Teachers. Apostles. Pastors.
These are the people that have a calling on their life to equip the church. They teach the Word, they disciple, they preach, they train missionaries & evangelists, they inspire and provoke revival.
Something I’ve been walking through the last couple months in Asia is my own calling and which part of the body that I play. I was told by a very wise and discerning friend in Guatemala that I’m a Pastor. Pastors are different than preachers, and as much as I love getting up in front of people and talking about the Father, I love discipleship more. I love walking along side people arm in arm, inviting them into freedom & growth and showing them how sweet life with Jesus can be.
Up until recently, I didn’t think this calling on my life mattered. I was holding myself accountable to an expectation that I only put on myself. (Story of my life.) I’m a missionary for goodness sake, I need to be an evangelist or a healer. I wanted to be the girl that went into the villages and saw people get saved on the street. I wanted to walk into a house, see a blind man and lay hands on his eyes. Although I’ve seen both of these things, I wanted to be gifted in them specifically and if I wasn’t, that somehow makes me a failure and a fraud.
BIG FAT LIE
Since I was 14 years old I knew I wanted to be a missionary, but not the missionary that’s always on the field. I wanted to train, equip and disciple young people who want to go into ministry. It’s a dream job for me, to raise up the next generation of world changers and see how God uses them. When I look back over the last 7 years or so, I see all the people that God used to get me to where I am today, and those people were passionate about discipling me and my generation. I literally would not be where I am (southeast Asia) without them taking the time to love me well & point me towards the Father and intimacy with Him.
“But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that it’s parts should have equal concern for each other.”
I want to encourage those of you who feel like the part you play isn’t needed or seen or important. Even down to the smallest cells, the body needs every part to function efficiently.
Pick up your cross, die to insecurity & comparison and honey, be the foot that Jesus calls you to be!
