Yesterday, I attended the annual South Brunswick Women’s Leadership Conference. I went to a workshop on education and another one on culinary arts (yeah, yeah, stop laughing). Listening to the panelists share about how they arrived at their current careers made me reflect on how I made the decision to attend seminary.
Really, I am indebted to several folks: spiritual mentors, professors, friends…and Tim Keller and Rick Warren…
Now, how did Tim Keller and Rick Warren help?
Well, a few years ago, I listened to an online audio Q & A clip in which Dr. Keller addressed three parts to discerning a calling. The clip only lasted 3 and a half minutes, but it made a lasting impression on me.
Dr. Keller’s 3 parts are:
1) Affinity (Do you have passion for this vocation?)
2) Abilities (Do you have the necessary gifts, talents, and skills?–more importantly, do others who know you well also agree?)
3) Opportunities (Are doors opening up for you?)
As Dr. Keller points out, you can base each of these 3 parts in something you know about God:
1) God speaks to individual hearts.
2) God speaks through others.
3) God is the God of history and His hand moves in our lives.
Rick Warren provides a similar method of discernment. We are all “S.H.A.P.E.D for Ministry,” he says. We each have a unique S.H.A.P.E. that God formed to make us fit His purpose for our lives.
S for Spiritual Gifts
H for Heart
A for Abilities
P for Personality
E for Experiences (including painful ones)
I continue to find these biblically-based tests very helpful in my own discernment process.
There’s one more thing that I would like to emphasize: don’t forget to pray. Yes, reflect privately. Yes, consult others. And yes, pray…a lot. Go to God directly and ask Him to reveal His will to you. Keep asking. He will show you in time, and just in time.
Tags: calling, discernment, ministry, Rick Warren, tim keller, vocation
