The young boy was dearly beloved, his father gave him a coat of many colors, and he wore it with pride. He dreamed of his father and brothers bowing to him. His brothers hated him, his father loved him very much. Position? Beloved Son. Calling? To be the Joseph the Lord had made.
The young man was jumped on by his brothers, and thrown into a pit. His coat was torn from him and dipped in blood. He thought they might kill him, instead they sold him as a slave, bound for Egypt. Position? Slave, even to his own brothers. Calling? To be the Joseph the Lord had made.
The young man was sold to an Egyptian VIP, he won his favor and managed the affairs of his entire household. Position? House Manager. Calling? To be the Joseph the Lord had made.
The young man was falsely accused and imprisoned, he eventually won the jailer's favor though and helped care for the other inmates. While here, he interpreted dreams for former servants of Pharaoh who had been imprisoned. God had shown him the meanings, and he told them what he saw. Position? Prisoner, later, a prisoner with privileges. Calling? To be the Joseph the Lord had made.
The young man was released from jail. Pharaoh, or, king of Egypt had asked him to interpret some dreams, God had showed Joseph the interpretations for some dreams that some prisoners who used to serve Pharaoh had had. The dreams came true, and now king wanted to know what his dreams meant. Joseph told him, it was serious business, 7 years of prosperity, then 7 years of famine. They discussed it, and Pharaoh appointed him as second in command in Egypt. Position? Prime Minister of Egypt. Calling? To be the Joseph the Lord had made.
In the Church today we have positions, and we name these positions, perhaps we name these positions things like, Elder, Bishop, Apostle, Deacon, Pastor, etc. There is nothing wrong with the church having positions and appointing a brother of the group to this position through a prayerful, careful process. Click here to see what those terms meant in scripture. However, a position and a calling, are not the same thing, and to often they get confused. If I may illustrate...
Makowski is a kind gentle soul, he runs a small business. His customers love him because he loves them, he meets their needs, is very patient, and strives with everything he has to keep his clientele satisfied with his product. Mewax is a good friend of his and drops by often to just discuss life, he is younger, both spiritually and physically, and so he looks up to Makowski and enjoys being mentored by him. Makowski's family adores their father and husband, for, unless something unforeseen arises, he shows up at the house by 6pm every night, all the worries and problems of the office are left there, and he gets on the floor and plays with the children, he actively helps tie down loose ends around the house and pursues his wife's heart. Their marriage is a shining beacon, displaying the beauty of God's way, that original pre-fall, Adam and Eve way, in a broken world of skyrocketing divorce rates, live-in relationships, and who knows what all. Makowski is also dearly loved in the church, he speaks well when called on, and he serves, oh, how he serves, with joy, to the Lord, whether it is a high profile bible school teaching or, a low profile, cleaning the church bathrooms at 8pm on a Saturday night thing, he serves with joy, for the Lord. If he has any noticeable weaknesses it is that he is to kind, to bending, he doesn't find it easy to say no in business, to his children, or to his friends, particularly, his friend Mewax. Then tragedy happens. Someone dies.....
Makowski is noticed by the church as someone who manifests all the qualities of a great pastor, and so he is ordained/elected/appointed pick your word, but he is made the leader of the church. The brothers and sisters lay hands on him and pray for him, he bows his head in reverence and weeps. Makowski throws himself wholly into this high calling, and gives it all he has, he serves well but, the church loses it's reach, he gives 110% but, the business starts to fray around the edges. He tries his very best, but his family begins to crack. In spite of all his efforts, his relationship with Mewax changes, and yet Mewax is not jealous, he loved the whole idea of ordaining Makowski. It's just that Mewax doesn't trust him somehow, Mewax acts like somehow, Makowski is now "to good" for him. Makowski is healthy, physically, but, a spark is gone, their is a cloud hanging over him. Everywhere he goes, people around him look at him with distrust, and suspicion, and they pick their words carefully around him. He speaks very well, but others no longer do, he begs for volunteers, to help with the church teachings, but no one comes forward, in fact, many of the men with great teaching gifts in the past, check out. He speaks on the lack of shepherding in the church, and many of the great, kind caring men talk amongst themselves of all the shepherding that is not being done by Makowski. Makowski sees a lack of hard prophetic truth, he speaks into it with fear, and trembling, but the clear eyed men with black and white vision speak with grave concern about Makowski's cautious, fearful manner and the way he sees various shades of gray when trying to present hard black and white truth. So it goes with trying to reach out, the would be apostolic types are concerned with his lack of future vision for church planting, those passionate for the lost share their concerns with each other about Makowski's constant tendency to almost exclusively focus on the hurting sheep in the church. Finally, with his business near ruins, his family held together by a thread, Makowski cracks and resigns; the church is left wondering. What happened to the old Makowski?! Where did he go? His body is here but, there is a different person in it, someone depressed, withdrawn, and hiding. Truth be told? Makowski died....the church killed him.
That was bleak, I'm sorry if it was to bleak but, it was partly Makowski's fault. Why? Because, pay close attention, the church put him in a position, but the whole church including Makowski, saw it as a high calling. ("...Makowski throws himself wholly into this high calling...") What was Makowski's actual calling? To be the Makowski the Lord created him to be, and that included the gifts of mercy, kindness, love, etc. that make up the true nature of a biblical pastor, so in that way, from the beginning of time, part of who Makowski was, who he was truly called to be by the Lord, was to be a pastor to all those God put in his care, positions in life? businessman, husband, father, friend, and, church leader. He always was a pastor as part of his calling whether the church saw it or not, but, then he and the church decided that his calling was now to be, THE LEADER. What did this mean? The others sat back and watched him do it all. His other positions in life were neglected. Makowski stopped being Makowski, and started trying to be THE LEADER. He couldn't. Should Makowski have been put in this position of church leader, at least in the pastoral sense, since he so clearly manifested leadership qualities and cared so well? Absolutely! Should he and the church see this position as a different calling from the calling God had given him when he accepted Christ? GOD FORBID!! No, it should have only been an additional position to the ones he had, the Makowski of business, of family, should have been the same as the Makowski of the church. I am trying to shine a light on something, if you are a leader, please seek God and just be you. Ask your congregation to let you be you if you need to. If you are not a leader, take courage and keep living in your calling, allow your leaders to be human. Volunteer to assist them, be with them, and keep being you, don't check out. Their calling to be them, will never ever take away from your calling to be you. (Even if they act like it does.) Was Makowski flawed in his inability to speak bold truth? Yes, of course, but, that was all the more reason he needed allies and support from his brothers who were strong where he was weak.
P. S. I'm not talking about your situation. Your pastor or former pastor is not called Makowski. ;) If you feel targeted, pray about it, and feel free to talk to me.
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