What’s your call?

What’s your calling? Maybe you’ve never thought about that. Maybe you think a calling is only for clergy and religious figures. Well, everyone has a calling.

My role as a pastor is pretty simple when it comes down to it. But it’s also very misunderstood.

My call is to make disciples. That’s it. It’s really that simple.

Here’s what my call is not — My call is not to make members. It’s some of what I do, but it’s not the primary thing. Membership does not equal automatic discipleship. Members can be disciples for sure and it’s wonderful when they are. It’s a true blessing. But being a church members doesn’t guarantee discipleship. There’s plenty of folks out there who are members of churches who have no interest in being disciples for a variety of reasons. Perfectly nice people. That’s not to rank people or put people down — it’s to recognize a reality in the church. Dave Daubert, who works with ELCA congregations on redevelopment, has this wonderful stat that goes something like this — take the average ELCA congregation. 1/3 of the people are functioning atheists. They don’t believe the theology. They aren’t there for the faith. They are there for some other reason — a spouse, habit, social interaction, whatever. 1/3 stopped growing in faith when they were confirmed. No desire to grow any more. Confirmation meant a check box that was completed. And 1/3 are either growing in faith and learning and trying to be disciples, or are doing their best to live it out.