The Complicated Concept of “Calling”

The idea of calling receives considerable attention in the Bible and has had significant influence on Christian thinking. Pastors will sometimes talk about when they were “called” into the ministry, but the word “calling” is broadened to include other vocations as well. Just yesterday, I saw an advertisement from a Christian university that referred to teaching as a “sacred calling.” Missionaries have a calling. Motherhood is sometimes represented as a calling. Even athletes pursue their calling.

I was at a denominational conference last month where the subject of the role of women in ministry was addressed. In our denomination, women can be ordained and given the title “Pastor,” but women do not ordinarily serve in the role of lead pastor. I say, “ordinarily” because 26 of our churches in the U.S. and its territories are led by women pastors, and this has created dissonance. So, at the bi-annual national conference, a panel of pastors and educators spoke to the issue from a biblical perspective. Some claimed the Bible limits the lead pastor role to men, while others insisted that the lead pastor role is open to both men and women.

The arguments for and against were based on familiar passages—nothing surprising there. What caught my attention was the woman who, speaking in support of opening the role of lead pastor to women, made a heartfelt plea to allow women to fulfill their calling. One can debate how Galatians 3:28 fits into Paul’s larger argument about Gentiles and law-observance, but how can anyone argue against fulfilling a God-given calling?

Because the idea of calling impacts our thinking as Jesus’s disciples, it is important that we understand what the biblical writers meant by it. That would require a lengthy monograph devoted to the subject, for the subject is broad. Most of the time the verb “to call” (when used of God’s call to individuals) is found in the aorist tense. That is, it looks to a point in time when God called a person.

The verb is also used in the present tense, each time in a participial form, which means that God is still calling. This ongoing call, like the call of a child playing Marco Polo in the swimming pool, leads somewhere. God is calling us to himself, to “his kingdom and glory” (1 Thess. 2:12).

The “call” word group is also used adjectively on ten occasions in the New Testament, though contemporary versions frequently obscure this by translating it as if it were a verb. As an adjective, it describes a group of people as “the called.” The word is used in this way in Romans 8:28, where the King James translated the end of the verse quite literally: “to them who are the called according to his purpose.”  

One could profitably explore each aspect of God’s call, how it comes to individuals, and where it leads (for example, “to peace,” “to hope,” “to freedom,” to a kingdom, and to glory). It would also be good to think through the implications of being part of the group known as “The Called.” These folks “belong to Jesus Christ” (Romans 1:6, NIV), which is a phrase charged with meaning. They are “saints” or “holy ones,” which implies that they are different from others. They are people of purpose—particularly, God’s purpose (Romans 8:28).

Lately, it has been the use of the present tense that has stirred my thinking. We were called at some point in the past, but we are also being called in the present. St. Paul uses the present tense three times to represent God as the one who is currently calling his people. Like the shepherd who goes before his sheep and leads them with his voice (John 10:4), God is calling us.

The Voice that called us in the past has not stopped calling; it calls us still. And if we follow it, we will come … to him.

The biblical emphasis is not, it seems to me, on calling someone to be in ministry (despite the way the NIV translates many of Paul’s epistolary introductions). Though we are “called to” something, the stress is not on the call to a career, but the call that leads to God, his kingdom, and his glory.

Does that mean God does not call people to become pastors, or teachers, or missionaries? Does he not call some people to become computer programmers, TikTok evangelists, husbands, wives, CEOs, biologists, basketball players, and most other occupations that can be imagined?

I tend to think the answer is not exactly. He does not call us to such things but through such things. He calls us to himself in such a way that our path frequently leads through some kind of vocation. Following God’s ongoing call to himself led me into (and will someday lead me out of) pastoral ministry. But I don’t think my calling was to be a pastor. It was to pursue God, his kingdom, and glory. But, of course, my heavenly Father knew that following that call would lead me through the pastorate. He calls other people to himself, his kingdom, and his glory, knowing that following that call will lead them to be railroad engineers, or commercial fishermen, or graphic designers, or nurses, doctors, animal trainers—you get the idea.

God never tires of calling us. The Divine game of Marco Polo goes on. If we are not hearing his voice, it is not because he has stopped calling but because we have gone in the wrong direction. In that case, it is best for us to call to him and then become silent, waiting for his answering call. We will hear it if we listen, no matter how far we have wandered. He is still calling, and his voice carries through all of space and time.

He looks, and ten thousand of angels rejoice,
And myriads wait for His word;
He speaks, and eternity, filled with His voice,
Re-echoes the praise of the Lord.

Dear Shepherd, I hear, and will follow Thy call,
I know the sweet sound of Thy voice;
Protect and defend me, for Thou art my all,
And in Thee I will ever rejoice. (Joseph Swain)