Calling out "calling"

Anthropology, Biology, Chemistry, Communication, Cultural Studies, Drama, Dance, Economics, Education, Environmentalism, Geology, Fashion, Horticulture...the list goes on and on.

The sum total of the academic experience leads to one question for most students: What am I supposed to do with my life?

As each field becomes more and more specialized--and subsequently births new fields--it seems the monolithic list of possible futures for students is only becoming more endless and foreboding by the minute. As several studies have shown, too many options actually are bad for us. In fact when given more than three options in any situation a human being is more likely to be indecisive for longer, and ultimately to be less happy with their decision after making it. An easy example is the cereal isle at your local grocery store; how many mom's spend over 5 minutes deliberating over which box of cereal to take home to make their kids happy? With students the stakes are a bit higher; whatever field they choose they will be stuck in for the rest of their life--in essence their choice of major is an identity claim of the highest order.

The problem is further complicated for Christian students, who not only need to make a life-changing (or rather life-making) decision, but are often under the added pressure to discern their "God-ordained" vocation, otherwise known as their "calling." This terminology is well-known in Christian circles, and it's popularity is perhaps only surpassed by its ambiguity. I can't count how many Christians I've met (students and non-students alike) who are absolutely convinced they have a calling before they fully understand what that calling is, or even what the word "calling" means.

For the longest time the overuse and misunderstanding around this term has nagged at me. Some Christians, it seems, can't make a decision of any significance before determining whether God has called them to do it. Forget majors for a moment, I'm talking about buying a car, taking a job, dating a person, even down to minuscule decisions like sending e-mails or setting up a facebook account. Please don't misinterpret me, I don't mean to be irreverent at all, and certainly desire to always find my choices in line with the will of God. But what happens for many people now when they seek to discern God's calling on their life is comparable to checking the horoscopes. Rather than seeking wisdom in decision-making, many of us end up seeking some external force to make decisions for us.

By now some of you must be wondering if I have any authority to back these claims up with; I'm going to pull a LeVar Burton here and tell you, "don't take my word for it," check out the bible. The term "calling" is never really used until the NT, at which point it is mostly used by Paul, and almost always used to refer to the Call we believers have received to follow Christ. Check out these verses to see for yourself: Rom 8:28, Rom 11:29, 1 Cor 1:26, Gal 5:13, Eph 1:18, Eph 4:1, etc...

From a biblical standpoint there are no grounds for interpreting a vocational path as a "call." So where did this idea come from? During medieval times clergy and "men of the cloth" were said to have recieved a call to do the work of the Lord. This "call" ended up creating a clear distinction between men in ministerial positions, and men of more earthly careers such as farming, masonry, or welding. Over time this distinction perpetuated the Hellenistic idea that earthly work was less important and less holy than ministerial work. During the reformation people such as John Calvin saw the awful dualism such thinking had caused in God's people, and sought to help workers in all varieties of professions recognize their labor as equally called upon by God, linking their earthly work to humanity's initial (pre-fall) function as cultivators of Creation (see Gen 1:28).

If you aren't confused or frustrated enough already, I'm going to admit that I agree with John Calvin in this instance. I do believe that the farmer is "called" to farm, the doctor is "called" to heal, and the writer is "called" to write. The difference is that the "call" we have received is a general one that applies to all of God's children, the same as Paul explains it, not necessarily a specific voice we are meant to discern through some Christian version of a Ouija Board. All of us have been called to be good stewards of creation, and since the proclamation of the gospel, we followers of Christ have been called to join Christ in the restoration of Creation. Within this call there is great liberty afforded to us, as Paul describes in Romans, "Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him...One person esteems one day better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind." And then again in 1 Corinthians 10:13, "So whether you drink or eat, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."

These verses seem to intimate that it is not what we do (assuming what we are doing is not in contradiction to God's character) but whether what we are doing is done unto the glory of God; that is the important part; that is what God has "called" us to do. If I am farming unto the glory of God, then I am fulfilling the call of a farmer; if I am doctoring unto the glory of God then I am fulfilling my call as a doctor; if I am writing unto the glory of God then I am fulfilling my call as a writer; and if I am ministering unto the glory of God then I am fulfilling my call as a minister. Likewise, if I pursue any of these fields, including ministering, while not seeking the glory of God, then I am not fulfilling my call in that profession.

To some people this sounds like bad news, because it can seem like there is less meaning and purpose in our work when it hasn't already been decided for us beforehand--let's not get into predestination today--on the other hand, I think it's actually "good news" because we never have to wonder whether we are fulfilling God's Call on our lives as long as we are indeed living according to his word, and seeking to glorify God. The liberty to choose what to do within those parameters is actually a beautiful gift, not a curse. Whether we are writing, farming, engineering, plumbing, coaching, or whatever, we can always be fulfilling God's call.

This is one of the messages Rachel and I seek to help our students understand: that if they are striving to be true stewards, and if they are truly seeking to glorify God with their work, then whatever major or career path they decide to pursue has value in God's kingdom. But being a true steward and glorifying God both need to be defined before we can begin attempting either. Namely, they both need to be understood in the light of the gospel, and in the light of the life Christ has called us to walk in.

Please pray for us, as Rachel and I challenge college students to understand the call God has made on their life, and in particular how their particular major is part of the ongoing work of "joining Christ in the restoration of Creation."

In His Arms,
Elliott

PS. Just to clarify, I do believe there are some people who receive a direct clear "call" from God to act or live in a specific way. However, as was the case with Jonah, John the Baptist, and Christ, I believe this type of "call" is unmistakable when it comes to us, and we should be proactive and functional as Christians, seeking with wisdom to use the gifts we have to participate in gospel work always, fulfilling the greater common Call with diligence as a default, so if perchance we should find ourselves to be one of those special few we will not be found idle and wanting in spiritual maturity when that unique "call" comes.