A common question I get asked as a professor and pastor is what someone should do if they feel called into ministry. I usually give the same advice, so here it is: Eight things to do to prepare yourself for a life of ministry.
1. Commit yourself to love God and love others.
Of course, this is the call for all Christians. But if you want to lead other Christians into loving God and others, then you yourself need to be loving God and others. Being a ministry leader or pastor is primarily about who you are rather than what you do. Thus, you need to be a godly person who loves God.
Commit yourself to being found in God’s love and live your life as an outflow of this love to those around you. Learn to depend on God’s love, to depend on the Holy Spirit, to depend on Christ’s grace and forgiveness. As you strive to commit yourself to God and serve him faithfully with your life, rest in the truth that God in Christ has already served you and committed himself to you. A life in ministry does not earn God’s love—it is an outflow of it.
2. Commit yourself to qualifying for the office of elder or deacon.
If you want to serve in ministry, then you need to strive after the office of deacon or elder. Read through 1 Timothy 3:1–13 and strive after living a life in continuity with these qualifications. Ask God to work in your heart by the power of His Spirit to transform you and shape you. Strive to be the type of person who qualifies to serve as a deacon or elder. “Whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task” (1 Tim 3:1).
3. Commit yourself to practicing the spiritual disciplines.
Build the spiritual disciplines into your life. Commit yourself to reading your Bible, to praying, to weekly corporate worship, to studying, to resting, to having times of silence and solitude. Build rhythms into your life and grow in these disciplines now.
4. Commit yourself to developing in Christian virtue.
Learn the virtues listed in 2 Peter 1:3–11 and seek to grow in them through the power of the Holy Spirit in union with Jesus Christ. Grow in faith, goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, mutual affection, and love (vv. 5–7). As Peter says, if you grow in these virtues, “they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (v. 8). Do you want to have a useful and productive life? Then grow in the knowledge of Jesus Christ and live this knowledge out by growing in godliness. The Christian life is about growing in knowledge and love of God and living a life shaped by this knowledge. It is not either knowledge or transformation—it is both. So commit yourself to these virtues and aim to have a fruitful, purposeful, and productive life for the sake of Christ and his kingdom.
5. Commit yourself to reading.
“Leaders are readers.” It is an often-used trope, but it is true. If you want to serve within the church, start reading good books. Read works of theology. Read works on ministry. Read biographies of past pastors, missionaries, and theologians. Read biblical theology and commentaries on Scripture. And most importantly, read your Bible. As a ministry leader, you need to know your Bible well. You need to know how to live it out, how to let it shape you, and how to teach it to others. Read the Bible carefully, slowly, and constantly. Start reading now, read broadly and consistently, and commit yourself to reading for the rest of your life.
6. Commit yourself to serving in the church.
If you feel like you may be called to serve vocationally in the church, then start by serving as a volunteer in the church. Serve in a variety of different ministry settings to see where your giftings are. Do people notice you are gifted in youth ministry? Do they point out your ability to lead? Or teach? Or to lead people into worship through music?
By serving in the church in a variety of different areas, you can ask other people to discern with you. Ask others if they see your gifting for ministry. Ask them to tell you about the areas you need to grow in. Take the opportunities as they come and use this time as a volunteer to grow and develop in your ministry skills and abilities.
7. Commit yourself to discipleship with friends and mentors.
As you serve in the church, find older Christians who are in ministry to walk alongside you as you discern your calling. Ask them for advice. Ask them about the areas they believe you can grow in. Ask them if they see the calling into ministry that you believe you have been given.
This is also a time to start cultivating lifelong friendships with peers. Make friendship a priority. Help one another to be faithful in serving Christ and the church. Have fun together and grow together.
Ask close friends and mentors to keep you accountable, to ask you if you are reading, if you are serving, if you are loving God and the church well. Be open and honest with them and look to grow in wisdom through your relationships with them.
8. Commit yourself to theological education.
Are you a high school student? Then finish high school and go to Bible College. Are you a university student? Then finish your undergraduate degree and go to seminary. Yes, people can and do serve faithfully without theological education. But if you have the time and ability to learn and grow in your knowledge of Scripture, then why would you not take it? Go to school, take the time to study seriously, and pray that God would use your time in Bible College or Seminary as a way to further shape you into the image of God’s Son, Jesus Christ.
Do not waste this time of preparation. Use it to start serving the church at the stage you are already in. If God is leading you into ministry, then these eight commitments will, by the grace of God and the power of God’s Spirit, equip you and prepare you for a life in ministry.
