They have a hard job, and in order to pursue it, I believe they need a "calling". But this is not about such sturdy heroes as these, but of two who "got out of the business".
First, there was a very humble little man who just wasn't cut out for a "church growth" denomination. He was handicapped in two ways. He was legally blind, and he was a reader/thinker. I counted him as a friend. I loved spending time with him, but it was obvious from the beginning that he was entirely out of his element.
I remember too, his wretched wife, ostracized and lonely.
Imagine a minister mentioning the name of Karen Horney. And to a congregation that neither knew nor cared who she was. He just couldn't come up with a joke filled "motivational" type sermon. Soon he was rejected and passed on to go somewhere else.
The second preacher was entirely different. He was good looking and "charismatic". His sermons were video taped as classics to be heard again. I spent considerable time in his study, being examined to see if my projected class on Daniel was acceptable.
Finally, I "passed". But not before I found that he disagreed with my big poster of the Daniel 2 great image. He listened to my explanation of the two legs representing divided Rome. "But Rome was never divided," he protested. This charismatic PhD candidate had never heard of the great schism and the break away kingdom of Byzantium. Guess he had never heard of the Eastern Orthodox Church either. My, my, my, even a dumb ass security guard nobody knew that.
After I "passed", my pastor wanted to know if I could give him some ideas to preach on. He would pay me for them. I feared he would not approve of the subjects I would suggest. He was running out of ideas. Soon he quit the ministry to "fight pornography".
My legally blind friend also quit. He taught in a university, and I am sure he did well there.
Sometimes a "calling" just doesn't work out.
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