I couldn’t keep to my resolution that I would read one book at a time. I love to read books but I’m a slow and impatient reader, so I read several books at one time in order to get a taste of each book.
I made an effort to read through “Am I Called?” because it’s a small book, and it would be bad not to even finish a small book. The reason I read this book is to help others discern their calling into the pastorate. The author said it’s written for men since he believes only men can be pastors. I am not offended by this view because it’s a perfectly legitimate view from Scripture. However, I do believe women can be “called” by God as well. Anyway, that’s not the topic of this book, and it didn’t keep me from agreeing with the rest of the content of the book.
I learned a lot about what a pastor is supposed to do! We generally think of a pastor as a person with a particular skill set, as well as having good character, etc. However it is much more than that. It has much less to do with skills then with aligning yourself with God’s purpose for you.
I like the quote by Mark Dever in the book: (p.150)
I generally know, when someone goes into the ministry because they like to work only with Christians and to do church things, that this person probably isn’t called. The person who is usually best is the person who is quite good in a non-Christian work environment but who is willing, for the sake of the kingdom, to be called back “behind the lines” as it were, to spend his life supplying those who are on the front lines of ministry.
I do recommend this book for anyone to read but particularly for those who would like to know more about the pastoral ministry.