When you were in high school or college, Dear Reader, did you “go out” for a sport or audition for a theatrical production? Was it something you’d always wanted to do, out of curiosity, or more of a peer pressure thing?

Whether it’s a college production of “Hamlet,” or the Army, recruitment posters can make endeavors look amazing and inclusive. But that’s not quite the reality of recruitment, is it? Recruitment seems designed to gather as many candidates as possible, then select the ones most viable, or committed.

When I read Luke’s Gospel, I discover Jesus was performing lots of impressive miracles early on. Was that His recruitment style? Maybe it’s similar to the team coach giving a spiel at the back-to-school assembly about how cool and gratifying the team is, and that everyone is welcome. A week later everyone is scrambling to see if they made the cut.

Jesus gathered a lot of followers, or disciples, before choosing the twelve apostles. Please take a look at this short video for a MUCH better explanation than I could offer of the difference between apostles and disciples.

 It happened around that time that Jesus went up into the mountain to pray, and he spent all night in prayer to God.  When day came, he called his disciples, and chose twelve of them, calling them “apostles” . . .

luke 6:12-13 NTFE

Did you catch that, Dear Reader? There was an unknown number of disciples who had already witnessed some of Jesus’ most powerful miracles. Out of those, He chose twelve to be His “apostles.” Matthew’s Gospel provides us with a little more clarity about being apostles:

And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every infirmity. The names of the twelve apostles are these . . .

Matthew 10:1-2 RSV

The more I read and studied, the more I understood:

• Jesus calls all of us to be disciples, to follow and learn from Him;
• He calls some to serve as apostles, specifically messengers of His gospel of love to others.
• God’s not a puppet master. While He may call us to a certain role, God also allows us to exercise free will through choice.

I used to observe and listen to others, and wish I could (fill-in-the-blank). There were times I actually mourned because I didn’t have a gift someone else obviously did. What a waste of time that was!

It would be great if I could whip up a delicious buffet for thirty at the drop of a hat, with the house being spotless, AND while having a good hair day . . . ummm, not so much. As much as I love music, performing it is not my calling either. (Joyfully, the Lord did bless us with a talented son who has given us pleasure and pride in his performances.)

Hopefully you’re a much faster study than me, Dear Reader. It’s taken me decades to figure out and yield to my God-given gifts, and how He calls me to use them.

Back to our sports and theater analogy. We may all be called to discipleship, but not all of us get to be apostles, star quarterbacks and leads in plays. That doesn’t minimize the responsibilities of fans, coaches, other players, people working in concessions, etc. We all have a job to do, or as Paul wrote,

 I planted the seed and Apollos watered it. But God is the one who made the seed grow. So the one who plants is not important, and the one who waters is not important. Only God is important, because he is the one who makes things grow. The one who plants and the one who waters have the same purpose. And each one will be rewarded for his own work.

1 Corinthians 3:6-8 ERV

For me, that means listening for God’s call and yielding my will to His (through trust and obedience). Ultimately, I believe we are all called to serve others and bring God glory using the unique ways He has created and equipped us.