You couldn’t miss him. He would sit toward the front of the church in the seat next to the middle aisle. When I preached, he leaned forward and stared intently at me as if he were starving for the words I had prepared. Anyone could see that. He had finished a year of acting after graduation from college and was living with his parents while he decided on the next step in life. What was he thinking as he sat there? I just had to know. So I asked him when we could meet. Any time. He was available and excited to spend time with me. That’s not always the case.
It turned out that his posture in church was telling the truth. He was a Christian searching for grace, for the will of God, for a higher purpose to follow. I thought to myself, “A candidate for the high calling of ministry.” So what next? We had to spend time together. It is just that simple. Whoever gives the time gets the heart. It’s not always easy to find the time to do the important work of recruiting for Christian leadership, not when the flock you serve numbers several hundred with all the tyrannical urgencies – hospitalizations, marriage problems, substance abuse, funerals, and weddings. Add to that the sermons, Bible studies, and administration and it often doesn’t seem like there is energy left for the important task of discipling a passionate young man.
But there he was, staring at me each Sunday searching for truth and a way to serve his Lord. I had to do it. It would be poor stewardship of God’s gifts if I neglected this important task. I was the pastor and it was my role to encourage. So we found time – an extra half hour after a Bible study here, a day-long road trip to the country there. We found the time and we talked and listened and laughed and cried. His soul opened. He was settled in grace. His resolve to serve Jesus strengthened.
Actors are trained to memorize lots of lines. I thought, “What a gift for a Christian! What a gift for a pastor!” So I challenged him to memorize God’s word – lots of it. First it was the Sermon on the Mount. Then it was the epistle of James. By the end of those two projects he was plenty crushed by the law. So he memorized Galatians. As it always does, Scripture filled his mind with questions and answers and a yearning to know more. His memory work became the basis for discussions from which we both drank deeply. He took on teaching assignments and choir directing. He deeply enjoyed putting his gifts into practice. He was experiencing the joy of faith in action.
Then the acting guilds started calling. He was a good actor. He was young and available. It tempted him to seek the stage. But there was another audience waiting – a congregation, a flock, people who are harassed like sheep without a shepherd. Who would speak for them? I had to speak for them. I had to spend the time. So we talked and talked and weighed the value of each vocation and I encouraged him. It was his choice. It needed to be a free choice. But he had to have all the evidence. I shared how I had made the same choice 15 years earlier. We spent the time and we had each other’s hearts. What happened? He declined every offer to go on stage and he embarked on six more years of study for ministry. He’s a shepherd now – another voice for Christ, another leader, another disciple maker. Others are staring at him intensely and lapping up his words, words from the text of God’s living truth.
I told you about one. There are others. Who do you know in your congregation that needs your time to be recruited for ministry? Who is it that needs you to settle them in grace and give them the assurance of the approval of their pastor? Who is it that needs you to be the voice of the flock that is starving for a dedicated minister? So few have ever given it a thought. Encouraging men toward ministry is one of those important tasks we simply cannot neglect. Whoever gives the time gets the heart!
Donald W. Patterson is a 1992 seminary graduate and serves Holy Word in Austin, Texas. John Stelljes is a 2006 seminary graduate and serves King of Kings in Maitland, Florida.
Tuesday, May 20, 7:00 PM
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