Pastor, what does God really want you to do?

From my earliest childhood, I remember always thinking that God was especially pleased when young men and women “surrendered to full-time Christian service.” Since I was raised in a right-wing conservative evangelical culture, for me that meant becoming a pastor or a missionary; and no matter how much one might be well-suited to be a scientist or a doctor or a carpenter, a truly committed Christian would sacrifice those desires and ambitions on the altar of God’s service.

Those recruiting posters designed to attract America’s young men into military service could just as easily been an advertisement for God’s own unique brand of service. While I ultimately chose a bivocational approach to ministry—working a full-time secular job while preaching on the weekends—other “real” pastors went to Bible college, then seminary, and eagerly jumped into “serving the Lord” as a vocational calling. And in those cases where a young man felt “called to ministry” after he had already invested his life and training to be a doctor or a successful entrepreneur or a Wall Street investment banker, the rest of us would look with awe and wonder at their extreme sacrifice. They would be held forth as examples to the rest of us, as if to say, “Why aren’t you committed enough to serve the Lord as a minister or a missionary?”

What does God really want from us? He’s our father, right? We’re supposed to be resting in and enjoying His love and grace from day to day? And He loves us with an unconditional, unbreakable, eternal love from which nothing can separate us, right? So then why do we labor under the illusion that He would be more pleased—or even more glorified—with the children who decide to pursue a full-time career in “the ministry”?

Darin Hufford may be right in his diagnosis that many of us believe that God is self-seeking: that the only reason God has taken pains to redeem the human race is because he wants an army of slaves to do His bidding. In his book, The God’s Honest Truth, Hufford states:

This is the reason why so many people go into the ministry. They sincerely believe that their life means nothing unless they are somehow serving Christ. We even define the Christian walk as, “Serving God.” We do this because we think that this is ultimately what God is in this for. We think He wants an entourage of personal slaves and servants. We have been conditioned to think that God wants us to put all our personal desires aside and become His butler. If that’s not self-seeking, I honestly don’t know what is!

Have you ever stopped to think that God’s plan for your life has to do with YOU? His first concern is your happiness and fulfillment. Everything He does is so that you can have life abundant. Every gift He gives you is to enhance your life and bring the most joy possible to you. His kingdom does not benefit one iota until that happens. Understand that God is not looking for servants and messengers; He is looking for sons and daughters! Out of that relationship, you will become the message.

There are many pastors in the world who were created to be math teachers, accountants, ski instructors, and fireman, but because they believed that God’s main concern was finding people to serve Him, they gave up their purpose in life and joined the ministry. This perhaps is the most grievous thing to the Heart of God because it strangles any possibility of real intimacy. Slaves can only respect their masters, but they never eat with them and share their heart.

Could it be that the most “spiritual” thing for a pastor to do is get out of the ministry and find a real job? To recapture the passions of one’s youth. To find that pearl of great price that you would sell anything to possess. To subtract “Reverend” or “Doctor” or “Pastor” from your name and follow your lifelong dreams, aspirations, and unique God-given talents. To release yourself from the servitude of an unbiblical concept of God.

Go ahead, grab the keys, unlock the prison door, and run with the freedom you’ve always owned but didn’t know you could enjoy!