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Welcome to Stuff I Learned Yesterday. My name is Darrell Darnell, my grandma’s homemade biscuits and gravy are the best I’ve ever had, and I believe that if you aren’t learning, you aren’t living.
With an episode title of Professing Your Faith, you might think that this episode is about how to tell other people about Jesus. Whether you think that episode topic is a good one or not, that’s not where I’m going today. Well, I guess I kind of am, but not really. You’ll see.
Today’s story starts back when I was 14 years old. My dad and step mom had separated earlier that year so when summer came around I spent most of it with my grandparents. I’ve spoken a bit about this in previous episodes as that ended up being a life changing summer for me.
It was that summer that I went to church camp, genuinely gave my life to Christ, and was positively influenced by watching my grandparents live out their faith. They were each devoted to attending church every time the doors were open, and I saw each of them studying the Bible every day. My grandma would start each day in the kitchen by herself where she would pray.
My grandparents were of a pentecostal denomination, and if you know anything about pentecostals, they can get really loud. Their church services are often fire and brimstone style preaching with the pastor getting loud and dynamic. They believe in speaking in tongues, so that means their prayer services are often very loud as well.
So with that context, it should come as no surprise that I often awoke to one of two things at my grandparents house. Those things were either the smell of sausage frying for breakfast, or the sound of my grandma in prayer. When I’d wake up while she was still in prayer, I’d find her standing in the kitchen, one hand on the counter or the stove handle, and the other hand lifted heavenward.
She would cry and pour out her heart to God praying for each member of our family one by one. She’d pray for our country and its leaders. She’d pray for her pastor and those at church who had requested prayer. Her voice would get louder and louder as she worked through her prayer, which would go on easily for 30 minutes or an hour. To this day, I’ve never heard anyone pray like my grandma.
You may recall that it was also during that summer that I first stepped on stage and spoke to an audience. The pastor, knowing that I’d committed my life to Christ at church camp and was excited about my faith, invited me to speak one Sunday night. It was terribly rough and I knew right away that I’d fallen short of what the pastor had hoped for. To be honest, I fell short of what I’d hoped for too. I really wish I’d done better.
But that experience still resonated within me as something that I should do more of. So when he offered me the opportunity to do it again the next summer, I agreed. That second time was better than the first, but it was still very clear that I had a long way to go and much to learn.
As I went back to school for my senior year, I learned our high school had a new club we could join. The previous year we had a new faculty member named Ms. Valentine, and now in her second year, Ms. Valentine had stepped up to be the sponsor of the new club. That club was the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, or FCA.
I was thrilled that there was a club for students excited about their Christian faith, but by that time I’d given up trying to be an athlete. I’d faced the reality that I was not awarded the right genes to ever make it on the team, let alone the field or the court. This meant that I was not qualified to be a part of the club. Fortunately, Ms. Valentine said that the club wasn’t just for students who were Christians and part of the sports teams, rather it was a group for anyone even if you weren’t a Christian or an athlete. Yes, the meetings would focus on Christianity with Bible studies and discussions on how to live out your faith, but all were invited to be a part of the group.
I remember showing up for the first meeting and being very excited. As I look back at my old yearbook, it shows there were 8 of us in that group, but I remember a few faces that aren’t pictured, so I’d guess there were 10, maybe 12 of us. Most were athletes from football, basketball, softball, or baseball, but there were a few of us that were not part of one of our school’s sports teams.
The future meetings took place inside the school cafeteria, but that first one took place outside the cafeteria on the steps and sidewalk. Ms. Valentine told us about the purpose of the group and what we would do for meetings and activities. Then she mentioned we’d need to elect a president for the group. As I recall, three people raised their hand to indicate they were interested in becoming the club president. I was one of those three.
I’m sure all schools are the same in that anytime there’s a chance to elect a class leader or club leader, it’s a popularity contest. I was not nearly the most popular kid who’d raised their hand, So I knew I had no chance. Ms. Valentine told us that each of us would need to stand in front of the group and share why we thought we’d be a good president. After each of us shared our reasons with the group, we were asked to step away while the rest of the group discussed and voted.
When it was my turn to speak, I remember being very nervous. I told the group about how I’d gotten saved a couple of summers prior and how my life had changed since then. I told them how I’d spoken twice at my grandparent’s church, and I remember very clearly that I told them that I thought God was calling me to full-time ministry. I don’t think I’d ever told anyone that before, and there I was telling it to a group of my peers.
I remember that as each of us three candidates stepped away, we discussed among ourselves who we thought would get it. I was sure I had no chance because of the aforementioned popularity contest, but the other two candidates thought for sure I’d get it. I think because I mentioned that I felt called to ministry, they thought that was a deal sealer. Sure enough, once we were called back to the group, Ms. Valentine announced that I had been selected to be president of the first ever Wellston High School FCA club! I was shocked!
Here’s what I learned.
In case you’re wondering if there was a time in my life when I was a pastor that I’ve not shared with you before, I have not. In fact, I have never been in full time ministry. It took me several years to figure out what was going on in that stage of my life and why I felt like I was called to full time ministry. It all stemmed from my youth, inexperience, and general ignorance about life.
What I knew at that stage in my life was that I wanted to have a life where Bible study was a regular part of it, I was sharing my faith with others, and helping people grow in their faith. To me, the only option for those to be true was to become a pastor. Therefore, I thought I was being called to full time ministry.
What I eventually realized is those things can be true in a variety of ways without being in full time ministry. After I graduated high school, I enrolled in college and began working at a Christian bookstore. Through working at the bookstore I found myself often interacting with customers who were looking for ways to grow in their faith, some wanted prayer, and some of my coworkers even got together for Bible study. One of my coworkers, Brian, took time to mentor me, which was an incredibly valuable relationship I needed at that time. I’ll share more of that story in an episode I have slotted for the end of the year.
Full time ministry is an honorable profession and I’m grateful for those who are called to it and serve in those capacities. As a deacon and worship leader I’ve worked closely with those in those positions, and I can say confidently that they are professions which are extremely difficult, unappreciated, exhausting, and lonely. The next time you see your pastor, let him know how much you appreciate him.
But what I eventually realized is it’s not only those in full time ministry who are charged with the responsibility of sharing their faith and being involved in helping people grow. Every single believer is commanded by Jesus to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
Said differently, every person, regardless of your profession, is called to help bring the good news of Jesus to others. So by titling today’s episode, “Professing Your Faith,” It’s kind of a play on words as I’m talking about living your faith through your profession. Many people will never step foot in a church. Perhaps their only experience with a Christian is by what’s portrayed in various types of media.
Each of us who call ourselves Christians have a responsibility to represent Christ in every aspect of our lives, including the workplace. Paul, who wrote most of the New Testament, was himself a tentmaker. Certainly you can argue he was in full time ministry and I think you’d be right. He also used his profession to further spread his faith.
We should live our lives and conduct ourselves in such a way that we draw others to Christ. The book of Matthew says we should let our light shine before others, so that they may see our good works and give glory to our Father who is in heaven.
Regardless of your profession, God has put you in that spot and given you an opportunity to bring glory to him.. and when appropriate, share your faith. The book of 1 Peter tells us to, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.”
As Christians, some are called to be pastors and to full time ministry, but all of us are called to live out our faith in our profession in a way that professes our faith. Look for ways you can be light, and be ready to share your faith in gentleness in respect.
I’m Darrell Darnell, and this has been Stuff I Learned Yesterday.
I want you to be a part of the next Monday Mailbag on July 29th! Monday Mailbag is your opportunity to Share what YOU’VE learned, so that other listeners and I can learn from YOU. It can be a message as short as 30 seconds or several minutes long. It really doesn’t matter just as long as it’s something that will benefit others. You can send in questions or responses to my SILY episodes, and I’ll respond to them via Monday Mailbag episodes. You can participate in Monday Mailbags by visiting the Golden Spiral Media listener feedback page.