In most of my discussions with other believers on topics of interest in daily Christian living and perhaps church culture-at-large, at some point the following objection will be raised: “but what if God calls me to [insert calling here]?”  Typically, it is asserted as a sort of philosophical silver bullet, rendering any counter-argument automatically invalid.  Except, it does nothing of the kind!

As an example, I once was having an extended discussion with a number of friends on the subject of cold-call evangelism (you know, the sort where you stop an unsuspecting stranger and ask them about what they think will happen when they die*).  We were debating the purpose of the Great Commission, whether spiritual gifts were involved and so on, when someone dropped what I’m sure they thought was a debate-ending bombshell: they related a story where, during a cold-call evangelism outreach, they felt a “tugging of the Holy Spirit” and engaged a particular person in conversation.  As you may be able to imagine, said person was in a special place of vulnerability at the time and the prayer and kind words of a stranger were exactly what they needed.  The implication was that this proved their point, and the debate was over.  Of course, all it proved was that we must obey where God leads us.

What this person did was use a specific situation to make a general proclamation.  They believed the story effective because none of us present would be willing to deny the Spirit of God the power to act in that sort of situation; of course, we all readily agreed.  But the story only proved that God can direct us in any specifics.  The debate at the time had been on generalities.  We were asking, “is cold-call evangelism something all Christians should pursue on a rather vigorous, daily basis?”  The answer to that question is not obvious to many in the church, especially younger millennials like myself.

However, the question “is cold-call evangelism something an individual Christian should pursue on an immediate basis when called to do so?” seems to have an obvious answer, “yes!”  This problem is closely related to the Fallacy of Composition, where something true for a part is construed to therefore be true for the whole.  So, while it may be true that you, individually, at this time and place, might be called to a specific thing, that fact does not mean that all Christians are called to that thing at all times.

Now, this is my warning, what I call the “supreme caveat” and what I will be invoking frequently in my writing here.  No matter what our topic is, there is always going to be an exception for God’s specific intervention.  I may argue later that the current evangelical distaste for the “American dream” is undeserved, but obviously, if God gives you a specific calling to poverty, then that is what you must do.  You must live in poverty.  Similarly, I tend to believe that our professional and spiritual gifts are good guides for choice of employment.  If you are bad at music and strongly dislike it, then I do not think God is calling you to be a worship pastor.

Of course, He knows more than I do, and if He gives you a specific calling, then surely he has a plan for you and you must obey it.  If we treat the supreme caveat as the warning that it is, that no matter what the topic, God’s individual leading overrides other guides, then perhaps we can spend more time discussing the general merits of the issue at hand, rather than using anecdotes that essentially invoke the supreme caveat over and over again in an attempt not to engage in debate, but to end it.  If ended that way, none of us have learned anything, and all are made the poorer from it.

* I always thought this a tad unfair to them.  I usually daydream somewhat as I walk from place to place, and if someone stopped me suddenly and asked me what I would say to God if I died today my first reply would probably be along the lines of “Nothing awkward, hopefully.”