Wow, James has gotten all of his “Primary Communicator” posts up already. I need to get a move on…

Having graduated from a fairly small Christian Liberal Arts College, I know a lot of guys who were majoring in various areas of Pastoral Ministry. The sad thing is, many of them wanted to get into ministry for all the wrong reasons. Some were going to be pastors for the money. Some so that they could work once a week. And others were becoming pastors so that they could satisfy their own narcissism. Sometimes when I look back on it, I can’t help but think about were these guys are now. There’s nothing wrong with going to seminary, or getting your degree in a ministry related field, but education doesn’t trump calling.

Trust me, calling will keep you going when you realize that there’s no money in being a pastor. Calling will help you get through those long weeks of working 50-60 hours. And calling will help keep you humble when someone would rather talk to the “lead pastor”. If you want to be an executive or behind the scenes pastor, make sure that God is actually asking you do to it. A great litmus test someone once told me was this: “If you could be happy doing anything else, then do it.” If you would be just as content working at a “regular” job, then don’t get into ministry, particularly a ministry that is going to be seen by so very few people.

This looks like a good a spot as any to throw in my own personal “calling” story. Come with me as we take a little trip back in time…all the way back to 2004. There I was, less than a year until graduation, sitting in a church service, minding my own business when God completely wrecked my future plans. You see, I had been accepted into the Postgraduate History Program at Newcastle-Upon-Tyne in England and was planning on moving to the UK the next summer with my beautiful wife to begin work on my Master’s Degree in History. Yep. I was getting the heck out of Dodge. I couldn’t wait. That is until God said: “You’re not going”. Now, I’ll admit that God and I have a strange relationship. When God tells me to do something, it isn’t a booming voice or a choir of angels, heck, it isn’t even audible. I just knew that we were going to stay. I knew that God had something in store for us here in Cleveland. Unfortunately, my wife wasn’t as easy to convince ;). Sometimes, when James gets me really frustrated, I consider sending in another application. Just kidding. I don’t need send in a new one…

If God has called you to be a “behind the scenes pastor”, then that is more important than your educational background. In fact, many of the executive pastors that I look up to and read often have no previous “ministry” education. One of my favorite blogs is written by an executive pastor who used to be a physical therapist. In my own experience, being an executive pastor means being a jack of all trades. At least at this stage of LifePoint’s existence, I have my hands in a lot of areas.

Bottom line? If God hasn’t called you to be a “behind the scenes” pastor, no amount of education can make up for that. Calling trumps education every time. (In my case, literally)