I’m always just a little leery of the phrase, “called to preach”.
In my estimation, a person is first “called to minister” before they find the distinct area that God is wanting to use them in.
I think people get messed up when they pursue some “high calling” without first learning to minister. Often they end up focused on perfecting a craft and carrying a card rather than reaching the lost and perfecting the saints.

In a tape on ministry instruction, Billy Cole once said, “If a man learns how to preach before he learns how to win souls, he will always be focused on preaching rather than winning souls.”

So, let me clarify that when I say, “I’m leery”, I don’t mean I’m leery of the individual… just leery of the phrase.
I understand that people with a calling on their life may initially equate that with a “call to preach”, and I think it’s a good time to begin training that individual on what it really means to be a minister.

Jesus sat in a room with his disciples, who were all expecting to be some great thing in the Kingdom… and the Lord took the opportunity to bring them all to a profound understanding that ministry is really servanthood. He girded himself like a servant and began to wash their feet. The most powerful man in that room… a servant. Not a “preacher”, not a “prophet”, not a “pastor”… just a servant.
So, I never rebuke those who say they are, “called to preach” or “called to pastor”… but what I do is humbly begin to explain to them what being a minister really is all about…
…being a servant.

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5. An Insight into Calling vs. Burden

Tags for this post: call of God, calling, ministry, preaching, servant, servanthood