The Regent World 33, 1 (2021) on Vocation

The latest issue of The Regent World, published Regent College, Vancouver, is devoted to ‘Vocation Reimagined: Being the Church in a Time of Uncertainty’. Here is the blurb:

‘For the world at large, this past year has been bleak. Many of us have had our lives uprooted by the pandemic, civil unrest, racial injustice, and more, which has led to ongoing and multi-faceted loneliness and loss. Yet, churches have not lost their way. In this issue, published in partnership with Regent Exchange, we feature the stories of individuals and churches who are reimagining their vocation as the people of God and contributing to the common good in a diversity of places and spaces.

‘As you read these reflections, poems, and case studies, we hope you’ll be inspired to keep serving God and those he brings to you. May we all experience this season as a time of forging new paths forward and looking to the future with hope – hope for our own lives, our communities, and the church at large.’

Individual articles are available from here.

On How God Provides

The below is an excerpt from an email written for the congregation where I am one of the pastors.

We know that God can provide miraculously. He’s done it on several occasions: manna in the wilderness, oil in a jar that doesn’t run out, small amounts of bread and fish which feed thousands...

Amazingly, though, in the normal scheme of things, he chooses to provide through a combination of the turn of the seasons, the rhythm of sowing and reaping, and a lot of hard work. It’s just as miraculous in its own way.

So, we pray ‘Give us today our daily bread’ (Matthew 6:11), but we don’t expect the bread suddenly to appear in the bread bin. (If it does in your household, please let us know!) God is still the ultimate giver of the bread, of course, but he provides it through a combination of farmers, bakers, truck drivers, and shop keepers. There’s a similarly long line of people between the rain that falls in the reservoirs and the fresh, clean water that comes out of our taps. No bread or water comes to our tables without the work, time, skills, and gifts of people who work on our behalf.

The 16th-century reformer Martin Luther recognised this, insisting that the farmer shoveling manure and the maid milking cows please God through their work as much as the pastor preaching or praying. As Luther made clear, ‘God is milking the cows through the vocation of the milkmaid’. He knew that so-called ‘ordinary’ men and women are agents of God’s providential care in the world. Our work – your work – is one of the ways God himself works in the world.

In these recent weeks, this has been pressed home to us with even more force.

If ever there was a time we needed dedicated doctors, paramedics, nurses, healthcare workers, microbiologists, economists, government leaders – and many others like them – it is now. They deserve our respect and admiration as well as our prayers at this time. But it’s also a time when the significance of the apparently more ‘mundane’ jobs has come to the fore – the people who stock the shelves and serve us in shops, the people who deliver our post, the people who empty our wheelie bins. God uses them all, working through them to bring about his own good purposes for society.

For us, too, whatever we find ourselves doing in this season, God continues to work through us to benefit other people – as husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, grandparents, friends, neighbours, and colleagues. Through us, in spite of the current situation and however we might feel about it, God is at work each and every day.

More from the Centre for Public Christianity (August 2019)

The Centre for Public Christianity has posted an audio interview with Mark Greene (full disclosure: long-standing friend of mine and colleague at the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity) in which he considers ‘our problematic experience of work, shares three key things that the research suggests make work enriching rather than soul-destroying, and tells stories of workplaces that are doing things differently.’

Missy Wallace on Work and Passion

There’s a helpful piece here on the Gospel Coalition website in a new ‘Thorns and Thistles’ column, by Missy Wallace, looking at the question, ‘What if my work isn’t my passion?’

It pushes back a bit on the well-worn adage, ‘Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life’, with the main takeaway being that ‘both social science and also God’s Word refute passion as a major job-search criterion’.

Wallace offers the following four principles to bear in mind:

1. ‘“Finding your passion” assumes passion is a fixed and/or inherent quality, whereas social science research suggests it’s more of a developing and changing quality.

2. Passions, when channeled into work, often don’t translate to giftings.

3. Science reveals that turning a passion into paid work can cause it to lose its inherent pleasure.

4. Scripture reveals that even though God created us to take dominion and create productive flourishing, all work includes toil, regardless of its alignment with our interest and giftings.

She concludes:

‘I’m thankful we live in a world where discussion about vocational fulfillment and satisfaction is even possible, as the privilege of choosing work is a first-world opportunity that reflects a movement from scarcity to abundance. While God may enable us to work for him in our “sweet spot,” we must acknowledge and steward the gift of that choice, remembering that our only true fulfillment is in him.’

Read the whole piece here.

Myths of Vocation #4

The De Pree Center at Fuller Seminary has made available the fourth and final volume in their resource on calling – ‘Myths of Vocation’ – this one devoted to the myth that ‘It all happens right away’.

As they write:

‘[We] thought that because we sensed God calling us to particular kinds of work, our careers would unfold smoothly and without major obstacles. Now, almost a decade later, I realize just how wrong we were. I know now that we were operating under the dysfunctional belief that “it all happens right away.” This fourth and final volume of this series explores this myth in depth.’

The Center has produced a four-volume study guide series that includes pdfs with journal prompts, videos, and suggested practices. The resources are available via a pain-free sign-up process here.

Myths of Vocation #3

The De Pree Center at Fuller Seminary has made available the third volume in their resource on calling – ‘Myths of Vocation’ – this one devoted to the myth that ‘I’m called to one special thing’.

As they write:

‘Buying into this myth might lead us to center our hopes on the idea that God has a specifically special path and future for us, and, that along our special path, there is one ideal career that will feel like a perfect fit for the person God has made us to be. We’ll guide you through a process of how we got here, how we can reframe our understanding of this myth, and then how to engage in practices that might reshape your imagination of God’s calling in your life.’

The Center is creating a four-volume study guide series that includes pdfs with journal prompts, videos, and suggested practices. The resources are available via a pain-free sign-up process here.

Myths of Vocation #2

The De Pree Center at Fuller Seminary has made available the second volume in their resource on calling – ‘Myths of Vocation’ – this one devoted to the myth that ‘my calling = my job’.

As they write:

‘While God certainly calls us to our careers, we’d be mistaken to think they are the only or most important areas of God’s call. This myth, however, is prevalent for many of us today, especially in the Western world. In this volume, we’ll explore where this myth comes from and attempt to reframe our understanding of how our jobs fit in with our callings.’

The Center is creating a four-volume study guide series that includes pdfs with journal prompts, videos, and suggested practices. The resources are available via a pain-free sign-up process here.

Myths of Vocation #1

The De Pree Center at Fuller Seminary is putting together what looks to be a very helpful resource on calling – ‘Myths of Vocation’.

In particular, the series is looking at ‘four distinct yet overlapping myths’:

(1) If I check all the boxes, I’ll be fulfilled

(2) I’m called to only one thing

(3) My calling = my job

(4) It all happens right away

As they note, ‘many of us carry around a set of dysfunctional beliefs about what work and calling are supposed to look like’, which ‘are often larger cultural narratives we find ourselves trapped within’, and which we are forced to confront ‘whenever our experiences fall out of sync with the myths of vocation’.

The Center is creating a four-volume study guide series that includes pdfs with journal prompts, videos, and suggested practices. The first pdf is available now, via a pain-free sign-up process here.

Southern Baptist Journal of Theology 22, 1 (2018) on Vocation

The current issue of the Southern Baptist Journal of Theology is devoted to the topic of vocation, with the below contributions.

Individual essays are available from here, and the whole issue can be downloaded as a pdf here.

Stephen J. Wellum

Editorial: Thinking Theologically about Vocation and Work

Robert L. Plummer

A New Testament Professor’s Rediscovery of the Doctrine of Vocation

Megan DeVore

“The Labors of our Occupation”: Can Augustine Offer Any Insight on Vocation?

Leland Ryken

“Some Kind of Life to Which We Are Called of God”: The Puritan Doctrine of Vocation

Michael A. G. Haykin

English Calvinistic Baptists and Vocation in the Long Eighteenth Century, with Particular Reference to Anne Dutton’s Calling as an Author

David Kotter

Milkmaids No More: Revisiting Luther’s Doctrine of Vocation from the Perspective of a “Gig” Economy

Elizabeth Mehlman

The Work and Faith of Theological Scholars: Converging Lessons from James 2 and Luther’s Doctrine of Vocation

Andrew David Naselli

Do Not Love the World: Breaking the Evil Enchantment of Worldliness (A Sermon on 1 John 2:15-17)

Book Reviews

John G. Stackhouse Jr. on Why You’re Here

I wrote the following mini review for July 2018’s edition of Highlights, produced by the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity.

John G. Stackhouse Jr., Why You’re Here: Ethics for the Real World (Oxford: OUP, 2018).

In short, ‘why you’re here’ is about vocation, understood as applicable to ‘everyone, everything, everywhere, in every moment’. There is the call of God on every human being, what we were made for. And there is the distinctive call God gives to Christians. Our human calling is to make shalom, our Christian calling is to make disciples. And the sphere in which we work out those callings is, as Stackhouse so helpfully reminds us, the ‘real world’. Living in a time where wheat and weeds grow together until the final harvest, a ‘Christian realism’ trusts God that will work through the various means he has given us, bringing as much shalom as possible but without thinking it’s down to us to build the New Jerusalem. Compelling and accessible, this is essential reading for all those who want to respond in hopeful faithfulness to the call of God on their lives.

Setting God’s People Free

‘It is only possible for the Gospel to reach the whole population through the active co-operation of all church people. We are convinced that England will never be converted until the laity use the opportunities for evangelism daily afforded by their various professions, crafts and occupations.’

That could so easily be a paragraph of promotional blurb from the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity, where I work, committed as we are to advocating a whole-life and comprehensive mission strategy through focusing on the ‘frontlines’ of all Christians.

Instead, it’s from a report by the Church of England Commission on Evangelism, published in 1945. Yes, 72 years ago. What was needed, according to the report, was a recovery of ‘the Apostolate of the whole Church’, where all – clergy and laity alike – are to witness to their Lord, and where such witness is seen as ‘the very essence of the Christian calling’.

It so happens that today – at the General Synod of the Church of England – a new report is being presented, one commissioned by the Archbishops’ Council and prepared by the members of the Lay Leadership Task Group.

It’s called ‘Setting God’s People Free’, and it’s available as a pdf here.

It speaks about us being ‘summoned... to a common vocation’, where ‘the whole people of God, clergy and laity, gathered and sent, are charged with continuing Christ’s priestly work of blessing, mediation and reconciliation on behalf of the whole of humanity, to bear witness to, and participate in the mission of God’.

Early on, the report identifies ‘the need for two shifts in culture and practice’ that are seen as ‘critical to the flourishing of the Church and the evangelisation of the nation’:

‘1. Until, together, ordained and lay, we form and equip lay people to follow Jesus confidently in every sphere of life in ways that demonstrate the Gospel we will never set God’s people free to evangelise the nation.

2. Until laity and clergy are convinced, based on their baptismal mutuality, that they are equal in worth and status, complementary in gifting and vocation, mutually accountable in discipleship, and equal partners in mission, we will never form Christian communities that can evangelise the nation.’

The report explores those shifts, looks at some ‘constraining factors’, and suggests eight ‘proposed levers of cultural change’. Unlike previous reports on this issue, going back to the one in 1945, this report offers some recommended next steps and priorities for implementation.

Barna on Millennials and Work

There’s a brief report from Barna here on ‘When Millennials go to Work’.

It comes out of the US, and I’m never quite sure how it stacks up in the UK context, but I suspect there’ll be a fair amount of overlap.

Here are some sample paragraphs:

‘Although most Millennials agree their career is at least somewhat central to their identity, only a third say their career is very central. In fact, Boomers are more likely than Millennials to believe their career is central to who they are.

‘So what do Millennials deem most central to their identity? “Family” and “personal interests” are the top two categories. “Career” is actually one of the least likely categories to be named – the only category it beats is “technology.”

‘For [Christian] Millennials, “calling” is more than just about being called toward religious or ministry professions – they are thinking about whether they are “called” by God to their secular jobs as well. To be clear, most of them (69%) define “calling” not in a fixed, permanent way, but as something that can change over time as they age. This means they are likely thinking about whether they are called to their current work at this point in their lives, not for a lifetime.

‘A lifetime career trajectory is not an expectation for most Millennials; they anticipate changing jobs often and will likely do so in pursuit of work that better aligns with their passions. As Millennials become a larger and larger segment of the employee market, companies will need to shift policies and incentives to appeal to these desires. Training, mentorship, opportunities for independence and fluidity within roles will become important factors in employee retention.’

Mark Labberton on Vocation

Mark Labberton, Called: The Crisis and Promise of Following Jesus Today (Downers Grove: IVP, 2014).

I’m looking forward to seeing this forthcoming book from Mark Labberton, president of Fuller Seminary.

There is a pdf excerpt available from this page.

There’s an early review of it here by Marcus Goodyear, who writes:

‘This little book calls the entire faith and work movement to task, reminding Christians to focus on the First Thing. My career, my success, and my productivity are not elements of my primary calling. A Christian’s calling is not a personal one, but a shared calling with other Christians to something very simple and straightforward: love God and love your neighbor.’

And a little later, and better parsed in my opinion:

‘The calling we share is more important than the manifestation of that general calling in any specific context. In short, your calling to Christ must be the First Thing. Everything else in life must serve that one calling.’

He cites Labberton himself:

‘The vocation of every Christian is to live as a follower of Jesus today. In every aspect of life, in small and large acts, with family, neighbors and enemies, we are to seek to live out the grace and truth of Jesus. This is our vocation, our calling. Today.’

At the bottom of the page is a short video with Labberton, profiling the book.

Fuller also have a page devoted to the book, which includes another video and a downloadable discussion guide.

Christian History Magazine on Callings

The latest issue of Christian History Magazine is devoted to ‘Callings: Work and Vocation in the History of the Church’, exploring ‘how Christians have looked at vocation (secular and sacred occupations) throughout history’.

Here are some paragraphs from the Editorial:

‘Our subject is the myriad ways that Christian ”vocation” or “calling” has been understood throughout Christian history. The words are really the same – “vocation” has a Latin root; “calling” an Anglo-Saxon one – and both have been used from Bible times to our own to describe the summoning of Christians. But that summoning has raised many questions over the years.

‘Can one have a vocation to “secular” work, or is the word limited to the ordained and the consecrated? How can you tell what God is calling you to do with your life, your job, and your relationships? Does calling mean abandoning those things or fulfilling them differently? Is “vocation” synonymous with “occupation”? What does calling look like in a largely Christian world? And what does it look like in a largely un-Christian world?

‘The questions have been many, and the answers have been varied. At times Christians have emphasized the call to religious work over the call to work in the world, and at times they have risen up against that assumption. At times they have claimed that there are some professions a Christian cannot hold and still  be a Christian – and at times those professions have changed. At times they have understood their calling as building up the social order, and at times they have understood it as undermining the social order or tearing it down.

‘At their best, they have always remembered that the primary call on the life of all Christians is the call to follow Christ...’

The whole magazine is available as a 6.5 MB pdf here.

Mission:Work

Patheos recently started a Mission:Work channel ‘to create a space where all kinds of conversations about work and faith can come together’. Many of the items are curated from elsewhere, but it’s handy to have them together in one place.

Recent posts include:

Theology of Work Project, ‘The Universal Call to Work’

Drew Cleveland, ‘The Contested American Dream’

Al Hsu, ‘Is All Work a High Calling?’

Stephen Garber, ‘The Sacramental Character of Our Callings’

Andrew Arndt, ‘Good Fruit, Thorny Endeavor’

Paul F. Goetting on the Vocation of All Believers

I was asked to write six brief book notes for the November 2013 edition of EG, published by LICC. I’ll post them individually here over the next week or so.

Paul F. Goetting, Members are Ministers: The Vocation of All Believers (Eugene: Cascade Books, 2012).

‘The people in the pew, pouring out of the church into their various vocations following public worship, should be seen as the front line of the church’s ministry and mission. Below them, lifting up and supporting them, there are the bishops and pastors and leaders of the congregation’. Such is the vision of this former Lutheran pastor, drawing on years of ministry and teaching. Combining theological insight, historical reflection and practical wisdom, this is a compelling case for ‘the vocation of all believers’.

Art Lindsley on Five Ways Pastors Can Affirm Faith, Calling, and Vocation

There’s a nice, short piece on the Gospel Coalition blog by Art Lindsley on ‘5 Ways Pastors Can Affirm Faith, Calling, and Vocation’:

1. Watch your language

2. Pray for people in professions

3. Interview workers

4. Commission people for ministry in their work

5. Stress that you can have a ministry at work

Amy Sherman on Embracing Vocation in the City

Q Ideas has a 17-minute video here of Amy Sherman on ‘Embracing Vocation in the City’, highlighting themes explored more fully in her book, Kingdom Calling: Vocational Stewardship for the Common Good (Downers Grove: IVP, 2012).

Here is the blurb for the video:

‘We spend most of our week outside of church – at our jobs, in our neighborhoods, with our families. How do we connect our faith with our vocations – with the work that we do in the world? Too often the church fails to deploy people’s unique vocational power strategically, creatively, and effectively. Amy Sherman challenges Christians to embrace a new vision for an everyday, integrated faith that will ultimately change workplaces, cities, industries.’

Byron Borger on Books on Vocation and Calling, Work and Jobs

Byron Borger assembles here a full and excellent annotated list of books on vocation and work, written from a Christian perspective.

Martin Luther on Changing Nappies

I’ve been reading a fair bit on the theme of vocation/calling in recent months. From a historical perspective, Martin Luther rightly gets drawn into the discussion, and one thing that comes up quite a bit are some his comments about changing nappies. I thought I’d track down the full discussion – in his The Estate of Marriage (1522) – for my own edification, and here is the pertinent part, which (I think) makes for wonderful reading:

‘Now observe that when that clever harlot, our natural reason (which the pagans followed in trying to be most clever), takes a look at married life, she turns up her nose and says, “Alas, must I rock the baby, wash its diapers, make its bed, smell its stench, stay up nights with it, take care of it when it cries, heal its rashes and sores, and on top of that care for my wife, provide for her, labour at my trade, take care of this and take care of that, do this and do that, endure this and endure that, and whatever else of bitterness and drudgery married life involves? What, should I make such a prisoner of myself? O you poor, wretched fellow, have you taken a wife? Fie, fie upon such wretchedness and bitterness! It is better to remain free and lead a peaceful, carefree life; I will become a priest or a nun and compel my children to do likewise.

‘What then does Christian faith say to this? It opens its eyes, looks upon all these insignificant, distasteful, and despised duties in the Spirit, and is aware that they are all adorned with divine approval as with the costliest gold and jewels. It says, “O God, because I am certain that thou hast created me as a man and hast from my body begotten this child, I also know for a certainty that it meets with thy perfect pleasure. I confess to thee that I am not worthy to rock the little babe or wash its diapers, or to be entrusted with the care of the child and its mother. How is it that I, without any merit, have come to this distinction of being certain that I am serving thy creature and thy most precious will? O how gladly will I do so, though the duties should be even more insignificant and despised. Neither frost nor heat, neither drudgery nor labour, will distress or dissuade me, for I am certain that it is thus pleasing in thy sight...

‘Now you tell me, when a father goes ahead and washes diapers or performs some other mean task for his child, and someone ridicules him as an effeminate fool, though that father is acting in the spirit just described and in Christian faith, my dear fellow you tell me, which of the two is most keenly ridiculing the other? God, with all his angels and creatures, is smiling, not because that father is washing diapers, but because he is doing so in Christian faith. Those who sneer at him and see only the task but not the faith are ridiculing God with all his creatures, as the biggest fool on earth. Indeed, they are only ridiculing themselves; with all their cleverness they are nothing but devil’s fools.’