Following Your Calling/The Problem with the Church today

“With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness and your every deed prompted by faith.” - 2 Thessalonians 1:11

This is going to be one of my more controversial blog posts relating to spirituality and the arts.

I am hoping to challenge some people out there, when it comes to following Jesus and living out your calling. I want to challenge your perception of “the church” and “the world”.

Ephesians 5:1

“Live a life worthy of your calling”

You, and I are called to steward the giftings and talents that we have, and serve the purposes of God in our world today. If you have that established in your mind, read on!

I want to propose a paradigm for following your “calling”, with regards to the media and the arts.

First, I want to share a vision that I had. It wasn't an “open vision” as such, but it was a series of pictures in my mind that I felt like God was showing me.

First, I saw a picture of Jesus, walking down a street. There was a church building on the side of the street, and Jesus walked past it. I was called to follow him. I felt like the church building represented church programs and activities that I wasn't called to be a part of. I had a calling to follow Jesus and move on*.

We know that Jesus cares about reaching the lost, as shown in stories about the lost coin and the lost sheep (Luke 15).

Then the second picture I saw, was Jesus holding a hammer, banging a large tent peg into a large tent. Immediately the Scripture came to mind “I will build my church” (Matthew 16:18). I felt immediately like this picture represented something that Jesus was doing, that I was called to be a part of. It caused me to repent of all the times where I've been called to serve, help or minister to those in the church, and I've simply gone and done my own thing.

The key application that I got from this experience is that in the midst of sensing a call to minister in the world, and also serve and connect in the church, the body of Christ, we need to follow Jesus.

We are called to be salt and light in the earth. When should we focus on that? When should we head out into the world?

We are called to be a part of the family of God, which is the church. When should we focus on that?

I'm happy to discuss the answers to these questions individually with you, obviously however, there is no “one size fits all” answer that I can write in a blog. The answer will be different for every single person. The answer is to follow Christ. Walk with God.

The problem with the church is that it is full of people. As soon as you connect with a local church or body of believers, you'll find people you don't naturally connect with. There may well be people that rub you the wrong way. However, this is a part of God's plan to sanctify you, and help to make you more like Jesus.

A new paradigm: Where do you fit in the spectrum?

I want to propose to you that every Christian has a calling in some way to use their giftings “in the world”, or the “marketplace”, and in some way in the church - that is, the bride/body of Christ. Even someone who's called to be a pastor, or full-time worship director in the church is somehow off track, if they never befriend or connect with non-believers from week to week. We all need to be letting our “light shine” in some way (Matthew 5:14-16). Likewise, even if our main calling is to spend time in so called “dark places”, we're all called to be connected to the body of Christ, and be submitted to anointed leadership**. It's not an “either or”, but a “both/and” thing. Obviously, this will look different for everyone!!! It's almost like a spectrum, where spending most of your time out in the world/marketplace is on one end, and spending most of your time serving/leading within the church is on the other. Where do you fit in the spectrum?

When I mentioned this concept to a friend of mine, he said he calls it a “sliding continuum” - meaning how you connect day to day, and week to week with those inside and outside the church can vary. My friend spent many years working successfully in the NGO/“not-for profit” sector, and eventually (and reluctantly!) was called into working for a church as a pastor. Through his work as a pastor, he remains very connected with many people outside of the church, as well as within. He connects with many in order to equip and send them into the media, arts, and other spheres.

The grand vision: I see a body of believers that infiltrate the media and the arts sectors of society, and bring greatness to what they do in the marketplaces of the the world. Just by being who they are, they will literally be like salt and light to the world around them, permeating our society and culture with the life of Jesus (Matthew 13:33). They have a heart towards the entire body of Christ, and seek to connect and to serve as God enables them. They also have a strong mandate to BE the church, out in the world, as they entertain, and fulfill many other regular functions and roles within the media and arts spheres.

I also see church leaders that rise up and embrace people sent out into these spheres, and support, pray for and encourage them in their calling (1 Corinthians 12:25-28).

*This doesn't mean that Jesus (being omnipresent and active throughout his entire body on earth) wasn't in that particular church, He may well have been. It just means that I wasn't called to be a part of what was happening there.

** The bible does have 1 Cor 2:15-16 and 1 John 2:27, there is also 1 Corinthians 12:28 and Hebrews 13:7 & 17. #truthintension