The Call to Station

Then that leads to a third category of calling, which I think this is maybe the category that we think about least when it comes to calling. But when you step back and you realize what scripture teaches, I think it makes total sense. So, the third category would be, we’ll call it the call to station. The call to station. When we’re in Christ on mission, God calls us to specific stations in through which we exalt him on mission.

What Does The Call to Station Mean?

So when you think station, think, well, one example is family. Where, as Christians, we’re called to be faithful sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, husbands and wives, mothers and fathers for the spread of God’s gospel, the display of God’s glory. Or scripture speaks of a divine call to singleness for the sake of mission, either for a period of time or for the entirety of one’s life. Other calls to specific station. Christ called a meaningful membership in a church. That’s a station. I’m a member of this church. Or Christ called to responsible citizenship in our community. So if you’re a citizen in the United States, that’s a station that God has called you to be in at this time.

So, just think about my life, just as an example. There’s a very real sense in which God has called me to be a son. He’s called on me to be a son to a mom, a dad who’s passed away now. So he’s called me to be a son. He’s called me to be a brother. I have three siblings. He’s called me to be a brother to them in family. He’s called me to be a husband. I have a wife that He’s called me to care for, lead, provide for. He’s called me to be a father. I have four children. So all of these are stations. Then God’s called me to be a member of a local church where I live here. So that’s a station He’s called me to. He’s called me to be a citizen of the United States. That’s a station I’m in. So all of these are stations to which He’s called me.

Connecting The Categories Of Calling

Now, connect it with the other two categories we’ve talked about of calling, because of my calling to salvation, I’m called to honor Christ in every one of these stations. To live, to love, to lead in each of these stations in light of my identity in Christ and in light of my call to mission. So God has called me to be a godly son and brother and husband and dad and church member and citizen. He’s called me to do that in a way that reflects the character of Christ for the spread of the gospel of Christ, the display of God’s glory through all those stations. The purpose of my marriage, He’s called me to be a husband. And Ephesians five makes clear that I’m supposed to be a husband in such a way that I love my wife, I care for her, I serve her in a way that shows a love of Christ for his church. That’s call to Christ, call to mission, affecting my understanding of my call to station when it comes to marriage.

So you think about your life. You think about how this looks in your life. You have similar stations in different ways and family. And then I think it’s important we emphasize singleness in the way that Paul does in 1 Corinthians chapter seven, a clear call from God to singleness for the sake of mission, either for a period of time or maybe even for the entirety of one’s life.

We all have calls to various stations, so we’ve got to think through in our lives then when it comes to calling, okay, can and should we be faithful sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, husbands and wives, mothers and fathers. Before we even get to specific jobs or specific decisions we make, how has God called me to be faithful in these ways? Scripture obviously puts a priority on these things.

What does Paul say to Timothy? He says, “If anybody doesn’t care for his own family, he’s worse than an unbeliever.” There’s obligations, there’s responsibilities that accompany these callings, and they’re more important even … So, again, come back to my life for a second. So right now I’m called to be president of the IMB, but far more important than that, as important as that is, I think that’s pretty significant what God’s called me to do. In the same way he called me to pastor, that’s very important in my life. But far before that, he’s called me to be a father and a husband, which means I can’t get so consumed in doing this over here, that I’m not faithful as a husband and as a father.

Your Calling Might Change

And the reality is, this calling over here might change, we’ve talked about that, from pastor to president or whatever else. But this calling, as long as my wife is alive, as long as my children are alive, that calling doesn’t change. So they’re not eternal in the sense of my identity in Christ. So even, we know marriage, for example, is a temporary institution in this world. At the same time, as long as I’m in this world, when it comes to my wife, Heather, ’till death do us part. I’m committed to her at this station in my life. So that plays out in family.

It plays out in church. The reality of membership in the church. We’re going to talk about this more when we get to the term church, but it’s clear throughout scripture that God has called every follower of Christ, whether here, on the other side of the world, every one of us, to be meaningful members of local churches where we’re submitting to biblical leadership and growing in gracious accountability with a local body of believers. And biblically, we can’t grow in Christ or give our lives to make disciples, this call to salvation, call to mission, that happens in the context of community, in the local church, a covenant community in the body of Christ. So that’s why he calls us to be in his church.

It might even be weird. To think about calling to station in terms of family, in terms of church, even in citizenship. But this is clearly a picture we see, even in the New Testament, followers of Christ in the New Testament are wrestling with how do we live out our faith in the Roman Empire under a Roman emperor? That emperor is obviously not supreme, but Paul gives very practical instruction on how to honor and obey and respect and submit to civic leaders to the extent with which Christian conviction allows as part of submission to Christ. That there’s responsibilities that go with citizenship as a follower of Christ on a mission in the world, in that particular station.

So, these three categories of calling are foundational before we even get to the fourth category, which is where our minds so often go, how’s God leading me in this way or that way? We’ve got to start with, okay, I’m in Christ, called to mission in the world. These are the stations I know he’s called me to. So then based on that, we get to this fourth category of calling.