It is Father’s Day this Sunday and in honor of my dad I want to blog some things this week about “the Call” that I’ve seen in my father. I don’t know of a greater example in my life of someone who followed “the Call” more than Him. You can read my first post HERE if you’d like an introduction to where I’m going.
My dad has been in ministry for as long as I can remember. I don’t remember any time in my life where he wasn’t “Called” to be serving in some sort of ministry, and MOSTLY in full time church ministry. My dad is an EXCELLENT pastor and a model to me of what it means to puruse God’s call. There are some specific things I want to share about the call that I saw in Him and here is the first one.
#1 The call ISN’T about money! EVER! First off, if you’re in ministry to get paid, you’re a moron. I LOVE what I do, but ANYONE who would choose to do this for money needs to get checked. Ministry is TOUGH and it is NOT about money.
If someone tells me “I feel called to pastor that church…BUT…” I usually know what is coming. “BUT they don’t pay very well.” CALL and PAY don’t mix. I can’t tell you how many people I’ve seen in ministry PASS on places they actually felt CALLED to because the pay wasn’t what they anticipated. Or LEAVE a place they felt called to because another place paid MORE. Or STAY somewhere because other places couldn’t pay as much! YES, we need to care for our families BUT If God is calling, can’t He also care?
Listen…THERE IS NO AMOUNT OF MONEY ON THIS PLANET THAT CAN SATISFY A HEART LIKE LIVING IN THE CALL CAN!
My dad, NEVER went to a church for money. PERIOD. In fact, I know MULTIPLE times he took pay CUTS to go where he was called. I know people questioned him on occasions of “Why would you go there?” I know there were times my dad didn’t want to know the pay package because he didn’t want that to affect His decision. His decision was based on THE CALL of God alone!
This affected me most when we decided to pursue God’s call to Cheyenne. I was TERRIFIED but I knew God was calling. I HAD to obey or I’d be sinning. I remembered the times my dad did it growing up. I’ll never forget as a youth pastor going to my pastor and saying “I know that the church may not be able to give us any money to do this, but I HAVE to go. God is asking us to.” I learned that from my dad. I saw it every time he took a new position. It was about the call for him. I’ve seen it in EVERY pastor on staff at Element too.
Grant left a job in Gillette that paid more than he’ll ever see at Element. It didn’t matter. He was CALLED. Adam joined our team knowing that there was LITTLE to NO job security. If this thing didn’t work, we didn’t have jobs. But he was called. Curtis WAS and still IS called to Element as our college pastor and doesn’t earn a DIME from us! Money doesn’t matter. He is called. Andy moved to Cheyenne on this offer from me “I can’t pay you anything, but we feel that you are the guy to lead our youth ministry. Will you come?” HE CAME! Who does that? The called ones. Pastor Derek is leading our e:kidz ministry, joining our pastoral team. What does He get paid? SQUAT! I told Pastor Kody “I can’t pay you what you’re making now.” His response? “It is not about the money for me Jeff. God has called me to Cheyenne.” Why would they do this? THE CALL! It is NOT about money, EVER! It’s about the call.
I don’t know who I’m writing this for. Who knows if this will help anyone. This isn’t an excuse for churches NOT to take care of their pastors and pay well. I think churches should pay a VERY fair wage. Too many churches skimp on their pastors, and they wonder why God keeps giving them skimpy pastors. (That is a whole other conversation) If God calls it is NOT about the money.
Called,
Jeff
