Book Review - Am I Called? by Dave Harvey

To blaze a trail is to spot or mark made a tree by painting or notching or by chipping away a piece of the bark to indicate a trail or boundary. A trail blazer, thus, is a person who marks a trail through a wilderness area for the benefit of others. This method of navigation is no Global Positioning System. Think more along the lines of Hansel and Gretel. In the writing of Am I Called? The Summons to Pastoral Ministry, author Dave Harvey has blazed a trail for those on the journey of determining if they have been called to pastoral ministry. Harvey begins by discussing the journey. He follows this by marking a trail to the desired destination. And as discussed, this is not a pinpoint precision process. Harvey uses ‘blazes’ to help travelers to find their way through the wilderness which is embodied in the question, Am I called? The signposts the author leaves for pilgrims to find a path are presented as questions: Are you Godly?; How’s your home?; Can you preach?; Can you shepherd?; Do you love the lost?; and Who agrees? Finally, Harvey finishes with some help for those who determine that indeed they are called but will be waiting a while before they see this summons come to fruition.

The Journey

Harvey begins by describing the journey by connecting the call to ministry with one’s identity is Christ. The author states that the call to ministry always follows the call to Christ writing “the call for our salvation precedes and grounds all other callings” (36). Therefore, we must occupy ourselves with the Caller and with the gospel.  He follows this with a discussion of the context of this call; the local church. “Let’s face it. If you’re called to pastoral ministry, you’re being called to the local church.” (57)

The Blazes

Harvey has marked out the journey with markings in the form of questions. These questions are to aid with self-evaluation as well as prepare one for the evaluation of others. These questions are developed by the author from 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1.

1. Are you Godly? “Among all the biblical requirements for the called man, gospel-empowered character seems to be most prominent.” (81)
2. How’s your home? “One of the most striking things about the biblical qualifications for pastors is Scripture’s assumptions that the home reveals and validates the leader.” (92)
3. Can you preach? “The man divinely called is graced by God to lead through the amazing ministry of preaching.” (115)
4. Can you shepherd? “The shepherd is a guardian with boots on the ground, ready to be used by the Chief Shepherd to guide and protect his flock.” (135)
5. Do you love the lost? “The gospel is for everyone, which means the summons to be a pastor doesn’t stop with the saved.” (150)
6. Who agrees? “Find some way to get people close enough to you to be part of the adventure of external confirmation.” (178)

The Waiting

Harvey gives the prospective pastor-in-waiting several preparatory actions while waiting under the summons. He encourages those who confirm their calling to evaluate their desires, start serving, pursue a vocation, pursue counsel, study, mature, get one’s house in order, and patiently persevere.

This book, like Harvey’s other titles, is full of self-effacing humour and enlightening anecdotes. It is interspersed with biographical insights into well-known pastors from the church’s history. It is easy to read and, as is hopefully clear from the above, it is very practical. I think this would be an excellent book for those considering the pastoral ministry or those who think some insight into this process would be beneficial. I was educated and edified in the reading of this book.

The ministerial work

The ministerial work must be carried on diligently and laboriously, as being of such unspeakable consequence to ourselves and others.

We are seeking to uphold the world,
to save it from the curse of God,
to perfect the creation,
to attain the ends of Christ’s death,
to save ourselves and others from damnation,
to overcome the devil,
and demolish his kingdom,
to set up the kingdom of Christ,
and to attain and help others to the kingdom of glory.

And are these works to be done with a careless mind, or a lazy hand? O see, then, that this work be done with all your might!

The passage above is from Richard Baxter's classic work entitled The Reformed Pastor. Baxter, throughout the book, raises our awareness as to the importance of the ministerial role. This passage indicates the significance the calling of pastor has in the mind of this Puritan. And we should regard the office no less. We should expect our pastors to engage their work with the seriousness that is commiserate with the job list above. But, we should also regard them as such who do this work. We should regularly pray for them, encourage them, and love them. Let's hold them accountable and let's hold them close to our heart.

Seminaries don’t make pastors, churches do.

I found the following at 9Marks:

Seminaries don’t make pastors, churches do.

You’ll hear someone at 9Marks say that if you hang around us long enough. In this issue of the eJournal, we try to put some flesh on this basic idea.

Mark Dever considers why the local church is uniquely equipped and commissioned to the work of raising up future pastors. Then he offers some practical advice for every pastor and church for doing this work, whether or not they have the resources for an internship program. Both seminary presidents and pastors offer their sentiments in a couple of 9Marks forums. And one of John MacArthur’s associate pastors, Nathan Busenitz, tells the story of how Grace Community Church decided to plant a seminary within the church.

Next, we asked three different churches how they formally mentor future pastors. We hope this might give our pastor readers a few ideas they can adopt, as God provides the opportunity. And our goal is the same for the last section where we feature a number of church-affiliated programs. Maybe a church will start its own program; maybe it will sponsor a student though one of the programs listed here.

This issue does not contain the longer, more theological articles that we often include (we will in the future!), but here’s the very simple point we hope you catch: God primarily calls and equips men for the pastorate as pastors faithfully shepherd and disciple their own congregations. If you don’t read anything else, catch this point in the first three paragraphs of Dever’s second interview below

You can find the links to the interview here.