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BEYOND THE ALTAR:
Evaluating Your Dedication to Missions/Full Time Ministry
Samuel Ling
The conference is over. You walked forward on the last evening and dedicated your life for full time ministry, or for missionary service. You have made one of the most important decisions in your life (the other important decision being: trusting in Christ as your Savior, and perhaps your decision to get married). What do you do next?
The question of “What’s next?” is both important and urgent.
a. It is important because Christians often have a vague notion of how God “calls” someone into the ministry. Just because we walked forward to dedicate our lives does not mean that God has called us!
b. The question is urgent because the Chinese church, by and large, has not developed a biblical basis for why speakers call people forward to dedicate their lives for full time ministry. Does this practice have a biblical basis?
What’s Next? A Testimony
Thousands of Chinese Christians have walked to the altar in the past 30 years. Most of them are still asking: “What’s next?” Listen to the testimony from one such Christian:
The most exciting, climactic, and frightening moment for a believer could well be the moment he/she felt called to the ministry!
I became a Christian while I was a student. Becoming a Christian was very difficult: at that point I felt the need to draw a line in the sand, and say: Here I stand. Not long afterwards, and before my baptism, I felt as if the Lord wanted to call me to serve Him full time. I hadn’t the foggiest notion what it meant to be called by God. As I shared this with those who led me to Christ, they were suspicious: after all I hadn’t even been baptized yet! So I hurried with an application for baptism, and asked everywhere: what is “God’s call” all about? I ended up with quite a collection of opinions and testimonies. And I couldn’t tell whether they clarified my thinking, or further muddied the waters.
Soon, at a public meeting, the speaker issued a call to full time service. O, how many souls are waiting for me to save! How gracious had the Lord to me, saving me in my youth. Do not be afraid of any difficulties ahead … I walked forward, and with tears, dedicated my life on the altar. O blessed moment! What glory! It seemed that everyone in the audience was giving me their blessing! From now on, I must equip myself well for His kingdom service!
Days went by, then months … a year passed. I had a direction, a heavenly ideal, but what about concrete steps day by day? How do I bring lofty ministry goals down to earth? I don’t know. Why? Why do I feel that Christians are born orphans? We do this in evangelism: “Believe in Jesus!” we urged people. But once they believed, they have “graduated” and are ignored. It’s the same thing with Bible conferences and mission conventions. Young people walked forward … by the hundreds. Then what? We thought that we would receive special care and instructions to follow step by step. The reality is: all kinds of people give assorted opinions, but there are so few who are qualified, and have the heart to give individual guidance and mentoring. They may tell us to go to seminary right away, and even might offer scholarships. So is this the “narrow way” of a consecrated life: that there is no alternative other than enrolling in seminary?
For me, going to seminary right away was not feasible. So I was led to feel guilty: “You have given your life to the Lord. Why delay? Are you looking backward toward the world again?” OK, OK! So I should apply to seminary … but which one? Enthusiastic, well-intentioned people gave me a stack of applications. And they told me to pray for guidance. But how should I pray? Should I draw lots after prayer? Should I ask for a Bible verse with the seminary’s name in it? Or will God show me in a vision?
It has been over ten years since I walked to the altar. I felt like I had staggered my way through this journey. One thing, however, is absolutely clear: God wants to use me! But to do what? Am I suitable for His use? In what way am I suitable, and in what way not? How can I work on the latter? How can I improve? And how would I know which changes need to be made? Which way should I move forward?
Recently, I had the opportunity to meet Christians from various parts of the world, who had also given their lives for full time service. I was so excited: God is still working in all our lives! My friends have all dedicated their lives to the Lord for some time now, and they had reach a fork in their path. We have different backgrounds, different visions and goals, but we share a common, fervent heart of love for the Lord Jesus. One more thing: we all covet mentoring from our spiritual elders, but we couldn’t find qualified and available mentors.
O pastors and elders, you who have called us out to the altar: after the call, where have you disappeared to?
Biblical Foundations
While I would not go so far as to say that it is against Scripture to call someone to walk forward to dedicate his/her life for full time ministry in an inter-church conference, it is my conviction that there is a better biblical foundation. This includes the following factors:
a. God normally calls someone as he/she grows in faith, maturity, and ministry skills within the context of his/her local church. He established the church and gave her gifts (Ephesians 4:11-16), so that the church may benefit from these gifts (I Corinthians 12:7)!
b. God’s call to a Christian to full time ministry of preaching, teaching and evangelizing is not isolated from, but an integral part of, his total molding and shaping of the individual’s life toward Christ-like maturity. And God shapes our lives through many circumstances, using many factors. God’s molding is a life-time process!
c. When God calls someone to full time ministry of preaching, teaching and evangelizing, his plan of molding and shaping the individual’s life toward Christ-like maturity will not discontinue, but will continue and intensify!
(For greater details, request an article, “Beyond Dedication,” from the author: Fax 1-626-296-7616; email: . A more complete resource is the paperback book by Edmund P. Clowney, Called to the Ministry, 1964. Order from:
P&R Publishing Company, P.O. Box 109, Phillipsburg, NJ 08865-0817, USA. 1-800-631-0094; fax 1-908-2390. Ask for book 144-4; US $5.99 plus postage.)
The Reality
Unfortunately, the situation is not ideal. The reality is that:
a. Chinese church has not developed this biblical foundation for the local church. We have relied on inter-church or para-church organizations and conferences to produce a climax, or crisis-event in Christians’ lives. We then expect God to call, and to confirm his call, through these crisis-events (e.g. walking forward to dedicate one’s life to full time ministry at the close of a conference).
b. The local church often does not engage in the practice of constantly encouraging and praying for Christians – especially those who very evidently love the Lord, are serving actively, and are seeking the Lord’s leading for more fruitful ministry – that they may sense a confirmed call from God to full time ministry of preaching, teaching and preaching.
c. When a person dedicates his/her life for full time ministry, what is needed most – other than guidance from the Word of God and the Holy Spirit – is a mentor to guide him/her through many critical questions. This is sorely lacking!
As the 21st century dawns on the Chinese church, the needs are greater than ever for full time workers in preaching, teaching and evangelizing:
a. Chinese churches need pastors who have people skills, have a deep sense of God’s work in their lives, and who can competently, passionately, and systematically teach the doctrines from the Bible to Christ sheep.
b. The Chinese church needs to step up her involvement, in partnership with other Third World and Western churches, in reaching the 10/40 window (and other unreached people groups in the world) for Christ: through preaching, teaching and evangelizing.
c. The Chinese church needs full time workers for many support ministries; there is no category of ministry in which there is an overabundance of workers! Every type of ministry is crying out for more help: counseling, church music, youth ministry, urban outreach to grassroots Chinese people, church education, teachers for Christian schools and colleges… The list is long, and there is no exception: the workers are few!
So what is next? What can the Christian do, immediately after his/her dedication to full time ministry?
He/she needs to inform the pastor and elders of the local church, and ask them to pray for him/her. Usually, this is already going on: the church is well informed of the desires of the Christian’s heart. Preferrably, the pastor, or a mature elder, can take the Christian through a mentoring process.
(One of the best manuals to follow by both mentor and mentoree is a book which has transformed my own life: Robert J. Clinton, The Making of a Leader, Navpress, 1988.
Order this and other writings by Dr.Clinton from: Barnabas Resources, P.O. Box 6006, Altadena, CA 91003-6006, USA. Fax 1-626-794-3098, phone 1-626-584-5393. $11 plus shipping. Ask for their catalog!)
A Self-Evaluation Retreat
But what if a mentor is not available? I suggest that, in conjunction with reading The Making of a Leader, the Christian take a one-day retreat, and evaluate his/her call in light of a series of questions.
Find a quiet place. Bring a notebook, your Bible, and perhaps some music which helps you to meditate (with a portable tape or CD player). Also bring a red pen, and a highlighter, in addition to a regular pen/pencil.
Begin by reading a portion of Scripture (e.g. Psalm 90, Psalm 139, Psalm 51, Isaiah 40, Matthew 5-7, or John 13-16). Spend some time in prayer, praising God for who he is: a faithful, loving God, a glorious God who commissions his children to serve him.
I reflected on my own ministry during a one-day retreat in February 1993. I collected the following questions from various books and articles I have read, and sat down and wrote out answers to these questions. I have adapted them somewhat for the purposes of this article.
There is no right or wrong answer. These are only tools to help you pray and think. My prayer is that God will use these questions to dig deeper into what He is doing in your life. He wants to mold you and use you! God bless you as you meditate:
1. What were the factors which led up to my dedication to full time ministry/missions? Why did I attend this conference? Who influenced me to come? What other recent events in my life and ministry influenced my dedication decision?
2. Why did I dedicate my life to full time ministry/missions?
3. What (spiritual) gifts has the Holy Spirit given me, up to this point in my life?
4. What weaknesses (in character, my walk with God, relationships) have I detected in my life, during this stage of my growth?
5. What are the goals in my life at this stage in my growth? List all goals: health, financial, academic, career, relationships, family, walk with God, ministry, missions.
6. How am I progressing in achieving these goals? How am I doing? Evaluate yourself according to each goal listed in #5.
7. How do I feel about my growth at this point in time? Do I feel encouraged? Discouraged? Bewildered? Alarmed? Wonderfully grateful to God? Lonely? Confident that God is using me, and will continue to use me? Pause for an appropriate prayer-response.
8. Mid-point Concluding-Question: In light of the above (##1-7), what time is it in my life? What is the nature of the present moment in my life? Am I at the beginning of a new stage of development (new place of study/work, new ministry tasks/roles, new marriage/relationship, etc.)? Am I at the middle of a prolonged period of regular growth, ministry, work, study, and relationships? Or do I detect that God is leading me toward the end of a period of growth? Signs of the ending of a period in life may include: quest for more training; relational problems in the ministry, insights into your need for more prayer, more spiritual power, more ministry which flows from your life (who you are) rather than from your position (what your rank is, what you do), etc. Pause for a prolonged period of meditation.
9. (You may want to take a break, or lunch at this point. After the break, continue with the following): Who are the most significant people in my life? List them in chronological order. Begin with those who have influenced you the most during your childhood; then those who influenced you in your youth; then your young adult years; etc.
10. In what ways did they influence you? E.g. Did they influence you to love God; to thirst for His Word; to spread the gospel; to build up one character trait (honesty, hard work, loyalty, persistence, etc.); to treasure the family; etc. These people may influence you with their negative examples as well as their positive examples. E.g. Your parents’ divorce (where appropriate) may influenced you to care ever more deeply about building sound relationships, and demonstrating love, concern and friendship in concrete and appropriate ways.
11. What have been the circles, or networks of people, in which God has placed you? E.g. You may have been called to serve within a local church (Sunday School class, youth fellowship, choir, church board, etc.). Or you have been given responsibilities to care for people beyond the local church, within a city. Or you may have responsibilities (through school, work or ministry) in a region or a country. Or you may have been exposed to a select network, e.g. Chinese parachurch agencies; your denomination in your country; a network of Christians burdened for a particular cause (e.g. one unreached people group), etc. Is God calling you to be faithful in influencing those people in this circle or network? Could God be stretching you, challenging you to reach beyond your network? (Either alternative is possible; no one is better than the other.)