Heeding the call

I often hear ministers refer to their profession as a “calling” from God. I believe that most of the people who spend their lives as preachers or missionaries believe they were led to do what they do by a higher power.

That makes sense to me. Becoming a man or woman of God without feeling that the man upstairs has called you to do so would be like showing up for work at a place that hasn’t expressed any interest in hiring you. It probably wouldn’t turn out well.

But I wonder if God calls people to do other kinds of work too. Has anyone ever felt called to be a plumber, or a nurse, or a professional bowler? I wouldn’t be surprised if some people do feel that they are doing the job God wants them to do, especially if they are the type who pray a lot and constantly ask the Lord for guidance as they make their way through life.

Apparently some of the people who are currently running for President fall into that category. No less than four of the candidates running for the Republican nomination (Rick Perry, Michelle Bachmann, Rick Santorum, and Herman Cain) have stated that they were led in some way by God to run in 2012.

Cain, the current front-runner, has even said that he “felt like Moses” when the Lord tapped him on the shoulder and told him he needed to be our next President. “Moses resisted,” says Cain, “I resisted…but you shouldn’t question God.”

I agree with him, it isn’t wise to question an all-powerful being. But as voters, I think it’s fair that we all question the plausibility of that all-powerful being inspiring multiple people to enter a contest where there can be only one winner.

At first blush, it seems logical that if God were to get involved in political campaigns (a questionable proposition to start with) He would settle on one candidate instead of sending the voters mixed messages by backing four of them. You might argue that He was respecting our free will by leaving us with some choices, but if that was the case you have to wonder why He would get involved at all.

I think the truth of it is that all of these candidates are sincere in their faith and they believe that what they are doing is part of God’s plan for them. I also think they would be wise to be more careful about how they express that fact. One projects a certain lack of humility when one compares his campaign for President to Moses’ calling to lead the children of Israel to the Promised Land.

I also think it is worth noting that God more often than not seems to call these wealthy, powerful people to follow a path that will allow them to attain even more earthly power. I’d be a lot more likely to believe them if one of these candidates announced that they were withdrawing from the race to spend the rest of their lives ministering to their fellow man and spreading the Good News.

I am reminded of the Bible story where a wealthy and powerful man asked Jesus what he needed to do to have eternal life. Jesus told the man to keep God’s commandments, and the man said he has done so all his life. Then Jesus added this:

“One thing you lack…go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” (Mark 10:21) The man hung his head and walked away, because he could not let go of the things of this world.
That, to me, is a good example of a calling from God. It is also a good example of how we are less likely to heed these callings when they tell us things that we don’t want to hear.