There is a sense in which God separates a man uniquely unto Himself, and preaching may be part of that, but the Gospel ministry is far larger than making an oration on Sunday morning. I [Adrian Rogers] would not limit the definition of the call of God upon a man to the preaching of the Gospel. I view a man called of God as one who is separated unto the Gospel. I often speak of my call to preach, but I am doing that out of the generally accepted usage of the term.
What I am really thinking about is something the Apostle Paul meant when he said, "Thank You, Lord, for counting me faithful, in that you put me in the ministry" (1 Timothy 1:12, author's paraphrase).
Oswald Chambers would agree. In his book, So Send I You, he writes,
"The call of God is not a call to any particular service, although my interpretation of the call may be; the call to service is the echo of my identification with God" (Christian Literature Crusade, 1973, p. 12).
Instead, God's call is a call to be a man of God. I do not think a man primarily surrenders to a specific ministry, such as to preach, to teach, to sing, or to be a pastor, evangelist, or missionary. I believe he surrenders to the Lord.
Any man who is a child of God, may and should preach. I do not think there are gifted individuals who possess the oracles of God and others who do not. I think any man may and should preach if he has an opportunity. I do believe, however, that no man should be a pastor of a church or separated to the ministry who has not received a definite call.
*This question and answer were extracted from "Love Worth Finding: The Life of Adrian Rogers and His Philosophy of Preaching.”
