Can I still serve God without being a Pastor or Missionary?
Lots of people want to serve God, but many don’t feel they necessarily fit with pastoring a congregation or advancing God’s kingdom overseas. Is there still a possibility they can serve God without being a pastor or missionary? Is God happier with them than he is with others who are just a part of the congregation and not in front leading?
Serving God means he’s the one you obey, as opposed to serving your own desires or subjecting yourself to the world’s expectations. While it’s obvious that this is a standard that pastors should be held to, it also applies to anyone who wants to be a part of what God is doing. But if we serve him, what expectations does he have for us? What does he want us to do?
What does the bible say makes God Happy?
Micah 6:8 makes it clear what he wants from us: to love kindness, to do justice, and to walk humbly with God. These can be enacted no matter what profession you work in. Pleasing God is not limited to merely your occupation, but rather is connected to your vocation - your mission in life. If you are making it your mission to serve God with the life he’s given you, then kindness, justice, and a relationship with him should be cornerstones of your person.
While these need to be enacted on a personal level, those who seek to bring about the kingdom of God should be proactively injecting these qualities into the community in which they live. This means they shouldn’t be satisfied with only what they are able to do personally, but they should be pushing for change through the communal and societal levels as well. They will need to work with other like-minded believers to develop a community where kindness, justice, and a relationship with God are not only normalized, but are prioritized.
Our individualistic culture can cause us to get narrow minded when it comes to fulfilling work for God, but if we step back and look at how God works, we know he works through groups of people. We know this by the emphasis Jesus puts on having healthy relationships with those in one’s community: “They will know you are my disciples by the love you have for one another,” or “First go and be reconciled [to your brother]; then come and offer your gift.” Whether it's the ten commandments teaching people how to create a healthy society or the fruits of the spirit which are enacted in our treatment of others, it's hard to miss the Bible’s promotion of healthy social dynamics. These and many more verses attest the importance a community of believers plays in fulfilling God’s mission. We shouldn’t limit our thinking to ourselves, but see where we get along and fit with others.
When we look back at the nation of Israel who were called to be God’s people, not all of them were priests, yet as a whole God still expected them to be a light to the nations. So can you still be a servant of God and make him happy despite not being a priest? Yes. While the priest’s role of ensuring God’s people are empowered by the scriptures is crucial to the Israelites fulfilling their vocation, there were other skills and roles needed in the society in order to be all that God had envisioned for it
However, just because a believer does not want to become a pastor or priest, it does not relieve them from the responsibility of learning the Bible. It isn’t enough for just the leadership to understand God’s Word. While the leadership should be well-versed in the scriptures in order to ensure they make decisions in line with God’s word, it is still essential for all God’s people to know and understand his word. It is through learning God’s word that we are able to learn the spirit of God, allowing him to use us in any position that we are in.
Why is learning God’s word important if it is not related to my occupation?
Typically people go to high school and college in order to gain the knowledge necessary for a future job. This often causes people to put their biblical education on the back burner since it will not seemingly apply to their occupation. However, this is the way people think when they are serving money. Their concern is with focusing on their occupational advancement in order to ensure they have a job in order to ensure they have money, because money is where they find security.
Those who want to serve God and not money, will prioritize an education in God’s Word. How do you expect to serve God if you don’t know how to understand his Word? God’s word teaches us how we can become spiritually mature people who are capable of demonstrating the wisdom of God no matter what role we are in.
Conclusion
You can still make God proud, even if you don’t become a pastor or missionary. Your occupational field may not be someone who is in full time ministry, but your life as a part of a body of believers allows you to live out that mission of God no matter what occupational field you enter.
