Everything seemed to line up. God's will and man's desire to obey.
Then I warned him. I said, "You've just told me that you desire to be in full-time ministry. Your life is about to get real hard. The forces of darkness do not want you to make that decision and will try to stop you any way they can."
He agreed and said he'd stay on guard against such attacks.
Needless to say I watched over the next year as this young man's life was interrupted by difficulty and he eventually decided to not go. It was a sad day. Thankfully, I'm encouraged to hear that he is back on track and following the call God has placed in his life.
Ministry is hard work. People frequently tell me that I must keep God first, family second, and my job (ministry) third. This catch-phrase sounds Biblical and even looks great on this blog right now; eliciting warm feelings of being an "ideal Christian family man" and "keeping my priorities in line".
Unfortunately this tiered list of do's quickly falls apart with the question: Why does my love for God and the calling he's placed on my life get split into two different categories? Aren't they one and the same?
"No Jonathan, what you don't understand is that keeping God first means doing your devotions in the morning and going to church on Sunday. It also means you should keep your wife above your job."
Although that response reeks of American Christianity, it begs another question. What if my "job" causes me to lose my life?
Let's take Chinese pastors for example. Could you ever imagine telling them to stop putting God's calling above their family life? It sounds ridiculous, but that's how watered down our mission has become in American church culture today.
The calling that Chinese pastors have is the same one we have in America.
Most of the Apostles are believed to have been married with children. We definitely know Peter was married because the Bible speaks of his mother-in-law. We assume the other Apostles were, because a requirement to be an overseer was to be the husband of one wife (1 Timothy 3:2). And yet, most of these men threw themselves into full time ministry; traveling the world preaching the Good News, probably with their wives and children by their side. Except for John, they were all executed in gruesome ways; some even watched as their wives and children were raped and murdered before the executioners turned their sword to the Apostle. All because of their "job"?
My point is this. Jesus did not call us into a life of comfort. He did not say "When things get rough in your family, or you feel the strain of ministry (aka job for pastors), or your health is failing, that's when you need to back off and get your priorities straight."
Actually He had some harsh words about the strain of ministry:
"If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple ... So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple." (Luke 14:26-27, 33)
How should Christ followers interpret this passage? How do you interpret this passage?
American culture and God's calling are diametrically opposed to each other. I would go so far as to say that American culture is an enemy of God. If we are unwilling to forsake all, continuing to speak these fake-Christian talking points to each other, we will constantly be defeated in our mission.
Since I have a beautiful wife that I love deeply, I have one final thought. I will continue to pour as much love as possible into her life while maintaining the calling God has placed in mine. I'm not giving permission to ignore my wife so I can sit at my office and do work. I'm talking in more broad terms about enduring hardships in ministry as a couple. And yes, sometimes the trials and struggles we endure will not synch with the ideal American dream.
But they don't have to.
