Called to Preach?

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This week’s blog post comes from Atlas’ Dad, Evan Strickland
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“And you shall speak my words to them, whether they hear or refuse to hear, for they are a rebellious house.” —Ezekiel 2:7, ESV

We had been running for a long time – very long time. In fact, my high school cross country team had run across town and five miles outside the city limits, up and down the foothills of the Ozark Moutains. Already exhausted, and with at least a seven mile trek back to the school, Coach turns and says, “First five back to the school make varsity.” We were off to the races. 

A teammate—overly full of himself, but for no good reason—cut corners the whole way back and boasted proudly over his varsity slot. He raced, was promptly destroyed by the competition, and quit the team the following day because, ironically, he was all about being first… not just running.

Similarly, there are many called into God’s service in one way or another that fancy themselves to be first place winners but never really consider the race they’re called to run. So, when it’s finally “go time,” they find themselves lacking. 

Moving past God’s general call to salvation, for the sake of brevity, I’ll move straight to His specific call to preach the Gospel. Perhaps, you’ve heard it, possibly questioned it, or even denied it. 

But why? There could be a million reasons why one would deny it:

“Preachers don’t make enough money.”

“I’m too shy.”

“I don’t know how.”

“I don’t WANT to!!!!”

But those are only problems if your concerned about being first. They’re risky—requiring sacrifice and effort.

The better question might be,  “Why WOULDN’T I preach the Gospel?”

You might be surprised to find that the answer has very little to do with YOU at all! And the salvation of your soon-to-be-condemned-to-hell hearers is, at best, only a secondary motivator.

Don’t get me wrong—Jesus came to “seek and save the lost.” However, in the opening chapters of Ezekiel, God gives plenty of reasons to accept the call with none being so important as… because we are called! Simple obedience is the main contrast between Ezekiel and those to whom he’s commissioned to preach. While encouraging at times, yes, all other reasons will let you down eventually – especially the people. 

What if they don’t listen? Good news—that doesn’t change your calling. If preachers were called to be God’s enforcers, we’d all be failing! As the old adage goes, “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.” Unfortunately, because of that fact, I believe many that are called to preach end up leaving the horse altogether unlead—thirsting to death for Living Water. 

Guess what? God knows there will be those that refuse to hear “for they are a rebellious house.” You can either choose to join the house of rebellion yourself or be obedient to the call. 

Verse 8 continues— “But you, son of man, hear what I say to you. Be not rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth…”

Ezekiel opens his mouth to consume the Word and then began to let it out.

“The great commission is not an option to be considered but a command to be obeyed.” — J. Hudson Taylor