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Calling - Is it good theology?

I recently was at a missions conference for a Southern Baptist Church.  It was interesting for me to observe the strong emphasis on “calling to full-time service” during the program.  Albert Mohler has written about this in an article on his web site.  I wonder, though, if this whole concept is bad theology.

First, there is scant biblical support for it.  Note that Mohler references 1 Timothy 3:1 “it is a fine work he aspires to do,” referring to somebody who wants to lead in the church.  If that is considered a key “proof-text” then I must say there isn’t much to support this idea.

Second, it seems to me to abrogate a much more important concept: the priesthood of all believers.

Third, it makes the “non-called” feel second-class.  As somebody who is “full-time” in ministry I don’t think I appreciated this much until the last year or two when I friend told me who they felt when they heard this kind of language.  Now I hear it all the time.

We should all be called to our vocation - we should avoid elevating one type of calling above another.  The sooner we embrace this idea, the sooner we will see all Christians motivated for ministry.  Not just a select few.

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Friday, November 24th, 2006 at 11:45 amand is filed under No Category. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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