Rejecting Ambition and Embracing the Call: You Don’t Get to Choose Your Ministry

We don’t follow a way of life; we follow a person. A living, breathing, active, and dynamic God we call Jesus Christ. This has serious implications for what kind of ministry we get ourselves in and whether we leave the ministry we’re in. Our opinion, preferences, and desires aren’t paramount; we must learn to surrender our will to His.

An atheist Chinese businessman I was talking to demonstrated more understanding of following Jesus than many Christians I’ve met: “I just think, if I became a Christian, I would have to follow God and do what He wanted me to do instead of what I want to do. It would be giving up control of my life.”

Precisely.

The good news is, he’s likely on his way there. As our conversation reached its conclusion, I told him, “When people ask me these kinds of questions, I always believe God already has a hold on them and that it’s just a matter of time before they become a Christian. It’s inevitable.”

“Yes, I think you’re right. It probably is inevitable that I become a Christian.” (Feel free to pray a prayer that God will continue to pull W. along.)

As this atheist understands, we Christians are not called primarily to a way of life or a set of beliefs; we are called to a person who has his own will and directs us according to his purposes. To embrace Jesus’ personal call—a real call, to a real individual, to a real and specific work—means we reject our own personal ambition. Otherwise, we’re not free to respond to his call.

Read this blog over on Substack HERE.

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