Call and Callings / Do some people have a “special” calling unique and from God, and therefore require your obedience?

Rick McNally / August 28, 2025

I have heard it a thousand times.  OK, not that many.  But often.  People who have a ministry in some form or fashion — in the church, in the para-church, wherever — using the idea of God’s “calling” in their life as a means to leverage clout, legitimacy, and even authority.  I’ve heard this by numerous pastors preaching at “pastor’s conferences” throughout the years.

“I was called to this ministry — therefore…”

Now to be clear, I am not denying the fact that people were called, and perhaps by God.  The problem with it is that the calling that the NT speaks of is a much more generic calling than they are claiming — and thus taking too much divine authority with that “calling.”  This can be dangerous.

To be clear — I am not so much as trying to delegitimize the calling of leadership, but rather to even that particular playing field.  We are all called. 

Our calling is to Jesus.  Our calling is to salvation.  Our calling is to holiness.  Our calling is to walk worthy.  Ours is not a calling that we can lean on and demonstrate “God’s hand” on the things we do, the things we say.  It is not a legitimizing aspect, but rather an aspect that reminds us to be and act holy.  It is more about responsibility and accountability than about external ministry legitimacy and authority.

If you look at the verb for “calling” and the noun for “call,” you will find 21 occurrences in the New Testament.  The vast majority.  

Of these 21 times, only two of them are used to describe the legitimacy of an individual as an authority figure — both of these refer to the Apostle Paul.  Paul’s situation was unique; apostolic authority was unique.   No where else in Scripture is this word used to describe a legitimacy to minister in a specific way.  And so, if your name is “Apostle Paul” and you live in the times following the life of Christ on Earth — then you might have a special calling.  If not, you have the same calling everyone else enjoys.

Conversely, the other 19 occurrences of this word describe the calling we have in Christ — it is special, it is unique, but it is also universal.  Every believer who ever trusted Christ enjoys this special calling from God.  We all enjoy this.  

The calling that we enjoy, in these verses, pushes us forward toward living up to the calling, living righteous, confirming our calling by growth, recognizing our calling.  

It is not just our calling; it is the calling of every other believer in the room.  This should remind us to treat others with respect as they are also “called” and they are also “loved.”

We may have ministries, we may be pastors — but our calling is no greater or lesser than any other Christian we know.  We are all called.  What we say is not more “authoritative” than what anybody else says about anything — our call does not legitimize our words or our works.

Our actions legitimize our call.   Our call is no greater than anyone else’s.  You might have a position because someone granted it to you for a time.   You may have no position.  God looks at us through the filter of character, not ministry roles and special titles.  God’s not that superficial.

Consider the following;

Then finally, the clergy-laity split has been dashed. As Luther so powerfully said, “Every believer is a priest.” We do not have a hierarchy of calling. We do not have the clergy that have a greater calling than the laity. All are called. Or this is the way Martin Luther put it: “God has placed His church in the midst of the world among countless undertakings and callings in order that Christians should not be monks but live with one another in social fellowship and manifest among men the works and practices of faith.”

So Luther would say, “Anybody who has come out of the waters of baptism can be declared a priest. We are ministers of God. We are all the same.” And so he had a leveling of humanity, this breaking down of the clergy-laity distinction, this caste system that was there. But we’ll continue to ask in this session, “Well, if all that was true, why haven’t we seen a greater reality of that in the life of our churches today?”

 Greg Ogden, ED201 Empowering God’s People for Ministry, Logos Mobile Education (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014).

Take some time to study these things for yourself. Here we go!

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Calling / noun / 11x

• Romans 11:29 / multiple / calling for all Israel / the elect?
• 1Cor 1:26 / multiple / brothers called into Christ
• Eph 4:1 / multiple / Paul urging people to live up to their calling (H)
• Eph 4:4 / multiple / Paul describing the call to faith, hope, baptism (H)
• Phil 3:14 / singular / Paul talking about the call of God in Jesus / not for ministry, for salvation
• 2 Thess 1:11 / multiple / Prayer that God would make Thessalonians worthy of the call (H)
• 2 Tim 1:9 / multiple / saved US called US to a holy calling, grace (H)
• Heb 3:1 / multiple / believers share in a heavenly calling to Jesus (H)
• 2 Peter 1:10 / multiple / be diligent to confirm your calling (grow, make effort to grow) (H)
• 1 Cor 7:20 / multiple / call as a synonym of salvation call
• Eph 1:18 / multiple / know the hope to which he has called you

Called / verb / 10x

• Matthew 22:14 / multiple / 
• Romans 1:1 / INDIVIDUAL / Paul, called to be an apostle
• Romans 1:6 / Multiple / Believers called to belong to Jesus Christ
• Romans 1:7 / Multiple / Believers who are loved by God called to be saints.
• Romans 8:28 / Multiple / Believers, salvation described as “called according to his purpose” (H)
• 1 Cor 1:1 / INDIVIDUAL / Paul, called to be an apostle
• 1 Cor 1:2 / Multiple / Believers, called to be saints together with all those who also call upon Jesus.
• 1 Cor 1:24 / Multiple / Believers, called by God (Jews and Greeks)
• Jude 1 / Multiple / Believers called, beloved, kept for Jesus
• Rev 17:14 / Multiple / In Revelation, those who will be with Jesus, called, chosen, faithful.

Percentages

• Speaking of Individual calling / 2x / 9.5%
  • Only used of one individual, and speaks of Apostleship
• Speaking of a more universal calling / 19x / 90.5%
• Speak toward growth and holiness / 7x / 33%