Early in my ministry, I was sharing an energizing coffee shop conversation with a friend. At some point, he drew three circles on a napkin. The largest circle represented God’s ULTIMATE will, which began before the earth’s foundations and will culminate in eternity. God is sovereign and his purposes will ultimately prevail. Within this largest circle he drew another circle, representing God’s UNIVERSAL will — applying to all those he has created who also exercise their free will. God seeks and saves the lost, and desires that none perish. Of those who receive his gift of salvation, God’s greatest commandments are to love God with all that we are and our neighbor as ourselves (Mark 12:30-31). Within those two circles is the smallest, the bullseye of God’s UNIQUE call for each individual — spiritual gifts he has entrusted to us, the calling he has given specifically to every person.
The theme of this “Wesleyan Life” issue is “The Anatomy of a Call.” The word “anatomy” serves as a reminder that we’re part of the body of Christ: “For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others” (Romans 12:4-5). Our call is an individual experience but integrated with, and not isolated from, believers of all generations.
Recently, I was asked to share with some amazing Next Gen leaders, and I found myself smiling as I thought of what I’d be sharing. Next Gen focuses on children and teens, and I’m certainly passionate about that generation because it includes all my grandkids! But as part of the boomer generation, those who are Next Gen could be Gen X, Millennials, Gen Z or Gen Alpha … any age from 0 to 60. “Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations” (Psalm 145:13).
ALL of us are called to serve the ONE who has provided every gift we need, united in doing the work God has given us to do. On Pentecost, the Apostle Peter re-emphasized what the prophet Joel had stated centuries before: “‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams’” (Acts 2:17). All generations of boys and girls, women and men, will be called and empowered to be witnesses.
ALL of us are called to serve the ONE who has provided every gift we need, united in doing the work God has given us to do.
Often, God’s call is discovered or affirmed when another believer recognizes God’s giftings and work through us. ALL generations have a part to play in building up Christ’s body for works of service (Ephesians 4:1-16) in the church and in our world. This building of the body requires the engagement of all — no one is too young or too old!
Reflecting on my own experience may inform how God works in calling us into his kingdom purposes:
- It begins with a call to salvation. At age 7, I recall kneeling at an altar and being embarrassed because I was emotional and a girl farther down the rail saw me crying. It was real and transformative but obviously much maturity was yet to come.
- My parents and grandma planted the seeds with early “I see in you” (ICNU) affirmations. My grandma was so strong and supportive that my teen years involved sorting out, “Is it God or grandma calling me?” I concluded it was both.
- Dick Wynn, a mentor in my life, helped me to fully surrender to Jesus — initiating an ongoing process of the Holy Spirit working to “sanctify me [you] through and through” (1 Thessalonians 5:23). He helped me work through being wired differently than most pastors I knew. Dick encouraged me to serve God not through imitation but by being who he designed me to be.
- My local church graciously celebrated my giftings even though more development was needed! They responded to my teaching and preaching. Their humility built much needed confidence that God was working through me.
- I was influenced by professors and classmates at Marion College (now Indiana Wesleyan University). There, I heard Dr. Laurel Buckingham’s challenge issued to pray that “God will call you to a community where you could spend a lifetime.” That challenging prayer led me to Kentwood, Michigan, as part of a church planting team and kept me serving that community for three decades.
- In my 50s, I discovered that “callings may have different seasons.” God surprised me, releasing me from local church ministry and opening doors for educational and denominational leadership service.
Before long “retirement” will come, Lord willing, and ministry will look different as I seek to be fruitful in the next season. This ministry will undoubtedly involve investing time in my family’s unfolding generations.
At The Wesleyan Church’s Follow 2023, Santes Beatty and Olivia Williamson presented God’s call to make disciples as a minister, missionary or providentially placed in the marketplace — those “everyday spaces” where we work, learn or play. Hundreds of young women and men responded to the call. And those responding are now provided an opportunity to “Follow the Call” through a process of learning from others.
What if we would pray not only for God’s call upon our individual lives but for discernment in what we see for others? ICNU is not us saying, “God told me his will for your life,” but to actively seek to affirm what we see surfacing in others, whether they are 5 or 75. What gifts and graces do we see that they might not yet see in themselves? Let’s share what we sense God is doing in and through others and then add consistent prayer for them!
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