About a
week ago, thanks to the wonder of the internet, I was in a discussion with a
brother in another part of the world, with regard to the posting I have on 13
definitions of the word “church” (my latest revision being on June 20, 2012). He stated the idea that church means “called
out ones.” I have heard that numerous
times in sermons, and is generally a true interpretation, but is not a literal
definition of the word in the original language, and does not at all fit the
use in Acts 19. A further problem is
that we believers in our culture have a fuzzy definition of what “called”
means. I struggled with this, as I grew
up going to an institutional church in a Calvinistic denomination. I do not remember the idea of what “called”
meant ever being taught, but I do remember that, before graduating from high
school, I already knew that, if the pastor got up and spoke about Acts 16,
about Paul receiving a dream guiding him to go to Macedonia, the sermon would
end with the announcement that the pastor was leaving his current
position. There was this vague feeling
that “calling” had something to do with holding a position of leadership. This makes some sense in that, in the King James
Version, which was used far more extensively among believers then, than now,
Ephesians 4:1 reads, “I therefore, the prisoner of
the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation
wherewith ye are called,” which appears to say that calling is connected to
doing a paid job. As other versions
show, this, at most innocently, is a function of the translators reading their
own experience into the text, and, at worst, their writing a justification for
their jobs into the text. Newer translations show that that was not a nuance in
the original language.
Be
that as it may, I dove into studying what “call/called/calling” actually means
with regard to New Testament believers.
Two meanings are common uses of the word, one of which is to ask/command
another to move from a place further away from one to another place closer, and
the other is an introduction to a synonym, such as “that animal is called a
cat.” Many of the uses fall into those
categories.
I
wish to deal with the spiritual meaning of calling, God’s direction to
persons. In Matthew chapter 4, we see
Jesus called the disciples. 2 Peter 1:3
tells us Jesus called us because He is virtuous, not us. That should be obvious in that some of us, by
the world’s standards, were evil people before we were saved, and others, who
seem to be nice people, do not come follow Jesus. Of course, the world’s standards are
inconsistent even to themselves.
I
will take one paragraph to mention a problem that has vexed students of
theology. Is every person on earth
called, or only some? Mt. 20:16 and Mt.
22:14 appear to indicate that every person is called, but only some accept the
call to follow Jesus. Romans 8:30 and
Hebrews 9:15 appear to indicate that only those who follow Jesus are
called. This brings up, to us humans, of
God’s perfection and whether those not called have no opportunity to avoid
hell, which seems to us quite imperfect.
Theologians have debated that in their halls of study for centuries, to
no good resolution, but we are incapable to understand God in full, anyway, so
I have nothing further to add to this.
It
appears to me that there are three general levels to God’s call on a believer’s
life. Romans 1:7 tells us that we are
called to be saints. All believers are
saints. The Roman Catholic use of the
word is incorrect. Acts 20:1 indicates
that “saints” and “disciples” are synonyms.
A disciple is one who is following the master, Jesus, to learn what He
has to teach. If someone says he/she is
a Christian, but shows no signs of desiring to follow Jesus, something is
wrong. In most societies where there is
freedom of belief, and no governmentally or socially sanctioned persecution,
there are plenty of persons who fall into this category. Much could be said about this.
John
15:15 tells us Jesus said that we are no longer His servants, but His friends.
1 Corinthians 1:9 tells us we are called into fellowship. A local fellowship of believers is one
correct definition of church. 1
Corinthians 7:15 tells us we are called to peace. Again in 1 Corinthians 7,
verses 20 and 24 tell us that our calling is part of our life circumstances,
which imply, along with the rest of the New Testament, that there are no
special positions for the called, no “holy men” as in the surrounding
religions. We, the church, got (or maybe
were forced) off-track during the early Middle Ages. Colossians
3:15 tells us that we are called into one body, the Bride of
Christ. 2 Timothy 1:9 tells us that this
is a holy calling, not according to our works.
Holiness is not for the special few.
While the calling is not according to our works, the Holy Spirit in the
believer’s life changes our heart, and therefore, our works, and that doesn’t
happen in the person trying to fake being a believer. Hebrews 5:1-4 and 1 Peter 2:9 defines
Revelation 1:6, which helps us understand that saints are priests. Now, if all believers are priests, and priests
intercede between God and man, who are we interceding for but other persons and
the situations surrounding them. This is
the basic level of God’s call on a person’s life.
We
are not to sit around, just feeling good about being saved, avoiding hell, nor,
by the Spirit speaking into one’s spirit, would one wish to. 1 Corinthinans 1:22-31 tells us that we are
to grow in faith. Galatians 5:22, 23
tell us the results of growing in faith, which Paul describes as the fruit of
the Spirit. 2 Thessalonians 2:13 and Jude 1:1 tell us another word that describes
this part of a believer’s calling—sanctification. Ephesians 5:11 describe four or five general
gifts God bestows on persons, and in verse 12 tells us that they are for
equipping the saints (the believers) for the work of ministry. Therefore, every believer ministers, not just
the gifted. That, in turn, is for the
edifying of the body (other believers).
1 Thessalonians 5:11 tells us that the church is a group of believers
that comfort and edify each other. If
one person dominates the group and is attempting to be above others, that is
wrong; that is normal in the world’s businesses, politics, and military, and in
the religions around the world, and in the Old Covenant, but now Jesus is Head
of the Church, as stated in Ephesians 5:23 and Colossians 1:18. God gifts persons, but did not put any gifted
person between God and the average believer.
All
believers receive the first calling. To
some degree, believer’s grow spiritually, although it is clear that some grow
faster than others, and do not grow evenly.
Any of us can see that in our own life.
The third area of calling is one some believers do not ever enter. Some believers, and even non-believers, are
tempted to fake being in. This is the
special calling on a person’s life. This
ties in, in some way, to the general gifts God gave to us via our DNA, and life
experiences, and added to once we accept Jesus’ salvation for us and have grown
in faith to a degree. Unlike deciding
what occupation to study, we don’t choose this call, although to others, it
sometimes might appear that way. Mark
3:13 indicates this. Luke 6:13 tells us
that the 12 were apostles still while Jesus was on earth. Yes, some will have a theological problem
with that, given that Judas Iscariot was in their midst, and the Holy Spirit
was yet to come upon them. Some might
argue that an indication of our imperfection, even while saved and desiring to
follow the Holy Spirit was Acts 1:23, as an example of how special calling does
not happen. Acts 9:11 and 16:10 are
examples of special guidance. Acts 13:2,
1 Corinthians 1:1, and Romans 1:1 are examples of special gifting. These are not examples of titles. Paul said that he was an apostle, but he didn’t
call himself Apostle Paul. None of these
words that are descriptions of gifts were titles, with the exception, as
mentioned above, of Jesus, Head of the Church. In Mark 9:35, Jesus taught the twelve
that to be great, one must be the servant of all. This speaks a word of warning about those
persons whose “ministry” is such that such person is impossible to access, and
whom appears, as one person, to be the equivalent to a whole church. Then, again, this is a form that has been
taught to both leaders and non-leaders for centuries, and wrongdoing is only
deliberate sin when the Holy Spirit brings a thing to a person’s attention. Just to clarify that these gifts were not just
natural abilities, Ephesians 4:9 tells us that God gave gifts of ministry to
men (humans). I say that in that Romans
16:7 tells us that a woman named Junia was an apostle. Further, Galatians 5:13 tells us that we are
called to liberty, to serve one another.
Further, when we look at Romans 12, Ephesians 4, and 1 Corinthians 12,
we see in two spots where Paul is inspired to say “gifts”, which is plural,
about healing and administration, but we have no indication of why. Also, there is nothing that tells us that the
various list of gifts is complete. The
point of God’s gifts is not that we can attach a name to it, but that one uses
one’s gift for the benefit of the body to God’s honor.
Above,
I rattled off many scriptures in a proof-texting style. One of the problems of that style, which goes
back to the rabbis of the Old Testament, and, while I do not know this,
probably extends even to the false religions of men, is that a sentence can be
taken out of its context to say something that, in its correct literary and/or
cultural context, it doesn’t mean. To
the best of my knowledge, I do not believe that I have quoted any of these
scriptures out of such context. Part of the reason for this writing is that
this is an idea which has been misunderstood because others, intentionally or
not, have taken this idea out of its proper context, oftentimes not by actually
teaching incorrectly, but implying ideas “between the lines” of other teachings
which give believers an incorrect understanding. Therefore, not just now, but always, I would
urge others, along with myself, to examine this and any teaching, to search the
scriptures, and I would add history, to see that I have quoted these passages correctly. This is one of the problems of the modern
sermon, versus the participatory Bible study, that it is way too easy in a
speech to miss a dubious point, and impossible for any leader wishing to teach
correctly to explain a point.
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An exact transcript of the one minute version of Simple Church Minute appears as the entry for July 8, 2012.
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