The Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary (RPTS), the denominational seminary of the RPCNA, primarily exists to train men for pastoral ministry within the church. As such, we regularly work with men regarding their sense of call to this office. I thought it would be helpful to reintroduce the teaching of J. G. Vos on this subject.
Vos was one of the most influential figures in the RPCNA in the 20th Century. A pastor, missionary to Manchuria, theologian, and professor in the Bible department of Geneva College from 1954–1973, Vos brought theological renewal to the denomination. One way the Lord used Vos was through a journal he published called Blue Banner Faith and Life.
As recounted in an essay by Dr. Byron Curtis, Vos started this journal because there was “a low level of awareness of true biblical Christianity” and “there needed to be a very vocal but simple publication to set forth the true faith of the church.” Through the Blue Banner, Vos addressed many theological and practical issues related to the church.
In one lesson in the Blue Banner, Vos addresses the matter of pastoral calling by treating Westminster Larger Catechism Question 156:
“Q. By whom is the word of God to be preached?
A. The word of God is to be preached only by such as are sufficiently gifted, and also duly approved and called to that office.”
Using a catechetical style of his own, Vos raises five questions about this subject and then answers them. Below, I list those questions, share a portion of Vos’s answers, and stress his response. My hope in sharing Vos’s perspective is that readers will understand more fully the nature of pastoral calling. Perhaps some men reading his words will have their hearts stirred in this direction.
1. With what kind of preaching of the Word does this question of the Catechism especially deal? Vos says what is in view is the formal preaching of God’s Word by duly ordained pastors. He writes, “With public preaching of the Word in a congregation of Christ’s Church. This may be inferred from the words ‘publicly to the congregation.’…A person who is not an ordained minister or licentiate may witness for Christ privately or publicly as opportunity is afforded, but the official public preaching of the Word in the Church is to be done only by those duly set apart for that work.” The Lord’s plan is to use teaching elders to help His church truly thrive.
2. Why is the official preaching of the Word to be done only by “such as are sufficiently gifted”? Vos insists that there “are spiritual qualifications, intellectual qualifications, and educational qualifications which must be insisted upon if the Church is to have an adequate ministry.” Vos reasons that if men are not regenerated, or able to think clearly, or unfamiliar with theology, they will harm rather than help the church. Thus, he concludes, “When God calls a man to the work of the ministry he also equips him with the necessary abilities and qualifications that he may execute the work adequately.”
3. Why does our church, along with most Protestant churches, require a full college and seminary education for the office of the ministry? The exacting logic of Vos is displayed in his answer: “The more important a work is, the more important it is that those who must do that work have adequate training.” He then addresses a topic that must be perennial, for we face this same objection today: “There have always been those who have thought that it is more or less a waste of time to spend seven years in college and seminary in preparation for the work of the ministry. In many denominations today there is a constant pressure to relax such requirements and admit men to the ministry who have had less than a full college and seminary course.”
After describing further how many see college studies or seminary training as a waste of time, Vos responds, “No person who needed to have an operation performed would willingly go to a surgeon who had obtained his training by a shortcut. The State rightly insists that those whose decisions and actions involve the life and death of their fellow men be thoroughly trained for their work. How much more important it is that ministers of the Gospel, whose work may affect the eternal destiny of human beings, be thoroughly educated for their appointed task.”
From discussions we have had, I know my friend and counterpart at Geneva, President Calvin Troup, would agree when Vos states, “Considering the length of time required for training for the medical and other learned professions, four years of college and three years of seminary work are not too much for ministerial training. The minister who lacks college training will hardly be able to understand the modern world in which he must deliver his message.” Vos then stresses the need for ministers of the gospel to add seminary training by studying the classical foci of the biblical languages, Old and New Testament studies, systematic theology, church history, and pastoral theology. The aim is “to place the tools of Bible study and theological research in the student’s hands, and to train him in their proper use. He can then go out and preach, and will never run out of material to the end of his life.”
Vos does acknowledge that “God sometimes calls to the office of the ministry a man who has had but little formal education, and in such exceptional cases, where the divine call is evident, the Church should not hesitate to ordain the candidate to the ministry.” But he goes on to say, “Such cases will however be quite rare, especially in times when there are normal opportunities for getting an education. The exception should not be allowed to become the rule.”
4. What is meant by being “duly approved and called” to the work of the ministry? Under this question, Vos distinguishes between what has traditionally been called the inner and external call of the ministry. Regarding the former, which Vos calls the “divine call,” he says that this “does not mean a special revelation from heaven, such as a dream or vision, but a consciousness that one possesses some measure of the requisite qualifications, together with an earnest desire to preach the Gospel, a willingness to make sacrifices for the cause of Christ, and a readiness to endeavor to gain the necessary preparation.” Men who are pondering whether God is calling them to ministry would do well to reflect and pray over those four areas: qualifications, desire, willingness, and readiness. If any of those are absent, a man is not ready to say to the Lord as Isaiah did, “Here I am! Send me” (Isa. 6:8).
Vos then describes how the church takes a man through the process of having an inner call verified by an external call, which “is ordinarily divided into various stages; first, the candidate is received under the care of a presbytery as a student for the ministry; then, after partial preparation he is licensed to preach; finally, after full preparation and a call from a congregation or mission board, he is ordained to the office of the ministry.” Again, a man must be both willing and able to be “duly approved and called” as outlined here.
5. Why must a man be duly called by God and the church before entering upon the office of the ministry? In this last question and answer, Vos reminds his readers that even the Lord Jesus Christ was called. He then explains that those who do not follow the biblical precedent of calling show “a certain contempt and neglect of the visible Church as a divine institution involved in their attitude, which cannot be endorsed.” Vos taught, and the RPCNA still believes, that the calling of God and the confirmation of the church are inseparable. As he puts it, “Some who claim a superior kind of piety hold that the call of God is sufficient, and that they do not need the call and ordination of the Church. Such disregard of the visible Church is not Scriptural and should be discountenanced.”
Are you interested in speaking more about calling as Vos taught it? Please reach out to me at RPTS by phone at (412) 731-6000 or email at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
For Vos’s full article, see Blue Banner Fath and Life Volume 15 (1960), pages 91–92.