Full-time vocational ministry is just like any other profession in that it is God-ordained. But one cannot deny that there is a greater spiritual and moral weight when one serves God on a vocational level.
So does that mean that people who have fallen into moral failure in the past have been disqualified from ever entering full-time ministry?
I used to believe that moral failure was enough to disqualify someone from serving God on a vocational level. At least that's what I believed with regard to myself. My past life before entering into a relationship with Christ is not something I am completely proud of. I have done things that can destroy my credibility in an instant.
But despite of all my shortcomings, God called me to serve Him in a full-time capacity in ministry. For three years now, I have served as paid staff and my past no longer determines or defines my ability to do so.
Maybe you have felt the same way I once did. Maybe God has called you into full-time ministry but you just look back on your life and think that you have blown it way too much to be ever worthy of serving God vocationally.
No one is qualified
One thing is for sure -- you're probably not qualified. That's because no one is. Think about it: Moses was a stutterer, Gideon was a coward, and Jeremiah was a chronic complainer, but still God called and used them.
If you think your sin has disqualified you from becoming a full-time missionary, pastor, church worker, preacher or evangelist, you're right. But because of the finished work of Christ, you can receive the promise of a life called to serve God.
Consider the example of Paul, a persecutor of Christians. Jesus called him personally to serve Him on the highest level as an apostle and church planter.
God qualifies the called
It is not everyone who is called to full-time ministry, and when God makes His call, he does so by giving a prophetic word or by making manifest gifts.
When God calls us, He calls us not to qualify ourselves because that can never happen. It is by Jesus's redemptive work on the cross that we are given the moral capacity and spiritual gifts to lead, feed and serve on a vocational basis.
The moment we think it is by our own strength is the time that we disqualify ourselves from the call, but when we understand that God's call is something we do not earn but a gift and privilege freely given to us by God, we are ready to serve not in our capacity but in God's capacity.
