It was put in my heart to write about this, to correct certain impressions that people have about this and to provoke repentance (change of mentality) in the hearts of many who, consciously or unconsciously, had mistaken their vocation for a profession. I believe these words will minister to your hearts and minds as you receive these words in your heart. Most of the time, as believers, we get caught up in the act of “professionalism” in carrying out the very work that God has called us to do. We tend to bring professionalism to replace the Spirit and we hope to see God’s result in what we do. It doesn’t work that way.

According to the Merriam -Webster dictionary, a profession is defined as “a type of work that requires education, training, or special skill.” For example, the reason an accountant is called an accountant is not because he was born an accountant, but because he acquired the necessary skills to become one, which can be obtained by attending a tertiary institution or a professional course (ICAN). in the case of Nigeria. He is an accountant by profession due to the means through which he acquired the necessary skill to become one. Profession led to specialization. Specialization makes you good at what you do because you do it every day.

To call, as it relates to God’s eternal plan and purpose for man and his kingdom here on earth, is to equip believers to function in certain capacities here on earth in relation to God’s plan and purpose for their lives. There are several instances in the Bible where God called men to do certain things in fulfillment of His plan and purpose for man. Let’s see some cases; Samuel’s call in 1 Samuel 3: 4-11 “Then the LORD called Samuel …” We can also see Gideon’s call in Judges 6: 11-14. There are other passages in Scripture that speak of God’s call to man.

There is something that I would like us to notice, there is a difference between vocation and profession. It is important that we know this. Calling is not a profession and the profession is not calling. If you study the scriptures, you will discover that all those whom God called had a profession. In other words, they had a job. You will also notice that everyone left their profession to follow the call. The calling relates to the purpose, but the profession does not, it arises from one’s desire to work in a particular field. There is a difference between vocation and profession. Let’s establish a biblical basis for this.

Matthew 4: 18-20 “while Jesus was walking by the Sea of ​​Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon named Peter and his brother Andrew … they were fishermen. Come, follow me, said Jesus, and I will become fishers of men … they immediately left their nets and followed him. ” Virtually all of Jesus’ disciples had a “profession.” But they all stopped what they were doing to follow Jesus. Peter at one point told Jesus “we have left everything to follow you” (see Mark 10:28).

The mistakes that many believers are making today is that they are now trying to incorporate “professionalism” into their calling. It is dangerous to do that. The works of the flesh can never produce the results of the Spirit. Let’s look at a vital ministry of God’s call here on earth: the ministry of songs. There are believers called by God to function in that ministry.

There are some who submit to the Spirit of God to teach them how to do the work without anyone teaching them. You may ask “is this possible?” yes it is (see Exodus 35: 30-33). While there are others who decide to go learn and “provide” the gift. That is, they go to music school to learn to sing. This group of people becomes so good at what they do because of the knowledge of the music that they have acquired. When you ask them what they do, they say “I’m a minister of music,” “gospel lyrics artist,” or whatever nomenclature they can give you. Some stop seeing music as a vocation, they begin to see it as a profession just because they went to music school. They get used to what they do because they do it often (specialization). The danger in this is the neglect of the Spirit’s work and direction in the life of that believer.

For the believer who ministers with songs, going to music school only teaches how to sing and play in harmony with various instruments and the foundation and depth of music, but it will never teach how to minister in and with the anointing. The anointing in whatever office you are holding is what makes the difference. Sometimes I was in a meeting back and a lady was ministering with songs and the power of God was powerful in that room. This lady has never been a part of any team ministering with songs, but she ministered with power. Another lady came up and took over the ministry and the entire atmosphere was emptied of the Spirit! This lady is part of the team that ministers in songs! Well it was obvious that he flopped, he blamed the drummer for not keeping up with him.

This other lady probably feels like she’s been with the choir for a long time and knows the way and she probably feels like she knows the kinds of songs to sing that will move people. His knowledge of music has become so puffed up that he is blinded to the leading of the Spirit. You don’t sing songs that move people, you minister to God to see the move of the Spirit. We are too caught up in this art of professionalism and it is getting in the way of God’s move in our meetings.

Just because you’re a good speaker doesn’t necessarily mean that when it comes to teaching God’s word, you can break through with the knowledge you’ve gained on how to deliver a speech or 101 ways to speak effectively. It doesn’t work that way. It is the Spirit that makes the difference. For believers, we are trained by the Spirit to depend on the Spirit, but in a profession, you are trained to depend on the knowledge you have gained in training. The problem is that we bring these principles into the kingdom of God to do His work and we hope to get God’s result.

My point is this, when it comes to doing God’s work, there are no rules, principles, or a better way to do things. The Church is not a place where you learn 10 ways to make the Spirit move or 10 ways to move in the anointing like, the Spirit is a mechanic. These are things that are taught in the world and believers are bringing these ideas to do God’s work and you expect to see a God-like result.

You cannot use the world’s systems to carry out God’s plan and purpose and every believer must be aware of this, otherwise you may end up building with wood, hay, and straw. Galatians 3: 3 makes it clear “Are you that foolish? After starting through the Spirit, are you now trying to finish through the flesh?”

Some ministers of the word, because they want to master the word of God to their people, they are going to take an online course on how to give a speech as if they were giving a seminar or something like that. Your motives may be correct, but your source is highly questionable. Who taught Moses, who was a stutterer, to speak fluently? I’m sure if we had preachers who are stutterers, they will decide on Google to teach them how to effectively teach how to stutter. Who taught the disciples of Jesus who never had the privilege of taking classes on how to deliver speeches, namely to minister the word to which we have still been referring for centuries?

Jesus said in Matthew 4:19 “I will make you” (emphasis added). Have we so neglected the work of the Spirit that we now sort to provide for ourselves what only He can provide for us? The Book of Acts records something profound in chapter 4:13 “when they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were ordinary men, uneducated, they were amazed and realized that these men had been with Jesus “(emphasis added).

You cannot have an impact by learning principles, dos and don’ts, but rather by spending time with Jesus and how do you spend time with Jesus? Spending time with the Word. When you spend time with the Word, you allow the Word to renew your mind and transform your life. Your calling is not a profession, so stop trying to make it one. It is not out of use get used to the things of the Spirit because there is no one way to do things in the realm of the Spirit. You do not get used to the things of the Spirit, you become sensitive to the direction of the Spirit to carry out His work.