Surviving Chaos

This past Friday I was fortunate to take my place of honor as an ordained minister in the Wesleyan Church. This in simplest terms means that I have completed a long drawn out process of making sure the calling on my life as a minister was 1. From God, 2. Was clearly understood by myself, and 3. Was willing to be endorsed by a denomination of believers who stand by biblical accuracy and truth. And now after approximately six (6) years, the journey is finished. I am an ordained Minister in the Wesleyan Church. So Now What?

This is something I struggled with for the past few months. I mean what is the difference from being a licensed minister and an ordained minister? According to the law of man (state of Kansas), there isn’t any new ceremony that I couldn’t perform before becoming ordained; I don’t gain a new tax bracket place or different tax deductions. And then there is my responsibilities at the church. I mean being ordained doesn’t change the fact that I still have to give the best to the church and to God as I was doing previously. I mean if that changed simply because I became ordained, then I’ve been hypocritical and don’t deserve to be in ministry period. So Now What?

Well, from my perspective, ordination wasn’t about changing me or changing my ministry as much as it was about changing the way people perceive my calling. As a licensed minister, I was always under the scrutiny of the DBMD (District Board of Ministerial Development). Now, after completing the gauntlet placed before me, I am no longer under the same level of scrutiny. I have proved myself, my calling, and my ministry. I am seen not as a young minister but rather a fellow colleague; my calling and ministry validated with the same validation as John Wesley, Billy Graham, and multitudes of others. Not saying that I have or ever will achieve their impactfullness, but understanding that God in a similar fashion called those men to follow him with the same level of obedience.

So Now What? I am an Ordained Minister in the Wesleyan Church. What does that mean? It means I need to keep doing what I’ve been doing; striving towards living a Holy Life, striving to be obedient to God’s leading, striving to serve Him with everything I have, am, and ever hope to be. Ordination is a big deal when you consider that it is the church’s way of making the calling of God on a minister’s life clearer.