Featured Preachers Quitting

God tells them to do something else.

 

I don't know....you tell me....you are the experienced pro on the go.

 

Me too. I guess "thinking" is not "knowing"... live & learn:thumbsup:

 

“For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.”
(Romans 11:29)

 

I don't read anywhere that one is "called to preach." We are all called to serve, and if one "desires" to serve as a bishop, then he desires a good work, but the idea that one fills an office for life or he is somehow derelict in his duties is one of which I'm not convinced.

 

Good point. If a minister is the pastor of a church, then he is a pastor or minister. If he does not hold that position (or similar position), then he is a Christian just like any other Christian. I have seen so many retired ministers refrain from fellowship with laymen (which they need) because they still think they are different from other laymen. It appears that their ego can't accept reality.

 

Ephesians 4:11-12
V.11 And he gave some, apostles;
and some, prophets; and some, evangelists;
and some, pastors and teachers;
V.12 For the perfecting of the saints,
for the work of the ministry,
for the edifying of the body of Christ:

We are called to specific jobs in the Church.

I was called to preach and then a few days later the Lord spoke to my heart and told me that He had given me the Grace to be a pastor.(That was 27 years ago.)
------------------------
With that said, I also am not SURE, that the Lord telling me that He “had given me the Grace to be a pastor”, means that I am limited to only being a pastor of a Church. For sure, I “preach”(using his call to preach), in many different venues.

 

That's Paul, who according to Romans 1:1 was called, not as a preacher, but as an apostle. Elsewhere, Paul calls preaching/teaching a gift, not a calling.

Ephesians 4, NASB
11 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers,
12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;
13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.​

That's about gifting, not about calling. We are called as saints, but there is no verse saying anyone is "called" as a pastor. Clearly the verses I quoted here show that callings are for the equipping of the saints "for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ".

 

Act 20:28 Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.


I would also add that gifting also mean calling. It is understood that you are called to the very thing God has gifted you to do.

 

A “Gift” and a “Calling” are the same thing.....
“For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.”
(Romans 11:29)
--------------------------------------------------
In Christianity, if God has “Gifted” you with something, He has “Called” you to use it!

 

So if we have retired from a "job in the church", we should no longer consider ourselves in that job. This should apply to all types of jobs in the church. Is a retired bible study class teacher still a bible study class teacher even if he no longer teaches a class?

 

From a pastor's point of view, I both agree and disagree with your post here, but I don't want to derail this thread. Let me know by PM if you're interested, but there are certain realities in play that cause the situation to look like this to the observer at times when it isn't really that way.

 

They might feel they can accomplish what God called them to apart from a location or a particular kind of ministry.

The call hasn't changed, just where and how they minister. They might give up the pastorate o help in a denominational ministry that isn't involved so much in preaching, but in administrating.

A missionary goes from serving on a particular field to overseeing a larger area and ministering to other missionaries.

I am not sure if that is answering your question, but at least I'm not debating the gifts and callings. :tongue3:

 

Sure, Paul and the other Apostles' examples of starting a work in a city and going to another as moved by the Holy Spirit.

Outside of those, I'd also point out that nowhere in Scripture is the calling to a specific church expected to be a lifetime appointment. God's calling to be a pastor might be a lifetime calling for some people, but it isn't limited to one pastorate in one church for one lifetime. If that were the case, millions of faithful pastors would be outside the will of God over the past several centuries as they've moved churches.

In my own life, I have served a number of churches and felt that I had good permission to leave and take up a new pastorate of another church.

 

I agree about the frequency and power of the attacks. Sometimes good men do quit. Some quit forever but some get away for a while. And return back with new vigor.

I know this has always been a problem. There were some who left Paul because they loved this present world. And others went to different fields.

I have known some and they were really called. They just got worn down. But more often they watched what price the ministry had on their wife and children.

Disobedient? Maybe, but I have my Monday morngins just like any preacher. Spurgeon called them "The Minister's Fainting Fits". According to legend or maybe it was true, Luther got them so bad, his wife dressed in mourning clothes. When he asked why, she said that God was dead or at least he was acting like that.

I am not the Acme Judgement Company, so I can't say what will happen to a preacher who stops preaching. But neither can I judge that it wasn't in the plan of God for him to only preach for a period of time.