Other "Thinking Drafts" and writing by Keith Drury -- http://www.indwes.edu/tuesday .

The Senior Heebie Jeebies

MEMO: Springtime Seniors

FROM: "Coach D"

You already know about "Spring Fever" for you've probably come down with it each year. "Spring Fever" is a mild lethargy about classes, coursework, and the future resulting in a "who cares" attitude toward assignments. And, if you are a senior you may be aware of a related malady, "Senioritis." The symptoms are the same, only for spring graduates it compounds the effect of the normal "Spring Fever" turning a mild lethargy into chronic sluggishness.

But in case you are a senior ministerial major there is still a third condition that compounds and multiplies the effect of the first two. Many senior ministerial majors get the "Senior Heebie Jeebies" about February or March of their senior year. Preparing for the ministry has been fun. You've done OK in your classes. You've enjoyed being a student here at IWU. But now you are about to be shoved out of the protective IWU nest into a church ministry. It dawns on you that in just a few months you could be in a local church in charge of the souls of others. In a few months you could be leading worship, not just whining about it. In a few months you will no longer have the personal luxury of being the criticizer of others but will be the one they're criticizing. YIKES!

It's scary. You begin wondering if you really want to do local church ministry after all. You wonder if this "call" you've claimed came from your mother, or your home church, or your desire to be like some model-pastor who influenced you. And you think maybe you might "take a year off" from ministry. Or, maybe you think of "working a regular job for a while to pay off debts." Perhaps you'll say to yourself, "I'm not ready for ministry yet, my own life is not that perfect." Or, "I want to be in ministry, but not church ministry -- maybe running a Christian coffee house, or something like that." Perhaps you'll say, "So many of my models have fallen, I've just given up heart about the ministry." Or, in a class you studied the potential tension and opposition you might get as a leader you said, "I don't think I'm cut out to be a minister -- it's not a very nice job." Or some will say, "I'm not trained enough to take charge of ministry, I need more training before I go into the ministry."

And so starts the Senior shake-out. It happens each year. Some students stick with their plan to enter ministry and go out into church ministries. Others get shook out. It's like sports tryouts or Army boot camp in reverse. Instead of getting shook out at the beginning, ministerial students get shook out at the end. They loved studying for the ministry, but they are not ready to become ministers. To go into the church and be a leader. To equip others for ministry. To take the heat in the kitchen. To live with less pay than they'd get at other jobs. To be criticized. To try to satisfy so many demands, yet never totally satisfying everyone. To work 50-70 hours a week. To be voted on! To actually have people vote "no" for keeping you another year. And one by one, each year, senior ministerial students are "shook out." They often say "I'll do something else for a year or so," but half of those who "sit out a year" never actually get into ministry again. They are cut from the team.

So what's the difference? What divides these groups of ministerial students? Why do some go into church work while others "don't make the cut" and get shook out? It's not talent or gifts. For often those shook out have equal or even greater gifts than those who stay with it. It's not academic excellence, for there are great students and average students in both groups. It's not even a church experience for both groups have had "bad experiences" in local churches and both groups have seen the same models and leaders fall.

So what is it? I believe it is the "call." Face it, if you are called by God to ministry you have no choice. You don't change your mind when you discover the pay is low. You don't change your mind when your fiancée says, "I don't want to be the spouse of a minister" -- if your fiancée says choose me or obedience to God's call, you vote with God and break up. You don't change your mind when you discover that people in the church sometimes are stinkers. You don't change your mind when you find out the church won't finance your hobby but wants you to do what they need done in the church. You don't change your mind when you find out how hard ministers work or how little they are sometimes paid. You don't change your mind when your model or hero falls spiritually. In fact you wouldn't change your mind if every single minister in the entire world fell spiritually. Why? Because you believe God called you. You may not like the ministry. You may not even feel fulfilled in it (though most ministers do). You may not even be perfectly suited for ministry. So why do it? Because you are called to do it. You do not go into the ministry because you like people work, or because you like being up front, or like preaching, or like to be in charge. If you do, you'll get washed out in the "Second-shake out" (the first 7 years of ministry). But if you are called by God to enter His service, then you must do it. You have no choice. If you are called to the equipping ministry you can no longer "be a good layman." A call means God has commanded you to minister. To refuse is to disobey. Sure, you can "take a year off" and delay entry into ministry (God does not always consider delay as disobedience immediately). But sooner more than later you will have to choose between obedience to the call, or disobedience

So, what's really going on every spring among ministerial majors? What is the "Senior Shake-out really all about? It is about your call. Are you called by God to the equipping ministry or not? Those who are clearly called will keep at it. Those who aren't will get shook out and escape.

So, how about you? Did you sign up for a career? Or are you called by God?

"Coach D"

So what do you think?

To contribute to the thinking on this issue e-mail your response to Tuesday@indwes.edu