THE VICE OF PRIDE
Jonathan Pokluda
I remember the exact moment when I was called into vocational ministry . I was sitting at my desk in the middle of a Dallas high-rise when I heard God say , “ You are going to work for me .” I don ’ t know if you would have heard it if you were sitting beside me , but I know I did . Now , here is something you should know about me : if you ask the people who know me best , they will tell you that I am not a big “ I heard God say ” guy . This time , however , was different . Even today , all these years later , I can only describe the experience as startling .
I called my friend Bo and asked if he could meet me at my house right away . Keep in mind this was during the middle of the workday .
“ I ’ m at work ,” he responded .
“ Is there any way you can leave ? Something big just happened , and I need to process it with you .” Being the good friend that he was ( and is ), Bo said he would find a way to make it happen .
We met at my house at 1:30 in the afternoon . As I paced nervously around the living room , I told him , “ You are going to want to sit down for this .” He was confused ( and probably equally nervous ), not sure what I was about to tell him . “ I think God just called me into ministry ,” I said .
Bo wasn ’ t surprised at all . He responded with some encouraging words , letting me know that he had seen God move in my life and could affirm God was doing a new work in me .
Just a few years prior to this moment , I was a regular in the Dallas club scene . I was everything wrong with Dallas wrapped in one person . I was pretentious . I was materialistic .
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