How Can I Know If I'm Called?

Stephen: Every missionary starts somewhere. When a Christian starts to think about the mission field, sooner or later they are faced with a question: am I called? Calling brings a whole host of other topics to the surface. Called by whom, to what, and for what purpose? For many, it can be an anxious and challenging process to discern the answer. But as mysterious as that question of calling may seem, it's not impossible. The task of obedience to the Great Commission is not a mystery. And it may come as a surprise neither is the criteria for a missionary, but it does take wisdom to know if you should stay or go.

Brooks, over the years you've spoken a lot to young people, and this is a question that keeps popping up. Our question today comes from KLBR97 on Instagram. KLBR asks, “How can I know if I'm called to be a missionary?”

Brooks: Yeah, this question of missionary calling and calling in general, I think, is probably one of the most asked questions, especially when it comes to missions that is out there, mostly because people want to know, "Am I called? Do I have this thing that people keep talking about? Should I be going to the mission field? What should I look for? Are there signs? Is there a burning sensation, or what happens when someone feels called to missions?"

And I'm probably going to take an approach that maybe isn't as popular, but I think has more biblical support in it. And that's an approach that I would jettison the language of calling. I would talk more of the term "aspiration." I aspire to be a missionary rather than I'm called to be a missionary or I'm looking for the missionary call. When you start talking in terms of calling, it sounds like you're having a conversation with Jesus and nobody else can be involved in that conversation. Calling has this mystic quality to it that's almost like you have this one-on-one connection. There's something going on here that is deeper than my pastors can understand. And aspiration sounds like, "this is what I'm shooting for, and I'm inviting input."

And I tell you what, especially for a young person to speak in those ways to their pastors is so much more inviting. If you want your pastors on board, the language of aspiration, I'm hoping, What can I do to grow so that you guys see this as well? So I would push away from the language of calling primarily for that reason.

Kevin DeYoung has written a wonderful article. He wrote it back in 2018, but the title of the article is "What Is My Calling and Is That Even a Good Question?" And he walks through all the passages, the six passages that we have in Scripture of calling, and looks at it through the lens of Is this calling to a specific task in life, or is this a general calling, an upward calling in Christ, a way that Christians conduct themselves? And he very much comes to the latter, that there is nothing that we see in Scripture that calls us to something specific. So again, I would read that article. I think Kevin lays that out helpfully.

If you are going to use the language of calling, though, let me encourage you on two planes to separate this kind of in two sides. Number one would be an internal calling to where you're reading the Scriptures– and this is how I got called into missions. My wife and I were reading Matthew 28:16–20, Romans 10:13–15, Acts 1:6–8, Revelation 5:9, thinking through what it will be like in glory to see all of these nations, these languages gathered around the throne. And Father, would You have us as part of that? That was our internal calling, really hearing the Word taught and reading it and meditating on it. And that was where we felt like we should do this.

And then the second half of the equation, which I think is even more important, is the external calling. And that was, did our church elders, did our leadership in our church see the same thing that we were seeing, not just in Scripture, but did they see it in our life? Were we qualified to be people they would want to send out, that they would want to see go to the ends of the earth?

I sometimes get nervous when young people go to missions conferences and they get really excited, but they don't tell their church pastors. They don't get that same excitement to go back and to talk, to take your pastors out. Pastors have a unique weakness, and the unique weakness is they are suckers for free food and free coffee. Take your pastors out for coffee or lunch and you pay for it. Don't make them pay for it. Lay out what you believe the Lord is laying on your heart, and invite them to speak into your life and give input and say, "Is there anything missing in my life that you would say you need to strengthen this, brother, sister? You need to maybe be better at this. Maybe we need to know you more. Maybe you haven't gone through church membership yet, that type of thing."

Missions in and of itself emanates from the local church. It starts from the local church. If you're not rooted there, if you're not finding your guidance there, that's the external calling, to have those people who are biblically qualified according to 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 to speak into your life. Then you really don't have a lot of grounds to stand on as far as why you are called to missions if other people who are in leadership over you don't see it. Take them out for lunch, take them out for coffee, take them out for something, and have them speak into your life, not just on a one-time basis, but over the six months, the nine months, as you continue to pray and think through this. I would encourage you to let them have the loudest voice into your missionary call.

I think there's this other area that I would like to touch on when it comes to the missionary call, and that's open and closed doors. I think there should be a lot more young people thinking about the possibility of going to the nations than there are today. And much of this flaw comes down to the idea that God will accidentally not be looking at my life and I'll end up in Africa, and He will just be like, “How did that happen?” We believe in open doors, but we don't believe in a God who has the power to close those doors as well.

I lead a missionary training school called Radius International, and year after year we continue to see young people coming to us who love the Lord Jesus, who on paper are perfect fits to head to the mission field or have things that point to that they quite possibly could do this. And year after year there's a handful of them that the Lord very obviously closes the door.

I think young people need to find their courage that if God is opening the door, friend, walk through those doors. Open those doors and continue to walk forward in the path that God is showing you. And God can close those doors. Every year I see it. Young people that we hope and pray will reach the ends, but God seems to have a different trajectory for them.

And I worry sometimes that young people think too much about, I just need to put the brakes on this because God obviously hasn't said anything or hasn't closed these doors. Friend, give it time, but walk in obedience to what you know today. God has the power not only to open doors, but to close those doors as well. And if He's opened these doors to you, if you're aspiring to go into missions, walk faithfully. Take one foot, put it in front of the other, and continue walking until God closes those doors. And one of the clearest ways He closes those is He brings your pastors into your life. And your pastors can say some version of wait, or we don't think this is the best fit for you. But either way, you're getting a closed door.

And so that to me would be the number one reason why I would want to press young people to walk in what they know, to walk in the open doors that they have seen, and to continue to pursue the path of missions.

Stephen: Thank you, Brooks. If you or someone you know aspires to be a missionary, visit missionary.com to learn more about what it takes to bring the gospel of Christ to the unreached. You can also find links to Radius International and Greenville Seminary, two organizations that are dedicated to helping missionaries prepare for long-term service on the field.

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Thanks for listening.