MacArthur on the minister's "call"

<p>Excerpted from MacArthur's commentary on Ephesians 3.7, "Paul emphasizes the fact that he did not make himself a minister but that he was made a minister (cf. Col. 1:23,25). The calling, the message, the work, and the empowering were all God's. When he was first saved on the Damascus Road, and while he was still blinded from the great light, Paul was given his commission by Jesus. "Arise, and stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you a minister and a witness" (Acts 26:16). It was not Paul's education, natural abilities, experience, power, personality, influence, or any other such thing that qualified him to be a minister of Jesus Christ. He was made an apostle, a preacher, and a servant by the will and power of His Lord. He felt unworthy of any reward, as if he had sought sacrificially to serve in this way. The choice was not his at all, so he deserved no commendation (1 Cor. 9:16-18). He did not want accolades but prayers, because he was in serious trouble if he failed to fulfill a calling he had not even chosen!

Any person in the ministry of the church whom God has not appointed is a usurper. No matter how seemingly good his intentions, he can do nothing but harm to the work of the Lord and to the Lord's people. Jeremiah speaks to this matter when he writes the Lord's word: "I did not send these prophets, but they ran. I did not speak to them, but they prophesied.… I did not send them or command them" (Jer. 23:21,32). No man should enter the ministry unless he is absolutely certain of the Lord's calling.

The key for present knowledge of a divine call is given in 1 Timothy 3, where Paul speaks of the pastor or spiritual overseer as a man who "aspires to the office" and who is verified and approved by those who know him as one who is "above reproach" (vv. 3-7). The present call, then, is bound up in a man's strong desire and affirmation as to a godly life. God calls through desire and church verification."</p>