Baptists of the primitive order believe in a divine call to the work of the ministry. The work is too important a one to be left to the whimsical caprice of men. It is one of the highest earthly positions, and Paul said, "no man taketh this honor unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron." We all have reason to believe that there are many men following the work of the ministry merely as a profession. I have heard young men discussing "entering the ministry" as they would talk about entering any other profession. They seemed to look upon it as a matter of business to be taken up and laid down at will. I am confident that the Bible does not bear out any such idea.

There are sheep and lambs to be fed, and these sheep and lambs are very precious to Jesus. He is the good Shepherd and He gave His life for the sheep (John 10:11). And so He sends out men as "under-shepherds" to hunt them, and fishers to fish them. They are men of various gifts. Even the Apostles had not all the same gift. And no one of them had all the gifts. In a lesser degree it is the same way among God's called and qualified servants in all ages. The late Elder Sylvester Hassell stated concisely these gifts in the following language: "He must be a regenerated, Christ loving, God-called, and God-qualified man--kind, gentle, humble, quiet, firm, virtuous, upright, just, sober, temperate, unselfish, not covetous, well proved, exemplary, of good repute, sound in doctrine, able and apt to teach, and divinely impressed with the work of the ministry, not for ambitious or sordid ends, but for the good of men and the glory of God." These are the marks of a true minister.

Some seem to be anxious to prove their ability to preach by impressing upon the people their call to the work. While I fully believe every God-called servant knows something of that call, yet I have felt that after all is said about it, that the best evidence that one is called to preach is that he preaches.

The call may be only by divine impression on the mind. Impressions may be made by the Spirit during the busy hours of the day or the slumbering hours of the night. It appears from incidents recorded in the Bible that God calls busy men, workers, into His service. When Moses was called he was busy with his flocks at Horeb. Saul, the first of Israel's kings was searching for his father's lost beast when Samuel found him. And when the same prophet was sent to anoint God's choice of a king for Israel (David), the lad was busy "keeping the sheep". Gideon was found threshing wheat by the wine press. When Elijah was sent to anoint Elisha he found him "plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him." Nehemiah's call came when he was busy bearing the king's wine cup. And Peter and Andrew were called from the fisher's nets and made fishers of men. Matthew was called from the "receipt of custom," for he was a tax collector. And the eminent Apostle to the Gentiles, Paul, was a busy man of affairs when Jesus called him and sent him to preach the faith he was trying to destroy. So it seems that when the Lord has work to be done He goes to those already at work--not to the sluggard. The sluggard is sent to the ant to learn wisdom--not to the gospel field to teach wisdom to others.

I was baptized on the first day of January, 1893. The following August the church of my membership licensed me to exercise my gift. I did not think I had a gift, but the brethren thought otherwise. Though this action was not especially against my will, yet I did not approve of it. I did not consider myself a preacher, and did not want to be called one. I began to realize the responsibility of such a work and felt unequal to the task. I was kindly and tenderly treated by the church and also by the gifted pastor--How important it is to deal gently and kindly with young gifts whether they be preachers or deacons. They can be easily discouraged and their usefulness hindered. My efforts were poor and weak, yet the mantle of charity was cast over them. This was seven years before my ordination. = = From "Memories of Long Ago" by Pittman