When thinking about the concept of a “call” to ministry, the first thing that should be defined is what ministry is. Ephesians 4:11-13 says,
“It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”
To me, ministry is exactly that – serving or leading others in a way that is conducive to building up the church (or the world as a whole, in the case of missions-based ministry) toward unity in faith. A “call to ministry”, then, is feeling a strong desire, pull, or, sometimes, push to serve in this way. This calling is something that should be supported and confirmed through prayer, seeking God’s will, and affirmation from the spiritual community that surrounds an individual. Many people believe that their call to ministry is based on a strong desire. Others say that they feel ministry is what God wanted for them – whether they wanted it or not. I believe that either of these sentiments can serve as a call to ministry. Often, God gives us gifts, talents, and passions that lead us to ministry, somewhat like Paul’s aptitude for speaking and debating. Sometimes, though, He calls us to areas of ministry that we don’t believe we have a strong inclination toward, like Moses’ call to lead the Israelites to freedom in spite of his hatred of speaking publicly. I believe, however, that most people are called to a specific type of ministry – i.e., pastoral ministry, music, children’s ministry, youth, etc. For me, the calling is primarily toward young women.
Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve loved helping people, listening to their problems, and giving advice. My mother tells me that when I was 5 or 6, I would put my glasses onto my favorite stuffed animal and turn him in to “Dr. Cow” – Dr. Cow would then become a psychologist and give advice to the people he heard on the radio (my mom was a fan of Dr. Laura Schlessinger’s Christian talk-show). Growing up, my dreams about my future vocation ranged from police officer, to chemist, to professional musician, to writer. When I was 14, I began going out with a boy named Daniel. A year and a half later, when I was nearly 16, I felt God calling me to end the relationship and to pursue Him wholeheartedly. Though I had been saved when I was young and had been living a Christian life, I knew that I had allowed my relationship with Daniel to take priority over my relationship with Christ. For several months, I tried to avoid being obedient to the call I’d received, but I was so filled with anxiety and conviction that I finally did end the relationship. That summer, I spent the majority of my time reading and thinking about the state of my heart: clearly, I’d let myself become far too emotionally invested in my relationship with Daniel. I began reading books concerning teenage relationships and the way those relationships should be handled in light of our relationship with Christ. Books such as Eyes Wide Open: Avoiding the Heartbreak of Emotional Promiscuity and Every Young Woman’s Battle opened my eyes to the physical and emotional hardships that Christian young women face in our society – a society that encourages promiscuity, vanity, and drama, while and denouncing purity, self-acceptance, and a Christ-centered life. I also fell in love with the books Hosea and Song of Solomon. Both of these books contain beautiful messages about God’s radical love for us – a message I felt called to share with other women. Though the end of my relationship with Daniel was painful, it marked the beginning of my journey in ministry. I’ve known since then that I was called to help people – particularly teenage girls and women. It took 4 years for me to come around to the concept of actually going into ministry as a vocation. My plans have evolved from editing a Christian teen magazine, to writing books for girls, to clinical psychology, and finally, to biblical counseling and public speaking.
When I first began my freshman year at Baylor University, my “plan” as a psychology major was to obtain my PhD and become a clinical psychologist. About half way through the year, as I was choosing the classes I would take in the semesters to come, I began to wonder if that was really what I wanted. When people asked me what I wanted to “do” with psychology, I would tell them that I wanted to be a clinical psychologist. I’m not sure of the exact moment, but I eventually realized that this was not true. I slowly came to see that, though I knew it would require a longer education process, becoming a clinical psychologist was, for me, taking the “easy way out”. I knew I was called to serve the Lord through serving others, particularly women, but choosing ministry as a vocation would require me to put aside my carefully made plans and trust God to direct my future. I feared what I saw as an “uncertain” future, and, as a result, rejected the idea of devoting myself and my studies to my calling of ministry-based counseling and women’s ministry.
One thing that contributed to my decision to finally accept my calling was taking Christian Scriptures. I’d grown up in a private, Christian school, and honestly didn’t expect Christian Scriptures to be of much interest to me; I thought it would be more or less a review of things I’d learned over 12 years of daily Bible classes and weekly chapels. As the class progressed, however, and I saw the way that Dr. Holleyman unfolded the scriptures, I suddenly found myself desperate to study them more. Despite my previous Christian education, I had never really dug into the Scriptures from a literary and historical perspective – I was fascinated. Christian Scriptures quickly became one of my two favorite classes. The other, of course, was Introduction to Psychology. I looked up other classes that the religion department offered and decided that I wanted to take so many that I would need to add a minor in religion. The moment that I finally decided to change my focus from clinical psychology to counseling, I experienced a sense of joy, excitement and peace about my future that I hadn’t felt before. Not long after that, I met with the college pastor of Highland Baptist Church, Kyle Dunn, who encouraged me to consider attending seminary if I really wanted to serve in a ministry position. When I discovered that most seminaries offer a master’s degree in Biblical Counseling, I knew that that was the route I needed to take. I knew that I could get a counseling degree from any university, but my interest in studying religion and my desire to practice counseling specifically in a ministry setting led me to choose seminary for my graduate work. This decision essentially served as my acceptance of the call God had given me so many years before: a call to encourage, teach, lead, and love young women in the name of Christ.
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