I want to direct this article to the young men of our churches for the purpose of encouraging you to consider seriously training for the gospel ministry in our seminary. No, I was not asked to do this by anyone else. No, this is not a pressure tactic by one of your ministers. This article is simply my own response to a cause very dear to me, namely, the Reformed faith as represented by our churches. It is written out of personal concern for the fact that we have a shortage of ministers and missionaries in our churches and therefore need students in our seminary.
I want to consider this need with you from the hypothetical yet realistic perspective of a young man who is considering the ministry but is struggling with several different personal objections to his beginning the training. This young man has just read Isaiah 6 (you should too!), the account of Isaiah’s vision and call to the prophetic ministry of the Word to the kingdom of Judah. In particular vs. 8 has been impressed upon his soul. There he reads of the question raised by the Lord, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” There he reads of Isaiah’s confident answer, “Here am I; send me.” And this young man wants to be able to give the same confident answer as Isaiah. But instead these words are only a nagging question in his soul: “Here am I; send me?” This is a question to him because of those objections that keep coming up in his mind. These objections are what we want to explore together in this article. And we want to answer them by using biblical examples and references, in the hopes of settling some of your own fears and misgivings about coming to seminary.
OBJECTION #1 – “I’m not smart enough; I lack the necessary intellectual gifts.”
It is certainly true that a minister of the gospel must have intellectual gifts, and therefore, every young man who considers the ministry must examine whether he is mentally competent to study and absorb the rigorous pre-seminary and seminary courses. But this must not become the all-consuming factor in your determination. Besides, far too often young men underestimate their intellectual abilities.
It is beneficial to bear in mind that Jesus’ disciples were far from being the intellectual giants of their day. They were men of common, ordinary ability and background—fishermen, tax-collectors, and so on. A rather clear reference to this is given in Acts 4. After Peter and John had given their testimony before the council in connection with their healing of the lame man at the gate of the temple, we read that the men of the council marveled at the boldness of Peter and John because they “perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men” (vs. 13). They saw that they were simple men, men who had never had any formal, academic training; yet powerfully they had preached and testified. How so? The men of the council knew: “And they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.” That explains it—they had been with Jesus! They had spent three years in the school of Christ, hearing His Word and witnessing His miracles. And now that that training had been applied unto them by the poured-out Spirit of the risen Christ, they were equipped to preach boldly.
That is what you young men must keep in mind. The important issue is spiritual knowledge, not mere intellectual ability. Have you been and do you desire to be with Jesus? Have you been taught and do you desire to be further taught in the school of His Word? Do you love His Word and truth, and desire to grow in the knowledge of it, so that you might teach and preach it?
OBJECTION #2 – “I don’t have the necessary speaking gifts. I’m not a great orator and I’m not sure I can speak publicly.”
This too is a legitimate concern. A minister of the gospel has to be able to speak well. He should have a good strong voice. He should have good command of the English language, so that he can communicate the gospel in a plain yet interesting manner. He must be able to face people and speak to all size groups. Yet you must realize that public speaking is something to which one must grow accustomed and in which one must develop. It is rare for a young man to arrive at seminary with the skill of a Cicero. Speaking skills are very slowly and painstakingly developed not only in seminary but throughout one’s career (ask any minister!).
With regard to this too you can learn from biblical example. Jeremiah thought he was too young and immature to begin speaking when God called him to be His prophet. He said to God, “Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child.” But the Lord responded to that with the words, “Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak” (Jer. 1:6, 7).
You may take comfort from the example of Moses, who, you may remember, objected to his office because of his lack of speaking ability. In Ex. 4:10 we hear him saying to God, “O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant; but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.” And God rebuked Moses, and said to him, “Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say” (vs. 12). And then God provided help for Moses in the person of his brother Aaron who became his spokesman. The point is, you must learn to depend on God also for the speaking gifts of the ministry.
Another important lesson in this connection is that the power and success of a sermon does not rest on the fine oratory of the preacher. Paul, perhaps the greatest of preachers, taught us this. In I Cor. 2:1-5 he wrote: And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God…I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. Keep that perspective of the apostle in mind.
OBJECTION #3 – “The training takes too long. Eight years in pre-seminary and seminary is more schooling than I can handle.”
There is no question that the demands and sacrifices required to enter the ministry are great. It takes a great deal of time and commitment, and that in the prime of one’s youth. But that is simply the way it has to be. Because of the importance and seriousness Scripture gives to the office of the ministry, it requires long and careful preparation on the part of him who is to enter it.
But here too you may learn from biblical precedent. If you think eight years is long, consider that Moses’ training was ten times that! For forty years he was prepared by God in Egypt. And then he had to wait another forty years tending sheep in Midian before God finally called him through the burning bush. And the apostle Paul’s experience was similar though not as long. He received one of the finest Jewish educations of his day, and yet when he was converted and called to preach to the Gentiles, he had to spend some quiet years in Arabia, receiving the gospel by revelation of Jesus Christ (cf. Gal. 1). So do not allow yourself to be frightened by the time-factor. Once you are in the training you will not resent the years needed to prepare for the ministry.
OBJECTION #4 – “I’m afraid of opposition, rejection, and persecution.”
Ministers do indeed face all of these things, and a young man who considers the ministry must prepare to face these things, too. This simply belongs to the “cost” of being a servant of the Lord. Read Matthew 10 to remind yourself of what the minister of the gospel can expect to bear wherever he preaches the gospel. If you are a Christian, then you already face these things to one degree or another. But a minister does to a greater degree because he is called to be in the forefront of the battle of faith. Every minister does well to remember the words of Paul to Timothy, “Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ” (II Tim. 2:3).
Yet also in this you must not be afraid. Isaiah was called to bring a most difficult message and perform a most difficult mission to Judah (cf. Is. 6:9-12). But he obeyed in the strength of God Who sent him. Jeremiah knew that his work and message would not be well-received, and he was afraid. God told him that the kings and princes and priests and people would all fight against him, and that made the prophet tremble. But listen to what else God said to him: “Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD… They shall not prevail against thee; for I am with thee, saith the LORD, to deliver thee” (Jer. 1:8, 19). And Jesus, after He had warned his disciples about the evil treatment they could expect when they went out with the gospel, gave them rich comfort as well (Matt. 10:19, 20, 29-31).
OBJECTION #5 – “I’m so unholy! How could God ever use a man like myself?”
If this is truly the attitude you take toward yourself and the ministry, then you have one of the chief marks a minister must have and display—humility. One’s unworthiness for the office is absolutely indispensable to a serious consideration of the ministry. I pray that all who think about entering the ministry feel this objection in their hearts!
It was precisely this unholiness and spiritual inability which Isaiah experienced in the vision recorded in Is. 6. In that vision he saw the Lord in all His holiness, and that prompted him to cry out, “Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts” (vs. 5). I say again, this is what every aspirant to the ministry must feel in his own soul and confess before God. Have you seen the King in all His glory, young men? Then your cry is that of Isaiah, “I am unclean. I’m unfit as I am for the work of the Lord.”
But then also be confident of the work of the Lord to cleanse you and make you a holy instrument of His. That too was pictured to Isaiah in the vision (cf. vss. 6, 7). Only when the Lord purifies you of your sin you are able to respond as Isaiah did, “Here am I; send me.” Only when He cleanses your lips are you able to speak His Word in purity and truth.
OBJECTION #6 – “I know I should enter the ministry, but I don’t want to.”
This is something which probably every minister felt at one time before he actually entered the seminary. Most, if not all, have struggled with the call to the ministry. We felt the inner call; we were able to discern the basic gifts necessary for the office; the way was opened to us; but our flesh was there saying, “No, don’t do it.” And so we said, “No, I don’t want to.” But this is wrong, and the Lord showed us too by breaking our rebellious spirits. We may not resist the call of God. If every indication is there that you should enter the ministry, and still you say, “No,” then you are rebelling against God.
To point to you the seriousness of this, I would remind you of the example of the prophet Jonah. You recall how Jonah refused to heed the call of the Lord to go to Nineveh, how he tried to run from the Lord, and how the Lord caught up with him, and taught him obedience through the chastisement of the storm and near loss of his life. Let that be a lesson to you, young men, that you cannot flee from the Lord’s call to the ministry. He will find you and bring you to obedience, even in the way of chastisement. Far better it is to heed Him at His first calling, than to hear His call but delay to answer it.
May the Lord use this article to answer some of the objections those of you who have already begun to think about the ministry may be having. And may it inspire those of you who have not yet considered it to do so now.