In a success obsessed society, it is worth remembering that God’s call can not always be measured by the world’s criteria of success. How’s your budget? How is your attendance at worship? Is your church growing? Ezekiel 3 is a valuable passage when a pastor is struggling with what s/he is doing wrong. Ezekiel was called to eat the word but then was told that the people were not going to listen when he spoke to them. A critical element in our obedience to call is remembering who we are to obey. “Mortal, all my words that I shall speak to you receive in your heart and hear with your ears; then go to the exiles, to your people, and speak to them. Say to them, “Thus says the Lord God;” whether they hear or refuse to hear.”
This is not an invitation to self-flagellation or playing the victim. Rather, it is a reminder that sometimes God can use faithfulness even when it is not obvious in terms of the world’s response. There are plenty of pastors who have served small congregations in a way that has transformed lives. Sometimes they have been the chaplain to a dieing congregation because the people refused to hear but his or her task was to faithfully proclaim. Isaiah 6:8 ff is another example of the value of ministry that at times does not appear to produce fruit.
The central truth is that God is sovereign and we are to seek to be faithful to God’s call. Our dignity that can sustain us, even at points of despair, is that we have been named and called by God. See Jeremiah 1:5.
