Shall I Be a Minister?
I. What is the need today for ministers?
Is the ministerial field too crowded"?
"There will surely be a dearth of laborers, unless there is more encouragement given men to improve their ability with the purpose of becoming ministers of Christ." Testimonies, vol. 4, p. 604. (See Ibid., vol. 5, pp. 11, 12.)
"There should be today in the field one hundred well qualified laborers where now there is but one." Ibid., vol. 9, p. 249.
"The Lord calls for more ministers to labor in His vineyard. . . . He calls for whole armies of young men who are large-hearted and large-minded, and who have a deep love for Christ and the truth. "Gospel Workers, p. 63. (See also Ibid., pp. 65, 66; Testimonies, vol. 6, pp. 411-414; Counsels on Health, p. 556.)
II. Shall I be a minister or not?
A. What kind of Christian character do I have'?
"Has your character been transformed? Has dark ness been exchanged for light, the love of sin for the love of purity and holiness? Have you been converted, who are engaged in teaching the truth to others? Has there been in you a thorough, radical change? Have you woven Christ into your character? You need not be in uncertainty in this matter. Has the Sun of Righteousness risen and been shining in your soul? If so, you know it; and if you do not know whether you are converted or not, never preach another discourse from the pulpit until you do. How can you lead souls to the fountain of life of which you have not drunk yourself? Are you a sham, or are you really a son of God? Are you serving God, or are you serving idols? Are you trans formed by the Spirit of God, or are you yet dead in your trespasses and sins? To be sons of God means more than many dream of, because they have not been converted. Men are weighed in the balance and found wanting when they are living in the practice of any known sin. It is the privilege of every son of God to be a true Christian moment by moment; then he has all heaven enlisted on his side. He has Christ abiding in his heart by faith. . . .
"Let no one deceive his own soul in this matter. If you harbor pride, self-esteem, a love for the supremacy, vainglory, unholy ambition, murmuring, discontent, bitterness, evil-speaking, lying, deception, slandering, you have not Christ abiding in your heart, and the evidence shows that you have the mind and character of Satan, not of Jesus Christ, who was meek and lowly of heart. You must have a Christian character that will stand. You may have good intentions, good impulses, can speak the truth understandingly, but you are not fit for the kingdom of heaven. Your character has in it base material, which destroys the value of the gold. You have not reached the standard. The impress of the divine is not upon you. The furnace fires would consume you, because you are worthless, counterfeit gold." Testimonies to Ministers, pp. 440, 441.
B. Have I been converted?
"Cling to Jesus, and never, never dare to assume the responsibilities of a gospel minister until you are a converted man." Testimonies, vol. 3, p. 556.
C. Does my life give evidence of a holy call to the sacred ministry?
"Those whom God has called to the ministry are to give evidence that they are fit to minister in the sacred desk." Gospel Workers, p. 124.
D. Do I have a living experience in the things of God?
No one should be accepted as a laborer in the cause of God, until he makes it manifest that he has a real, living experience in the things of God." Ibid., p. 438"
"Let ministers . . . remember that God holds them accountable to fill their office to the best of their ability, to bring into their work their very best powers." Ibid., p. 271.
E. Do I hold secret communion with God?
"You must hold secret communion with God. Un less you do this, your soul will be as destitute of the Holy Spirit as were the hills of Gilboa of dew and rain." Ibid., p. 272.
"Ministers who are truly Christ's representatives will be men of prayer. . . . Those who teach and preach the most effectively are those who wail humbly upon God, and watch hungrily for His guidance and His grace." Ibid., pp. 256, 257.
F. Do I practice what I preach?
"What He [Jesus] taught, He lived. . . . What He taught, He was." Education, p. 78.
"Your life will be a living sermon, possessing greater power than any discourse given in the desk." Testimonies, vol. 4, p. 380.
"The servant of God should seek, by meekness, gentleness, and love, rightly to represent our holy faith. . . . The religion of Christ, exemplified in the daily life of His followers, will exert a tenfold greater influence than the most eloquent sermons. "Ibid., p. 547.
G. Do I indulge in trifling conversation, jesting, and joking?
"When a minister bearing the solemn message of warning to the world . . . neglects the duties of a shepherd of the flock, and is careless in his example and deportment, engaging with the young in trifling conversation, in jesting and joking, and in relating humorous anecdotes to create laughter, he is un worthy of being a gospel minister, and needs to be converted before he is entrusted with the care of the sheep and lambs." Gospel Workers, pp. 131, 132.
"Think not that the man who goes forth from the sacred desk to indulge in harsh, sarcastic re marks, or in jesting and joking, is a representative of Christ. The love of God is not in him." Ibid., p. 205.
H. Am I willing to forget self, my own ease and conveniences?
"He [the minister] does not study his own ease or convenience. He is forgetful of self. In his search for the lost sheep, he does not realize that he himself is weary, cold, and hungry. He has but one object in view, the saving of the lost." Ibid., p. 16. (See Acts of the Apostles, p. 362; Testimonies, vol. 2, p. 311.)
I. Do I enjoy and am I able to do personal work?
"He [the minister] should visit the people in their homes, talking and praying with them in earnestness and humility.
" Gospel Workers, p. 187."Teaching the Scriptures in families, this is the work of an evangelist, and this work is to be united with preaching." Ibid., p. 188.
"When a minister has preached a sermon, his work has but just begun. . . . He should visit the people in their homes, talking and praying with them in earnestness and humility." Acts of the Apostles, pp. 363, 364.
"The pastor should visit from house to house among his flock, teaching, conversing, and praying with each family, and looking out for the welfare of their souls." Gospel Workers, p. 337.
"Visiting from house to house forms an important part of the minister's labors." Testimonies. vol. 2, p. 338.
(See also Testimonies, vol. 1, p. 473; vol. 2,pp. 618, 619, 705, 706; vol. 3, pp. 210, 232-234,266, 382, 536; vol. 5, p. 255; vol. 7, pp. 18-20;vol. 9, p. 124; Gospel Workers, pp. 337, 338.)
J. Do I have the love of God in my heart?
"The love of God must be living in the heart of the teacher of the truth. His own heart must be imbued with that deep and fervent love which Christ possessed." Testimonies, vol. 4, p. 317.
"Without the love of Jesus in the heart, the work of the Christian minister will prove a failure." Gospel Workers, p. 183.
K. Do I make the truth my theme of study, of meditation, and of conversation?
"Ministers of the gospel should make the truth of God the theme of study, of meditation, and of conversation," Testimonies, vol. 4, p. 526.
L. Am I willing to lay aside all worldly entanglements and commercial enterprises?
"Especially should the minister keep himself from every worldly entanglement and bind himself to the Source of all power, that he may represent correctly what it means to be a Christian." Ibid., vol. 5, p. 531.
"Ministers should have no separate interest aside from the great work of leading souls to the truth. . . . They should not engage in merchandise, in peddling, or in any business aside from this one great work." Ibid., vol. 1, p. 470.
Deciding for the Ministry
Sixty-three per cent of all ministerial students decide for the ministry before they graduate from high school.
These facts were revealed in a survey of 1,978 ministerial students who came from forty-eight States and represent twenty of the major de nominations.
This same study shows that 83.5 per cent of the factors that tend to keep men out of the ministry are simply because no person pastor, teacher, or parent is guiding them in that direction. Only 5 per cent of these 1,978 ministerial students said their Sunday school teacher had ever spoken to them about giving their lives to full-time Christian work.
This study to determine the factors that influence men to enter the ministry is being distributed by the Rural Department, Drew Seminary, Madison, New Jersey, at the cost of printing (15 cents).
One ministerial student gave a typical answer, "No one ever talked with me about going into the ministry until I asked about it."
