couple that learned a lot about calling, vision and strategy. Calling sustained us; vision became eternal; and strategies were developmental. 

Over my forty-four years of ministry, I pastored this church, a medium sized church that had gone through a split before we arrived and two churches of over a thousand. While particulars varied, I believed and still believe the essentials never changed. I also served as a church assessor and pastoral coach for a few years. My observation is that most of the issues that were causing churches to be unhealthy were associated with a breakdown in one of these three areas. Here are my conclusions from these years.

How does a pastor know God has called them?

I have admonished young people who are considering going into ministry that if they can do anything else in the world, do that. Ministry is not something to enter into lightly or without a conviction that you can do no other. A sense of calling from the Lord will sustain you in hardship or times of disillusionment. Calling is not about us as the called but rather the One who called us. While it is personal, the emphasis is on the Lord. 

 Isaiah said, “Before I was born the Lord called me; from my mother’s womb he has spoken my name.” (Isaiah‬ 49‬:1b) and Paul observed, “But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me…” (Galatians‬ 1‬:15‬-16‬a). The calling of a person for ministry is a divine action for divine purposes with divine empowerment. ‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

I also believe God in His sovereignty calls us to a place or a people. To complete the thought about Paul, “to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being.” (Galatians‬ 1‬:16‬b) I believe our first years in that church plant were meant to train us, not establish “a great work for God.” Later, I was appointed to pastor my home church even though Jesus had said, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.”” (Mark‬ 6‬:4‬). After a while I realized that the changes that were necessary there had to be carried out by a hometown boy who knew the area and its history. Pam and I were later led to leave the denomination we grew up in.  At the time, I was supposed to take over as its Bishop. There was no problem. Just a leading of the Lord out of prayer over months. One friend told me I was all wet.  Though I appreciated his support and advice, I could not deviate from the calling. I was responsible to follow the call. We ended up at a church in another denomination and state, both of which were a surprise. But the outcomes of that move were imprinted with the purposes of God. ‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

What is the difference between calling, vision, and strategy?

Vision

I grew up in and began my pastoral ministry in the era of the church growth movement. Having a vision that culminated in rapid and sustained growth in attendance and the giving of money was key. Churches looked to hire visionary pastors who could lead them to achieve powerful things for the kingdom and grow.

I attended so many conferences and watched so many churches focus their efforts on marketing and event strategies that appealed to the unbeliever and set an atmosphere that allowed the unbelieving to be comfortable attending. Covid seems to have exposed the fallacy of that approach.

Jesus was the greatest visionary ever. His approach was to keep His followers focused on the Kingdom of God, spend time mentoring and training those closest to him, and then take them to spend time among the unbelieving. Prayer, God’s word and the accountability and encouragement in the fellowship of believers were foundational. As my friend Daniel Henderson says, “Vision is something that is received, not achieved”.

So true biblical vision is about the building up of the body of Christ in such a way that its people are regularly engaging every person to become a passionate follower of Jesus Christ. 

Strategies

Leaders then implement strategies to teach, serve and equip God’s people toward this vision. Rather than drawing more people to attend, it is about growing up people who have a passion to share the Gospel in word and deed with those whose lives they encounter. It is a mixture of growing in grace and knowledge of the truth. 

How should pastors measure ministry success?

Our calling comes from and is defined by God Himself. It is service directed by Him to fulfill His purposes wherever He may call us. 

Our vision is His vision. It is “to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” (Ephesians‬ 4‬:12‬-13‬)‬‬‬‬‬‬

He came to serve. He came to seek and to save the lost. He came to lay down His life. In humility, and with minds renewed by His word, we His people fulfill this vision of redemption through engaging people. And those encounters will happen as the Holy Spirit guides us in line with God’s purposes and timings.

The scoreboard is not here on earth but in Heaven. And what it will register is how faithful we were to the calling He gave us. It’s all about, for, and from Him.