The Blog of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship

Lindsey graduated six months ago and is still struggling to figure out her next step. She has changed her mind three times already. She likes the idea of being a missionary in the Dominican Republic. She also sees practical good in working for a while to pay off college loans. Then there is the chance to join InterVarsity staff. They all seem like good and right options. She feels stuck at the crossroads and overwhelmed with the weight of the decision, wondering why God doesn’t make it easier.

Discerning God’s will for our future is difficult enough. Trying to decide if you are called into full-time ministry is even more challenging! If only God would clearly write the answers in the sky for us. This would make the whole process a no-brainer, right? But then it would also be a no-faither, too.

The good news is that there is help with this tough discernment process. Romans 12:1-8 gives us solid principles to follow when we, like Lindsey, find ourselves stuck at the vocational crossroads.

The first two verses lay the groundwork for our attitude and motivation: Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Our lives are meant to be worship to the King, no matter what careers we take. We cannot move forward until we first have our minds and hearts set on pleasing Him. George Mueller said, “Nine-tenths of the difficulties are overcome when our hearts are ready to do the Lord’s will whatever it may be. When one is truly in this state, it is usually but a little way to the knowledge of what His will is.” We cannot serve God by following the world’s agenda. We must submit ourselves wholly to the King.

The next step in verses 3-8 is critical: For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

We need to view ourselves with sober judgment. In other words we need some self-knowledge. We need to understand God-given design: our abilities and strengths as well as our weaknesses. When you lack self-knowledge you put yourself in danger of making poor decisions about your future.

Sober judgment requires a long, hard, honest look at ourselves. We need to look for our actual gifting, not the gifting that we have always thought would be really cool. And we must avoid dismissing abilities out of self-doubt.  We hurt ourselves when we think more or less of ourselves than is genuinely true. Both pride and low self-esteem are enemies of accurate discernment.

Five Key Questions

Ask yourself these questions to help you view yourself with clear, levelheaded judgment in relation to full-time Christian ministry:

1. What kind of a leader are you? Are you teachable and faithful? Are you able to serve humbly? Your character is everything in ministry. Regardless of whether you use your gifts as a lay leader or as a professional minister, good ministry leaders are faithful, available and teachable.

2. What has been your ministry experience? Have you seen fruit from your service in previous ministry positions? Do people follow your leadership? People gifted in the area of ministry will stand out in a crowd. If you were to ask someone in your previous ministry who the most influential people were, would your name be on that list?

3. What do others think of you? We need reliable friends to speak truth to us in order to see ourselves more clearly. Do others think we are cut out for full-time ministry? Ask friends to be honest and not just tell us what they think we want to hear.

4. Why do you want to do ministry? We need to check our motives. Why do you really want to do ministry? Do you think it is more spiritual than secular work? Too often there exists a false dichotomy in our minds between full-time ministry and lay leadership, but we are all missionaries in God’s Kingdom, whatever our job or role.

5. Do we have a genuine concern for people? Ministry is primarily about people. If you have trouble developing relationships and interacting with people, then you will struggle to influence people in ministry. It does not matter whether you are an introvert or an extrovert.  The critical question is how well you pay attention to the needs of others above your own.

For Lindsey, the decision process has not been easy. She still has no idea where she will be 10 years from now. However, for the time being she is content with the next step. Based on her passion and the gifting that others have pointed out in her, she is applying for a full-time campus ministry position. The process has taught her a valuable lesson: in spite of uncertainty, she has never been outside of God’s caring presence.

And that is the really good news about this crossroads: If you set your heart on pleasing God, He will not let you make the wrong decision. He has promised to lead us in the direction that He wants us to go (Psalm 32:8, Proverbs 3:5-6). His guidance may be slower and more indirect than you want, but He will keep you on His path. After all, we are His workmanship, created to do His works (Ephesians 2:10). If we are eager to do His will, why wouldn’t He want to direct us?

Patrick Langan is an InterVarsity Campus Staff Member at Southern Illinois University Carbondale and blogs at No Rights.