5Through him and for his name’s sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith. 6And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.
Introduction
For more than a month, we have been talking about obedience to be fruitful servants. Today, we will be talking to be fruitful friends of Jesus Christ.
In my engagement in the ministry not too long ago, I have met some Christians who claimed that “they were not called to preach the gospel”. They were called to be Christians thus bearing fruits of the Holy Spirit, living righteously exhibiting good moral characters. They believe that they don’t have the gift of evangelism and so, preaching the gospel, sharing the word of the Lord, or leading a Bible study is not a part of their calling, but a work and the calling of pastors and ministers.
But does the Bible say about our calling? What is calling by the way? In the Bible, the word “calling” as it refers to the “call of God” to us comes with the word “chosen”. When God chose us, it means, He called us to be something and to do something.
What Calling Is
Calling as A Verb
When someone pronounce our name at our back while walking in the street, we used to look back to see who is “calling” us. We usually response to the one calling by asking him what does he wants. Calling is sending a message to a person or people asking directly or indirectly for a response. It is an action word telling us to do something.
Ephesians 1:11 “11In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will.” Here we see that Paul used the word chosen which leads to the reason of our calling. There is a purpose for our calling. We are not called just to sit down and do nothing. The very fact that God called us is that we have to do something.
We have to do something like John 15:16 “16You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last.” Here we see that the calling that Jesus Christ refers is that we have to bear fruit, which means two things; to bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit, and to bear a fruit of evangelism by bringing people before the Lord.
The calling of our Lord tells us to do something, or to follow something. To follow what he exemplified and to follow all his commands which includes the evangelization of the whole world. The word “calling” tells us that we have to take heed of the words of the Lord and do what it says; Ephesians 1:18 “18I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you…”
Calling as a verb tells us to do something, to bear fruit, to obey his commands. Calling asks us to move and to work for the one who called us. It means that we have to exert efforts fulfilling the call.
Calling as A Noun
Noun is simply names of person, place, or things. In our case here, the word “calling” can be in the form of a noun. This means that when we say God called us, we are to be identified as his follower, giving us the name “Christians”.
We are to be something like verse 12 of Ephesians 1 “12in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.” That we will become a praise for His glory. As we can see here, God did not only call us to do something but to be something, a person who is obedient to God’s commands that for this purpose we were called to be his disciples.
John 15:16 “16You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last.” In this passage, the verb for here is “to bear fruit” while the noun form is “to become fruitful”. And this is a more difficult part of the calling because this “calling” that we have will not become as it should be unless we work defining calling as verb. Meaning, we have to do something first as God called us to become something thus, defining the word “calling”.
Calling as a noun defines us as followers of Christ. And such calling, exists because we put into action our response from the voice of the Lord. This is how we were called to be Christians. Whether we like it or not, our response to the calling of the Lord defines us.
In my own personal opinion, the book “Purpose Driven Life” of Rick Warren was a big failure in the Philippines in a sense of creating an ideal Christian. The book itself was an excellent book that reaches around the globe. It is one of the best books of the century. Unfortunately, people made it as a devotional book that after reading and meditating on it left it without any application. I’ve heard people claiming that they are already done with the book. They have read it and discussed it for 40 days from cover to cover. Yet, these people never became fruitful. To review the five purposes:
The 5 Purpose
1. You were planned for God’s pleasure (Mark 12:30 30Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.)
2. You were formed for God’s family (Romans 12:5 5so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.)
3. You were created to become like Christ (Philippians 2:5 5Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.)
4. You were shaped for serving God (1 Peter 4:10 10Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.)
5. You were made for a mission (Colossians 4:5 5Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.)
Conclusion
Paul was deeply convinced that God called him to be an apostle and was set apart for the gentiles. And he lived by that calling that until now after two thousand years, we know him as the “Apostle to the Gentiles”. Our calling is not only to be holy men and women but a co-worker and proclaimers of the word of God to the world. This is what we are to give to our successors.
The Bridge Builder
By: Will Allen Dromgoole
From the “Book of Virtues” by William Bennett
An old man, going a lone highway,
Came, at the evening, cold and gray,
To a chasm, vast, and deep, and wide,
Through which was flowing a sullen tide.
The old man crossed in the twilight dim;
The sullen stream had no fears for him;
But he turned, when safe on the other side,
And built a bridge to span the tide.
“Old man,” said a fellow pilgrim near,
“You are wasting strength with building here;
Your journey will end with the ending day;
You never again must pass this way;
You have crossed the chasm, deep and wide-
Why build you the bridge at the eventide?”
The builder lifted his old gray head:
“Good friend, in the path I have come,“ he said,
“There followeth after me today
A youth, whose feet must pass this way.
This chasm, that has been naught to me
To that fair-haired youth may a pitfall be.
He, too, must cross in the twilight dim;
Good friend, I am building the bridge for him.”
How about us? How do we build the bridge today for our successors? Do we see our calling? Are we responding to that calling? Is our calling defines who us? We need to see this reality of the need to go out and work on to where we were called. A self-less kind attitude to reach the lost is what we need (Romans 9:3).
Acts 20:24
24However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.
No comments:
Post a Comment