Call to the Ministry by Francis Wayland

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D. C. · Feb 9, 1911

Call to the Ministry

By Francis Wayland

SUPPOSE a man is convinced that he is called of God to preach. He could not turn a deaf ear to this impression without doing violence to his conscience, and, in his own view, disobeying God. He feels that a woe would rest upon him if he did not preach the gospel, and that a curse would rest upon all his endeavors if he left this duty unfulfilled. Here, then, is one evidence of his call.

But this is not enough. We may frequently mistake our motives. We may overrate our capacity. We may thus run before we are sent. Hence we frequently see men in the ministry who have manifestly mistaken their calling, and who are useless as preachers, while they might have been very useful in some other situation. What, then, in addition, is needed, in order to assure a man that he has not mistaken the voice of God in this matter?

I answer: In the next place he lays his convictions before his brethren, who know his walk and conversation. He asks them to tell him, in the fear of God, whether or not their convictions correspond with his own; whether or not they in truth believe that he is called to undertake this work. They are bound to take up this subject with solemn deliberation. They do wrong if they do not employ all the means in their power to come to a right decision. They must hear him preach, until they are able to form an opinion of his gifts, his knowledge of the Scriptures, and his aptness to teach. If, after a sufficient trial, they can not be convinced that the brother possesses ministerial gifts, they must honestly tell him so. He may then conclude that he has mistaken his duty, and that with a good conscience he may devote himself to some other calling. It was well that it was in his heart to build the temple of the Lord, and he shall have his reward, though the Master sees fit to commit the work to another. If, on the other hand, his brethren are convinced by their knowledge of his Christian character, aptness to teach, and acquaintance with the Scriptures, that he is called to the ministry, this union and harmony of his convictions with theirs may assure him that he has not mistaken the voice speaking within him, but that it is his duty to devote himself, either wholly or in part, to the ministration of the Word. . . .

It will be seen, from what I have said, that the act of a church in licensing a candidate, is one requiring grave and serious consideration. It is a matter of great consequence, both to the candidate and to the church of Christ. To him it frequently involves a change in his whole course of life, and a new direction to all his energies. If he enters upon a calling for which he has no adaptation, his life is, for the most part, thrown away. When a Christian brother asks our advice on a subject of so much magnitude, we are surely bound to give him the soundest and most deliberate opinion in our power. To the church of Christ it is a matter of moment. To advise a brother to leave his present field of usefulness, and enter upon another, for which he has no adaptation, is to throw away an important helper, and burden the ministry with a brother who, in that situation, can render it no service.

But this is not all. The brother asks for our conviction as to his call to the work of the ministry. When we vote to grant him a license, we deliberately say that we, in the fear of God, believe him to be called by the Holy Spirit to this work. We can not say this in truth, unless we have taken means to ascertain his qualifications. We can not say it in truth, unless, having taken means to ascertain the facts, we have arrived at this deliberate conclusion. If we have arrived at the conclusion, we shall with pleasure make it known to our brother. If we have not arrived at it, we can not say that we have, without incurring the guilt of falsehood. It may give us pain to disappoint the expectations of a brother. This, to be sure, we would gladly avoid, but we can not make a lie about it. We can not say that we believe one thing, when in our hearts we believe the opposite.

Such seems to me to be the nature of the obligation under which we are placed in the act of licensing a candidate for the ministry.—Francis Wayland, in Western Recorder, Dec. 1, 1910.