Hawkins exhorts students to have the right perspective in ministry

Drawing from the last days of the apostle John exiled on the island of Patmos in the Book of Revelation, O.S. Hawkins, chancellor and senior professor of pastoral ministry and evangelism at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, encouraged the seminary community to maintain the right ministry perspective during his Jan. 25 chapel message.

President David S. Dockery said Hawkins “really needs no introduction to this community,” as he has served as chancellor since 2023 and has a long track record of service. Dockery noted Hawkins’s pastoral ministries in Oklahoma and Florida before he began as the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas (1993-1997). Hawkins later served for 25 years as the president and CEO of Guidestone Financial Resources, retiring from the senior leadership role of the Southern Baptist entity in 2022.

Preaching from Revelation 1:9-20, Hawkins focused mainly on verses nine and 10 throughout his message. He said that his task during the message was to take those who listen “out of verse nine, and to plant your feet solidly in verse 10.”

Hawkins said that ministers need to “remember the privilege” of their calling.

“What a privilege it is that we have been called by God, set apart for a special task in His Kingdom,” Hawkins said. “That there is a job for you to do that no one else can do like you’re going to do. What a privilege.”

Hawkins explained that the privilege is also that ministers are not alone in the calling from God, but are part of “a great relay race” of people who share a common calling from God.

“We’re brothers, we’re companions, in this common work,” Hawkins added. “There are 40,000 graduates of this seminary,” those… “who have gone before us, and there will be those who come after us.”

Talking about the common work of ministers, Hawkins said they do not have a ministry of their own, but “have received it from Christ.” He noted the difference between an “achieved ministry” and a “received ministry” where in the former, they call themselves. In the latter, God calls the minister, he said.

Hawkins also said ministers should “remember the predicament” of their callings, noting that when John was writing Revelation, he was living in exile on the island of Patmos. He said Patmos is where criminals and the mentally insane were exiled. Though he was not a violent criminal, Hawkins explained that John was exiled “because he would not bow and say that Caesar was lord.”

Hawkins added that during His ministry Jesus spoke to the disciples about persecution and Paul in his final letter to Timothy, Paul said that persecution “is our holy predicament.”

Lastly, Hawkins said to “remember the perspective of your calling.” The perspective, Hawkins explained, is that Christ is with those whom He calls.

“He is with you,” Hawkins exhorted. “He’s walking through the churches. He’s for you, and He’s holding you in His right hand.”

He encouraged those in attendance not to become too focused on the “limitations” and “liabilities” seen in verse nine. He said that people can become focused on the fact that John was exiled, had to search for food, had only the sea to look at, and that he was cut off from people.

Instead of focusing on those, Hawkins said to read past where John said, “I was on the island called Patmos,” and to look at where John said, “but I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day.”

Hawkins added, “It is not where you are, it’s who you are that matters the most.” He said while John was cut-off and lonely, he remembered that he had the Spirit with him. Hawkins noted John was experiencing loneliness, “but that loneliness was a gateway to love.”

Hawkins concluded by talking about the last days of the life of W. A. Criswell, the legendary, longtime pastor of First Baptist Dallas, where Hawkins later pastored. He said in his final days, Criswell would welcome people from his bed “and look at them and say, ‘Have you come for the revival?’”

“He died with that perspective – not on the island of Patmos, but in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day,” Hawkins said.

Hawkins is a two-time alumnus of Southwestern Seminary as he earned both his Master of Divinity and Doctor of Philosophy from the Fort Worth, Texas, institution.

Hawkins’s entire message can be viewed here.

Chapel is held every Tuesday and Thursday at 10 a.m. (CT) in MacGorman Chapel on the campus of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and TBC. Chapel may be viewed live at swbts.live.