They are rather hard questions that really make you look at yourself deeply. I have no idea if they are correct, or if there is even a right and wrong way of answering them. (I guess if your answer is a no to anything then it might be the wrong answer.) But I thought I would share with you my answers, and the questions themselves so that maybe someone out there will find these while they are discerning their call and help them as others had helped me. I really think that they would benefit all of us if we were to sit and ponder them more often even if we are not going to be pastors.
1. Do they know God as pardoning God? Have they the love of God abiding in them? Do they desire nothing but God? Are they Holy in all manner of conversation?
I know God is a pardoning God by acknowledging I am a sinner, and He has removed my sin by the death of his son on the cross. God’s love abides in me, and I wish to better express and demonstrate his love by loving those who have wronged me and forgiving them and myself of all sins past and future. I desire nothing but God and continue to try and live every day as close to God as I can. I struggle to show God in everyday life, but I desire to grow closer and replace my every thought with God’s voice. And it is by God’s grace that even when I am not holy in conversation, I am forgiven and have another chance to better myself and share God’s love to those I talk with.
2. Have they gifts, as well as evidence of God’s Grace, for the work? Have they a clear, sound understanding; a right judgment in the things of God; a just conception of salvation by faith? Do they speak justly, readily, clearly?
I have been given gifts of leadership, knowledge, and teaching and I have continued to grow these through my job, and will continue to grow and add to them through continued education and study. I try and look at things of God from multiple angles, to discern and understand God’s will in what I hear, read, or see. I know I am saved by faith, because I understand I could never do anything to save myself, but that salvation is given to me by the grace God gave me when I believed fully. I feel I need work in my speaking, being someone who is shy to a near crippling degree, I dread having to be in the front of people, but I know and have experienced how God calms those fears and allows me to speak for him.
3. Have they fruit? Have they been truly convinced of sin and converted to God, and are believers edified by their service?
I am convinced of sin and how it keeps us from God. I want to leave all my sin behind so that there is nothing left in me but God. I want to show my friends and those near me the love of God and how it can change a soul. I want to lift and build up believers so they can go out and also lift and build up others. I want to share the grace and love of God with those who have not yet believed, to help them see that there is a better way out there. Something that fills all those holes in their hearts they think can never be filled.
