Hearing God’s Call

I’ll never forget the spiritual journey that brought me to faith in Christ. My father is a retired pastor, and we were always in church. My mother was a godly prayer warrior. From my earliest age, I remember having my spiritual faith encouraged. We had devotions, went to church, and I had numerous opportunities to experience faith.

I learned to be a good little boy. For most of my childhood, I believed the facts about the gospel. I tried to do all the things I should (read the Bible, confess my sins, behave well). In spite of my efforts, my teenage years were internally disturbing. I experienced uncertainty about my salvation and could not be confident that I would have eternal life. For about 6 years, I faced mounting doubt and uncertainty. There were a number of occasions where I just wanted to die so I could find out where I would spend eternity.

On the outside, I’m sure I looked fine. On the inside, I was a spiritual mess.

During the summer of my 18th year, I was invited to go to summer camp with my cousin’s church. I distinctly remember having a conversation with God prior to camp where I said,

“God, I don’t know what is going on in my soul. I can’t get peace. But whatever you say, whatever you tell me to do, I will do.”

At camp, the internal turmoil did not ease. Rather, it grew exponentially. My heart was bursting with tension and frustration. It was at this point of tension, that God spoke loudly and clearly,

“Chris, you need to be forgiven. Your sins are the reason I died. You need to trust Me alone for your salvation.”

That night is forever imbedded in my memory. I gave up. I asked God to forgive me. God saved me that night at summer camp. In that moment, I experienced a peace, a joy, a freedom that was unexplainable. Something else became unalterably clear to me in that moment. God wanted me to preach his gospel to others. For me the call to salvation and the call to preach occurred at the same moment.

In the 20+ years since that experience, I’ve thought a lot about my conversion and call experience. Following are some insights into God’s call that I’ve developed as I interpreted my experience through the lens of Scripture.

  • Personal experiences are not universals, but they can be templates. It is important that we don’t generalize our experiences that we believe they are universal for everyone. But we should learn from personal experiences. Moses’ call in Exodus 3 might not be replicated in our lives today (God speaking through the burning bush), but when God calls, it will be to reveal himself and send us on his mission (this is the universal).
  • My need for salvation was because I had been relying on my goodness rather than God’s grace. Over the years I reflected deeply on why I was not converted at a younger age. I believed the facts of the gospel long before I experienced salvation. God helped me understand that one could believe spiritual facts while still relying on self for salvation. Trusting in Christ alone is required for salvation, and that is what I was missing.
  • God’s calling to salvation may not always be a calling to preach, but it always includes a calling to serve. Not every salvation experience includes a vocational call. But every salvation experience does include a call to follow Christ and serve his purpose. I’m afraid that in experience-driven Christianity, this may not always be communicated clearly. God’s call to salvation anticipates a call to serve his purpose and testify to him and his glory. According to Matthew 28:18-20 we all have the obligation to lead our neighbors and the nations to follow Jesus.
  • In order to hear/sense God’s call, we need to have distractions removed. That fateful summer camp for me provided a time of devoted attention to hearing from God. Moses’ burning bush experience occurred in the wilderness where he was alone. Many of David’s psalms were written during his alone time with the sheep. The principle is this: if we are going to hear from God, we need to make time to be alone and quiet with him. Cell phones, television, and other distractions must be removed so we can hear and experience God.

What about you? Have you experienced God’s call to salvation? I hope so. Nothing is more important than knowing God and being confident of eternal life. If you have that peace, then have you embraced God’s call to serve his purpose and live his mission? If not, why not make time to pause, pray, and hear from God about his calling on your life.

Does Theology Matter?

Our Wednesday Bible studies at Wilkesboro Baptist Church this year have been focused around a study of Theology. Theology is the study of God.

In the academic sense, theology can be separated into several categories:

  • Biblical theology—Investigates how each author or book of the Bible considers a particular doctrine. 
  • Historical theology—How different doctrinal ideas arose and were developed in history (over time). 
  • Systematic theology—Is a collection of Bible doctrines that flows out of an organized, logical framework relating the doctrines of Scripture to one another.
  • Practical theology—Connects doctrines to daily living. 

Our Wednesday night study has focused primarily on Systematic Theology. We are currently exploring the doctrine of revelation: God revealing himself to us through Jesus Christ and his Word, the Bible.

One issue that has been on my mind during the preparation and delivery of this series is the importance of understanding basic theology in the life of the Christian.

The reality is that nearly everyone does theology. Anytime, anyone claims to speak for God or interprets some verse of Scripture, that person is engaging in theology. For example, when a parent says to a child, “God wouldn’t want you to behave like that,” that is theology. Or when a politician quotes a verse of Scripture to caption a plank in their party platform, that politician is engaging in theology.

What is troubling is how poorly equipped many Christians are in the doctrines of their faith. I propose that each Christian needs even more understanding and engagement theologically.

“We need to have a faith seeking understanding.”

Augustine, 4th Century Church Father

We will never fully know God this side of heaven. But by studying God’s Word, we can know more about God. We will never have a perfect faith until we are glorified, but we can grow in our faith as we grow in our understanding of God.

If you’re reading this post, let me challenge you to learn more about God, what God has to say about his world, and what God has to say about you. Here are some practical things you can do to learn what God wants you to know.

  • Open the Bible and read God speaking to you.
  • Make a commitment to faithful church attendance where you can worship God and learn from his Word.
  • Read good books that build your faith. I’m encouraging our church members to read Introducing Christian Doctrine, by Millard Erickson during our study of theology.
  • Follow blogs that might increase your understanding and help you apply your faith.
  • Subscribe to podcasts and theological conversations that build your faith. We are uploading this theology series to our Wilkesboro Baptist Church podcast page as well as making the lessons available through iTunes. If you have an iPhone with a podcast app., just search for Wilkesboro Baptist Church.