Full Text for Pastoral Theology and Practice- Volume 10 - Seeking out a Call? (Video)

ROUGHLY EDITED COPY LUTHERAN PASTORAL THEOLOGY & PRACTICE LPTP-10 Captioning Provided By: Caption First, Inc. P.O. Box 1924 Lombard, IL 60148 800-825-5234 www.captionfirst.com *** This text is being provided in a rough draft format. Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) is provided in order to facilitate communication accessibility and may not be a totally verbatim record of the proceedings. *** >> DAVID: My first career was in the healthcare industry here in Ohio. In this industry people hunt for jobs that meet their needs. Is that the way it works in the ministry? Do we seek out calls? >> PROF. SENKBEIL: Thanks very much, David, for asking that question because a lot of people are confused on that. I mean to all the world really it looks like just an ordinary job. And one might think that a pastor might kind of have his eyes or his goals set on a particular call in a particular place and kind of strive to receive that individual call. But, remember again, we're interested in having both a valid and legitimate call. And part of that legitimacy is that a pastor does not seek the call but rather it's extended to him. This is important because we're not trying to hire on as someone who is simply looking for a position someplace else. You know, actually Jesus addressed that in the 10th chapter of the Gospel of John where he speaks about the good shepherd who laid down his life for the sheep and how that good shepherd can be identified in comparison with a false shepherd. He says, "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd who does not own the sheep sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees. And the wolf snatches them and scatters them." I don't know about you, David, but I think that Josh could really identify with this particular word of Jesus in the 10th chapter of John's Gospel. Because out on the ranch you don't want somebody who's just out for a job, but you want someone who really knows the responsibilities. You have a hired man, he can do certain things and he can do them well. But, when push comes to shove, he isn't really fully invested in the welfare of the animals that he's caring for. So it is now in Christ's church that we want a man who is with heart and soul committed to what he is called to do. That means that he isn't hiring himself out for some sort of job or position. But rather he's very, very much intently aware that it's Christ himself who has given him this responsibility through the call of that congregation. So part of that responsibility then means that he isn't out seeking these calls but rather he's willing to consider them when they come his way so that he might again, through this careful process of winnowing and sifting out his unique abilities and the needs of that congregation, might arrive at a God-pleasing decision so that both the church and the pastor himself might be confident that he's serving where God wants him to be, not as one who's hired out to do a job, but rather one who is commissioned as Christ's own man to serve Christ's flock in his place. Thanks for that question, David. *** This text is being provided in a rough draft format. Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) is provided in order to facilitate communication accessibility and may not be a totally verbatim record of the proceedings. ***