I know people that absolutely love any variety of Sour Patch candies. They love how the strong sourness turns to delicious sweetness. It is like an extreme thrill ride for taste buds. Not me! If I eat candy, I do not want anything sour. Just sweet, please. 

My candy desire matches my desire for life in ministry. I want it all to be a sweet ride with no sour patches that shock my system. However, if you are serving in some form of ministry, whether voluntary, bi-vocationally, or full-time, I bet you have noticed it can be bittersweet. We bounce between sweet patches and sour patches, ups and downs. It is like we are God’s Sour Patch Kids.

At the 2023 General Baptist Summit, there was an intense focus on the calling to serve God in ministry. I found what Pastor Terrell Somerville said in his message quite interesting. “Private pain will always be a part of our public calling. Following Jesus is our greatest gift and our greatest burden.” It sounds a little negative; however, no matter how much we don’t want it to be, it is the truth. 

Why does ministry have some bitter times? I mean if we are deep enough into the Word and in our relationship with Jesus, couldn’t we develop enough faith to dispel all the negatives? Wouldn’t that be nice? Sounds sweet!  

In Numbers 17, the twelve tribes of Israel each brought a rod, or staff, to the Tent of Meetings where Moses laid them before the altar. The Lord had told Moses that the one that grew blossoms would be the chosen tribe to serve as priests, or in today’s terms we might say, “the ministry leadership team”. The rod of Aaron representing the tribe of Levi not only blossomed but produced fully ripe almonds overnight. They were called out from among the people to handle the business of the tabernacle. This calling was of such significance that Aaron’s rod was later placed as only 1 of 3 items in the Ark of the Covenant.

With God, every circumstance that occurs has intricate details with powerful meanings and plans behind it. This made me wonder, “Why almond blossoms and not figs, dates, or olives which are also known to grow in the Middle East?” There had to be a reason. This took me on a research project to learn about almonds. 

Interestingly, the almond tree originated in the Iranian region. It’s doubtfully coincidental that this region is the Land of Ur from where Abraham originated. The covenant for the redemption of sins was made between God and Abram; then significantly God chose the almonds to announce the calling of the priests tasked with the caretaking of the only location where that forgiveness might be granted prior to Christ’s sacrifice. Later the almond seeds were carried throughout the Middle East and Northern Africa. Almonds were even found in the tomb of King Tut. It sure makes you wonder if some Israelites seeking food during a famine may have carried them there. In Genesis 43:11 almonds are described among some of the best of fruits that Jacob sent to Egypt with his boys. 

However, did you know there are two types of almonds? Bitter and sweet. We do not know if the almonds on Aaron’s rod were bitter or sweet, but I have to wonder if there were both varieties since God does explain the responsibilities of this ministry would be bittersweet in Numbers 18. Verse 1 shows us the bitter side, “Then the Lord said to Aaron: ‘You and your sons and your father’s house with you shall bear the iniquity related to the sanctuary, and you and your sons with you shall bear the iniquity associated with your priesthood,” (NKJV). Then in Verse 8 God shows the sweet side, “I give your priesthood to you as a gift for service . . .” This job of priesthood would be a burden and a gift.

Again, I ask why do we need the bitter? Maybe it is to keep us humble. Maybe it is to make sure we fully rely on God. Maybe it is because fruit doesn’t grow on the mountaintops, it grows in the valleys. Maybe it is just the result of living in a sin-cursed world waiting for the return of Jesus. Maybe it is all the above – only God really knows. 

I am confident, though, that God doesn’t want us to give up and wallow during bitter times. The truth is the bitter almonds are toxic containing cyanide. These almonds can only be used if the cyanide is extracted. For us I believe that means that God wants us to let go of the bitter attitudes we may harbor when the sour patches of ministry come. If we don’t, it will be lethal to our ministries.

Paul told us we have the power to overcome the negative thoughts and feelings of our minds. “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy – meditate on these things,” (Philippians 4:8). To get through the down times, we must praise God that we have been given the gift of ministry. We get the privilege to share the greatest story ever told – the redemption plan of Jesus Christ, and we are called to do so.

Pastor Terrell summed up the afore mentioned message with these words, “ . . . your true calling will keep you going! We don’t finish the race through comfort. We finish the race through conviction of our calling.” May we all focus on that divine calling as we continue to minister through the sweet and the sour patches! 

About the Author: Lisa Vaught has served alongside her husband Chris in ministry for over 30 years. After 23 years of ministering through teaching in public schools, she now serves as ministry strategist at Connection Point Church in Jackson, Missouri, and enjoys presenting the Word through speaking and writing. 

This message was given at the 2023 General Baptist Summit by Dr. Danny Dunivan.

The population of Hell will be greater because Christians don’t respond to God’s call to ministry.

Imagine a young woman in your community, let’s call her Emily. Most people would say that Emily is a good person, but she doesn’t know Jesus. She went to community college after high school and met Ben. After dating for a year, Emily became pregnant and dropped out of school to stay home and raise baby Harper. Emily and Ben didn’t feel the need to get married right away, but eventually, they decided that the time was right.  They reach out to the church just down the road from their house to see if the pastor might do the wedding ceremony. They have a vague sense that having a pastor involved in their wedding would be a good thing, but they have never been to the church. Pastor Tim agrees to marry them at a ceremony in the couple’s home with a few of their family and friends in attendance. Pastor Tim takes the opportunity during the counseling sessions to share the gospel with Ben and Emily. 

A year later, Emily’s mother passes away. She doesn’t know what to do about the funeral, and so she reached out again to Pastor Tim. Pastor Tim does the service. At the dinner following, he invites Emily to reach out to him if she needs to talk, and he invites her to come to an event at the church the following weekend after morning worship. The more Emily thinks about it, the more she feels like she might be interested in visiting the church. She tries to talk Ben into going, but he doesn’t really see the need. But when Sunday morning comes, Emily gets herself and Harper ready, and they go to the church.

To her surprise, Emily loves church that morning. The people were so welcoming. They offer a children’s program for Harper’s age, and she even sees one of her neighbors at the church. Over the next few months, Emily attends church several more times. She even goes to one of the sessions after service that explains the church and how to get connected. At that session, she hears the gospel message again, and this time she accepts Christ. 

Four weeks later, Emily is baptized, and Ben comes to church that Sunday, too. Eventually, Ben, too, makes a confession of faith. Emily’s whole family is changed because Pastor Tim was willing to say yes when a young couple reached out to him about doing a wedding. 

Now, I want you to imagine the alternative. What if that church had no Pastor Tim? In fact, the church goes without a pastor for a long period of time, and eventually the members decide it is too much, so they close the church. Ben and Emily and Harper never meet Jesus because they never encounter the gospel through Pastor Tim. The population of Hell will be greater because Christians don’t respond to God’s call to ministry.

The story of Emily could have been the story from countless other individuals in wildly different circumstances, and all of them needing Jesus. A healthy local church led by a healthy leader makes all the difference in the world for them. You know those people in your community. Maybe when you reflect on it for a minute. One of those people is very close to you, or maybe you were yourself one of those people at some point. Without someone who said yes to Jesus’ call on their life, you would be lost and without hope. I made up my story of Emily and Pastor Tim, but the story of lots of real Emilys and Bens and Harpers could be told in your church. 

Local churches all over the US are going without pastors because there is a shortage. Fewer and fewer individuals are accepting a call to ministry. Fewer leaders are being developed to become pastors. Fewer young people are giving ministry a second thought in their career plans. Fewer individuals in their middle age are saying yes to taking on a leadership role that can give them a chance to consider ministry.

While this isn’t unique to General Baptists, our specific situation is troubling. About 15% of our churches are currently without a pastor. Some of those have been looking for a pastor for a significant amount of time. I even know some churches that had money in the bank and a decent number of people in the church, but they closed in the last few years because they could not find a pastor and they were tired of looking for one. What’s more, the number of individuals in some kind of ministry preparation program has fallen off significantly, as ministry programs at schools like OCU have had to be trimmed due to enrollment decline, and even alternative programs based in local contexts have shuttered during Covid. Fewer students want to pursue ministry because they are told that education (and life itself for that matter) is about making money. If that is something you say or imply with your children or grandchildren, you need to reevaluate things and repent. While I could also give you a few bright spots, the overall picture looking down the road is grim. 

The average age of pastors is increasing at an alarming rate. A study by Lifeway published in 2021 says that the average age of a pastor in the United States has climbed to 57 years old. That is up from 50 in 2000. That statistic is increasing at an even faster rate than the average age of the American population or the average age of the average American churchgoer. If we do the math, it is easy to see that a cliff is coming.

We are in the midst of a crisis of leadership development, and nothing less than the strength of the witness of the church is at stake. Nothing less than the eternity of countless people are on the line! The population of Hell will be greater because Christians don’t respond to God’s call to ministry. 

The scriptures are very clear–the Church needs leaders for it to function correctly. My favorite text that makes this point is Ephesians 4. Paul has been talking about the ideas of unity and grace from the start of the book, and now in chapter 4, he begins to bring those ideas to a point of application. In verses 4-6, Paul says, “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; 5one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” Again, he is talking about our unity in the body, our unity in the Holy Spirit, our unity in our hope, our unity because we serve the same Lord, have a common faith, have all been baptized into one church, and serve the one who holds all things together. WE ARE ONE.

Notice also Paul’s use of the term “called.” He has used this term earlier, too. Often, we think about calling, and we immediately go to a calling to do a specific ministry job. The panel this morning talked about that a little bit. But, calling is most often used to describe that general call to be a Christian. I mean, Paul plays with the two aspects of calling in some of his writing. Most notably in the first chapter of 1 Corinthians where he says he is called to be an apostle, and then immediately talks about the Corithian church as being “called saints.” Same word.

Here in Ephesians 4, he uses the term called to talk about the call to salvation. That call is itself the thing that makes all the other aspects of unity effective in our lives. Without the call to hope, we are not one because we do not have one Lord or one faith or one baptism! We can’t be one body.

But just as soon as Paul points out our commonality, our unity in the body of Christ. He turns the conversation in v. 7: “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.” That word grace is also the word gift. Spiritual gifts are literally spiritual graces. So though we are all one, we have different apportionments of grace. And as a result, he says in v. 11: “So Christ himself (notice that it is Jesus himself that gives us these graced gifts to function in these ways–it isn’t from a strategic plan or from our will or from us trying harder–these are from Jesus) So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers.” He gave all of these different offices all of these different functions in the church (and I don’t really have time to talk about all of these offices tonight, but the point is that this represented the way that the church in Paul’s day functioned–and I think that though we may not use the same terminology for these functions today, we still have these basic roles). But Paul’s point here isn’t to tell us which roles are important, instead he says that these roles are given for a purpose.

That purpose is mapped out in v. 12 (“to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up” NIV). I don’t want to get into a lecture on Greek grammar, but v. 12 has some complicated grammar that seems to have a long history of misinterpretation in the church. It has to do with where you put the comma(s) and how the three different prepositions in the verse are related to each other. Let me cut to the chase. Sometimes v. 12 has been read that Christ gave these gifted people to do three different things: 1) equip the saints, 2) do the work of ministry, and 3) build up the body of Christ. In other words, all of this points to the importance of leaders in the church doing all the work in the church. However, that reading is not the best understanding of the grammar, and doesn’t adequately address the actual way Paul seems to be directing his argument. Instead, this is how the verse should be read: Jesus gives us gifted people in order for them to equip the saints for the work of ministry, and as a result of that the Body of Christ is built up.

Let me make that plain for your church–pastors are not called to do the ministry of the church–instead, pastors are called to equip the rest of the church to do ministry! If the pastor is doing all the ministry, then the church is not able to be the body of Christ that Jesus intended. Maybe we should stop saying that pastors are ministers, because that is true only insofar as all Christians are ministers. Martin Luther (the Protestant reformer from the 16th century) famously said that “all Christians are ordained to the ministry at their baptism.”

Pastor, if you are doing all the ministry in your church, you are not loving them, you are stunting the church’s ability to be what Jesus wants it to be. The whole point of God calling you was for you to teach others how to do ministry, not for you to do ministry on your own! 

This is an important truth that we need to hear, but Paul’s ultimate goal here is to point out the grace of God given to some people in order for them to do a very specific job that if we don’t have it, then the church can’t be what it should be. It isn’t that leaders are unimportant because we have a whole church of ministers. Instead, it is that leaders are uniquely gifted to do specific things that allow the rest of the church to become a reflection of Jesus. 

He gives us gifted leaders to equip the saints (v. 13) “until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” In other words, we have these gifted people so that the world can see a full picture of Jesus! 

Jesus is the only hope of the world, but if the world is going to see Jesus, then the church needs to get its act together! We need to have leaders to step up and do what God has called them to do. Because, if they don’t, then there will be people who will not see Jesus, they will never encounter the gospel, they will never be saved, and as a result, the population of Hell will be greater! 

Developing leaders that are focused on the kingdom purpose of the church can no longer be optional. We need to stop dumbing down what we expect of folks, and start lifting them up to fulfill their callings. Stop expecting that no one will respond to the call of God, and begin believing that God still calls!

There was a recent book that described this dumbing down, this lowering of expectations. The author rewrote the great commission the way the church today is now trying to fulfill it. It says that the functional Great Commission in North American churches has become “Go into all the world and make more worship attenders, baptizing them in the name of small groups and teaching them to volunteer a few hours a month.” Instead, our calling is no different than before–making disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that Jesus commanded! 

That is a big task that requires major commitment, and it requires that leaders step out and fulfill their callings! If the church is going to be the kind of church that fulfills the great commission, then it needs to be a church with strong, healthy leaders! In order to bring the fullness of Christ’s body into the world, we need leaders who are willing to step up and say yes! 

You may be saying, I agree with the problem, and I agree that we need leaders, but what can I do about this crisis of leadership? What can I do if someone won’t listen to God’s call on their life and respond?

I think that there is a lot that we can do to change this trajectory. And tonight we are going to focus on two of them. 

First, I believe that the church should begin to refocus on calling in the way we talk about being a Christian. A couple of times this weekend, we have heard that it used to be an expectation that people would consider ministry when they became serious about their faith. Not everyone is called to certain roles, but we have stopped making it a prominent feature of what we expect out of the Christian life. We need to preach about calling. We need to talk about it when we talk about next steps. We need to stop being satisfied with getting enough nursery workers or people on the parking team. We need to say, God may be calling you to become a pastor. God may be calling you to be a missionary. God may be calling you to be a worship leader. God may be calling you to lead! 

I want to lay down a challenge for you tonight. I am challenging every church to commit to having at least one Sunday in the next year that you focus on Calling to ministry. We are calling those Answering the Call Sundays! And I want your commitment to be tangible. I want you to sign up and let us know that you are committing to do this in the next 12 months. To let us know that, go to this link and fill out the form.

We want to know what Sunday you will be focusing on calling at your church, because we want to pray for you! In fact, we will be publishing in our weekly newsletter which churches are focusing on calling that Sunday. 

But the second thing that we want you to do is actually the most foundational and most important request that I am going to make tonight. You see, the most important thing you can do to change the trajectory of our leadership crisis is to pray.

I believe that it all hinges on prayer! In Matthew 9, Jesus saw the crowds and he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd (is there any better description of most of the people that you encounter? Is there a better description of a church without a pastoral leader?). Jesus saw the need for leaders, and his words to his disciples were that “The harvest is plentiful (we might even paraphrase that as “the work looks overwhelming”) but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” 

If you want to see people respond to the call to ministry, and as a result, change the eternal destiny of your family, your friends, your neighbors, then you need to pray for God to call people to become leaders!

If you would be willing to sign up to be part of a global prayer group that is committed to praying for God to send leaders, you can fill out a form at this link.

Praying does something for us. God does something in us! I want to invite you to pray. Pray for leaders. Pray that God would call a pastor to go to a small town. Pray that God would call a missionary to go to a place that has never heard the name Jesus. Pray that God would call someone would be able to lead the largest church our denomination has ever known. Pray that God would call someone to be an executive pastor in a church that allows the ministries and leadership in that church to just sing! Pray that God would call people to pastor our kids and our students! Pray that God would call people to ministry!

About the Author: Dr. Danny Dunivan is the President of General Baptist Ministries.  He answered his call to ministry at 14 years of age, and has been involved in multiple areas of ministry during his lifetime. In his spare time he enjoys camping, hiking, and reading a good book. He currently is back in his hometown of Puxico, Missouri where he shares a home with his wife, Tara, and his two daughters, Avaree and Ella.

The past few weeks have been an absolute roller coaster for our church. Not only did we have a STELLAR VBS, our youth group left for its annual mission trip the very next week. As the person responsible for our online presence, this was both a blessing and a challenge.

One of the hardest things about managing any online presence, whether that be for church, your business, or yourself, is the need for consistency. The internet is the most accessible front door for your church, but it is also the most accessible exit. In today’s digital climate, it’s much easier to be forgotten than it is to be seen. So being busy is the best way to stay on everyone’s mind (or at least in their algorithmically dictated social media feeds).

The biggest businesses know this. The most successful marketers know this. The most followed influencers know this. Your preteen (that is constantly practicing dance moves that you don’t know to songs that barely sound like music to you) knows this. 

Unfortunately, this pressure to always be busy, or at least to appear it, is leading to a decline in mental and spiritual health. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has even provided an advisory regarding social media and youth mental health. 

Now, you may read this and think “great, another person telling me to get off of my phone,” or “here’s another person telling me why TikTok is evil.” That is not my goal. 

Many of us view social media as the mission field. I mean, there probably isn’t a better tool to “make disciples of all nations…” and “[teach] them to observe all that [Jesus] commanded…”(Matthew 23:19-20, ESV) than a platform that reaches most nations. By that reasoning, we often openly encourage an online presence for our churches.

This doesn’t mean that the church is immune to similar pressures that cause immense insecurity in our youth. It’s easy for us to get caught up in the number of likes, views, and followers, not just for ourselves, but also for the pages we run. If you manage your church’s online presence or at least keep an eye on it, chances are, you’ve compared it to other churches. This may have led to questions like “why aren’t we getting more views or engagement,” or “why doesn’t this look as good as the church down the street?” Maybe, you’ve had more prideful questions, such as “our content looks better than theirs, so why aren’t we getting more attention?”

In this busy time, I had more content than I could even handle. Our engagement numbers were through the roof. I felt validated in my work. I also knew that in a week’s time, I would see that ugly red number of “engagement down x%” and that all too familiar insecurity would creep back in.

The theme of our mission trip was “In His Image,” and we explored the image of God (Genesis 1:27), what it means to be made in the image of God (Deuteronomy 7:6-8), how our world distorts this beautiful image (Genesis 3:6-7; Romans 3:23), and how Christ renews our image (2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 3:13-14). I couldn’t imagine a more timely message for our youth. In a world that is trying to convince us that superficial characteristics should be our entire identity, how blessed are we by the assurance of God’s word?

Surely, social media has done much to contribute to the “distortion” of God’s image in our society. As the church, through God’s word, by power of the Holy Spirit, we are called to bring clarity to that distortion.

As imitators of God, as beloved children (Ephesians 5:1), we have a responsibility to use our time wisely (Ephesians 5:15-17), to worship and give thanks to God the Father in the name of Jesus Christ (Ephesians 5:19-20). If you choose social media as a mission field for your personal ministry or your church, this should all be reflected in your online presence. 

As a leader in your church, you are called to equip your congregation by preaching the word (2 Timothy 4:2), as it is “breathed out by God, and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness”(2 Timothy 3:16-17). This should also be reflected in our online presence.

While this is a high standard, it is also something you have (hopefully) already surrendered to. Making yourself a living sacrifice also means submitting authority of your Instagram. Anything extra that social media experts tell you, is just that: extra, aka non-essential. 

Imagine a young female student came up to you, and asked what she had to do to gain more attention on Instagram. You wouldn’t give her a list of social media tips-and-tricks. My hope is that you would encourage her, and tell her that her value as a child of God made in the image of God is sufficient. 

Now, picture the church, even your church specifically, as a bride. If you truly see her for her beauty, would you want to exploit that? Do you want to add filters to her image? Do you want to sell her as something that she’s not?

My hope is that you see the church, not just as any bride, but the Bride that Jesus died for (Ephesians 5:23), and the Bride that will make herself ready for her Bridegroom (Revelations 19:7-9). We dare not cheapen or sully her image.

I’ve spent years helping churches “market” themselves. I have a Marry Poppins bag’s worth of practical how-to’s that I could provide you. They’re not much different from what you can find with a quick google search. If this was my only chance to tell you anything about the church and social media, I’d hope that you’d be free from any world-birthed pressure, and in all avenues of life, find joy in God’s glory in Christ’s name.

About the Author: Nico Cuevas is currently serving as the Online Campus Minister at Fellowship Church. When he’s not serving his congregation you can find him brewing coffee or sharing international snacks with everyone in Poplar Bluff, Missouri.