Growing up I wanted to be the best Christian that I could be. In my mind that meant that I would go into full-time Christian ministry, but not just any ministry. I thought I should be a missionary. I went on missions trips, went forward at altar calls, studied Spanish and thought that is what God had for me. When I got to Taylor, I moved in this direction. At Taylor there was definitely a spiritual hierarchy. Bible majors, Christian Ed majors . . . Business majors. As graduation came closer and closer, I felt God providentially moving me away from this. He moved me into working with college students at Christian schools and eventually at private and state institutions. During this time, I struggled with questions about whether I had been wrong about going into Student Development.
Then I got to Calvin College and discovered a Reformed view of vocation, calling and career. While I worked there, I taught a class called Prelude where Freshmen students went through different aspects of a Reformed worldview. We read a text by Neal Plantinga entitled Engaging God's World. This was the beginning of a new understanding of God's providence and my career decisions.
Here's the abridged version. All Christians share a CALLING. This encompasses God's command "to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God," and the rest of scripture. VOCATION is more specificly how one carries out his calling. For instance, my vocation seems to be education or teaching. Amanda's vocation is in caring for children. God reveals this through giftings, talents, dreams and desires. Vocation was the most important one for me. It is the work that God has for you. CAREER is the most specific, but in my mind the less important. The ideal of course would be that someone's career involves their vocation, but that isn't always the case. For instance, I could accomplish my vocation by working with college students at church, while I worked at something completely different.
This idea was life giving and very freeing. It also cleared up the dichotomy of "Christian" and "secular" work. The work that we do is important, but not as important as our calling as Christians and the vocation that God has given us. This is the thinking that allows me to value the work of a pastor and a carpenter the same. It's just work. Are they accomplishing their calling and vocation in their work? We've all known pastors or missionaries who were not and business people who were. What do you think? Is this way of thinking helpful for you? What is your vocation and how do you or do you not work to accomplish it in your career?
