Several meanings are given to Christian vocation. Just as a double standard of holiness arose from the emphasis on the value of virginity, celibacy and poverty from passages of Scripture such as Matthew 19:17–24 and 1 Corinthians 7:20–24, so a double standard of vocation has evolved. The vocation of God has been restricted to the so-called higher way, or sacred profession. This dual standard of holiness perverted the meaning of “saint” from one of the people of God, and the “priesthood of the believer” to one of entering the monastic order and the priestly service. The primary connotation of “vocation” is derived from the purpose of the one who called. In the Bible the term “calling” originally conveyed many implications for men’s occupational duties which now have become obscured. The term “vocation” in the biblical sense refers to the sum total of life’s purposes and has definite implications for secular occupations.
In theology vocation is generally confined to the effectual call to salvation. The external call is the preaching of the Gospel with its attendant command to repent and believe. It is the summons of God to each man and woman to a life of faith and love. The effectual call is internal or “the work of God’s Spirit, whereby convincing us of our sin and misery, enlightening our minds in the knowledge of Christ, and renewing our wills. He doth persuade and enable us to embrace Jesus Christ, freely offered to us in the Gospel.” (Westminster Shorter Catechism, Question 31.) The effectual call is experienced by becoming a Christian whereby the will of God is the supreme factor in life (cf. Eph. 4:4; 1 Cor. 1:26; Eph. 1:18; Phil. 3:14; 2 Tim. 1:9; 2 Pet. 1:10).
Ecclesiastically, the word “vocation” is used to apply to the entrance into the service of the Church of God, namely the exercise of the gifts and callings for God (Rom. 12:3–9; 1 Cor. 12:9–11; Eph. 4:4–12). We may distinguish the calling of a prophet, an apostle, a teacher, a pastor, etc. Too often the meaning of Christian vocation is confined to this, a legitimate use of the term. God does choose each believer for a place in the corporate body of the Church and allots to each believer a gift that equips him for that place of service.
Practically, the word “vocation” refers to employment in a particular occupation, profession or work. It is the earthly station of a Christian allotted to him by the divine will. This vocation must be contrasted with the avocation, hobby or interest which occupies the Christian in his leisure time. His vocation is his life work. It comprises the particular station or state of life as shown by one’s inclination, fitness and conviction in response to the divine invitation. The choice of a vocation is one of the most serious decisions of an individual life. It ranks second only to one’s choice of Christ and holds a higher rank than the choice of one’s spouse or a life mate. The usefulness, fruitfulness and happiness of life depend upon this choice. A wrong choice may sometimes be tragic in a person’s life. Much understanding is shed upon the field of vocation by God’s Word. The Bible is a book for workers, but its teaching is largely indirect illumination cast by principles rather than by direct commands.
God Purposes Work For Every Man
It is a creation ordinance to work, and this work is a blessing, not a curse. Adam was set in the garden to tend and to keep it (Gen. 2:15). The ability to work expresses the image of God in man as a first cause, a creator, a being having dominion over all fish of the sea, all fowl of the air, all beasts of the field. Work brings exhilaration to the spirit of man. The experience of activity, of mastery, of creativity, whether intellectual or physical, of invention, skill and of resultant achievement brings this exhilaration. When the creation narratives say, “And God saw that it was good,” they express this experience.
Work gives employment to the capacities of men. One of the worst things to endure is empty time with no employment. This frustration often is experienced by those who have retired and become spectators in life. Dr. Preston Bradley of the People’s Church in Chicago said at the forty-fifth anniversary of his pastorate, “I have buried many men who thought they could retire.”
Lack of creative work for the purpose of keeping teen-agers occupied and constructively employed is one of the errors of our time. We compel boys and girls to go to school until they are 16 and often until they are 18 when they have no interest in their studies. Delinquency and crime exhibited in beatings, gang wars, wolf packs, rape, knifings and killings on the part of these juvenile delinquents could well be eliminated were we to fill their time and expend their energy with creative work.
The perversion of work through sin has resulted in corrupting circumstances whereby work has become toil, labor and burden. “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread.” The galling circumstances of assembly-line production with its deadly, meaningless, stultifying labor, the intense competition in the labor market rising out of modern industry, and the degrading conditions of human exploitation—all result from sin. Men aspire to be creative in their work, and any other kind of work is frustrating.
The normal activity and expectation of man is work. We are told in the Bible to shun idleness, laziness and time-serving. We are to keep from being a burden on others, whether it be relatives or society. The New Testament standard is to work or not eat. The Pauline exhortation is to work so as to help others and to have something to give in time of human need (Acts 20:35; 1 Thess. 2:9; Eph. 4:28).
The Bible confers dignity upon labor. This is derived from the example in God’s work (Gen. 1:28 f.; John 5:17). Like God, man is to work six days and then rest (Exod. 20:8–11). As the equality of the value of men is derived from God, so is the equality of rights. Certainly one has the right to work where one will. We are witnessing a tendency to deny this right to work in present society. Here a fundamental liberty is being taken away by force. Each man must possess the basic right of selling his labor power which is his own commodity. Once the laborer could be shut out from a shop; today unionized labor demands the closed shop. Tyranny can come from one end of the economic spectrum as well as from another.
It is God who has endowed man with the power to labor, to gain wealth and to win prosperity (Deut. 8:17, 18). In the Old Testament economy there was a union of God’s blessing with material prosperity, and there is no reason why this should not be carried over into Christian thinking. Why should we despise economic stability?
The New Testament exalts work as a calling. Christians are described as “laborers together with God” (1 Cor. 3:9). No distinction is made between spiritual and secular labor. The ministry is work, but it is not higher work than other kinds of labor. If a man is to leave a secular calling for a spiritual calling, it must be the result of a particular call from the Lord. Paul joined both his calling to preach the Gospel and his calling as a tentmaker.
The New Testament teaches that all men are to labor either with their hands or with their heads, with their brains or with their brawn (1 Cor. 4:12; Eph. 4:28; 1 Thess. 4:11; 2 Thess. 3:10–12; Acts 20:35). Every Christian is summoned to a full-time vocation although only a few to an ecclesiastical vocation. God lays hold on the ordinary experience of men and makes it holy. The fact of the babyhood, childhood and manhood of Jesus sanctifies the ordinary experiences of life and this includes labor.
The New Testament elevates service as the standard of greatness in labor. “He that is servant of all is greatest of all.” Whatever position or status a worker may have, he is to fulfill his responsibilities as unto the Lord and not as unto his employer or master or overseer.
The Bible declares that the gifts of the Spirit are given to every man to profit withal (1 Cor. 12:7; Rom. 12:3 f.). If man has faith that he can teach, or minister, or exhort, or preach, or rule, then he is to do it according to the measure of his faith and for the good of all in the Church. The divine plan includes all persons and all things. God made you and he knows where you will fit best in his plan. Hence Paul exhorts these Romans to prove what is the good, acceptable and perfect will of God. It is a tragedy to be out of God’s plan, and it is a great assurance to be in God’s plan. When one’s calling is in accordance with God’s plan, it is a source of joy, inspiration, satisfaction and contentment.
The question of many is: Can I know what God’s plan is? I constantly have young people coming from the universities in Boston and asking the question, What shall be my work? What degree shall I seek? What shall be the basis of my choice? How can I tell what is the best vocation?
Unfortunately, many make their choice through chance or through economic necessity or through an early marriage. If a man happened to get a job in a particular line, or it was necessary for him to begin work at an early age, or he was compelled to support a family because of an early and ill-advised marriage, such an individual finds himself bound in a treadmill from which it is difficult to be released. Happy is the one who can make a free choice of his vocation.
When free to make a choice, help is available. When Jeremy Bentham was reading Helvetius, he came across the suggestion that a man should ask himself, “Do I have a genius for anything?” Michelangelo had a genius for sculpture, Leonardo da Vinci for painting, Johann Sebastian Bach for music, Karl Marx for social theory, Winston Churchill for political leadership. A man should ask himself, Do I possess a faculty for literary, scientific, mechanical, economic, artistic or religious affairs? In what direction does my ability point? Here vocational guidance, or vocational engineering, will be of great help. It is never the divine will for a man to go contrary to his native ability and his indigenous interest. Therefore, ask yourself, “Do I personally like or enjoy one thing above another?” It is certain that a happy or contented person will do far better than an unhappy or discontented person. The inner impulsion of personal interest is not to be disregarded in vocations.
The Christian should have courage to choose his vocation or to change his vocation if necessary. Seek God’s will, not yours. Be willing to do the will of God and the secret of guidance is discovered. Ask yourself, How can I get the Gospel to the greatest number, which is the first duty of a Christian? How can I bring the greatest benefit to humanity? How can I seek the well-being of the universe, of my fellow men? What are the greatest dividends to myself in usefulness, satisfaction, happiness and prosperity? Then analyze yourself and act in accordance with the results which you discover.
Courage To Change Vocations
If you are engaged in an occupation which neither brings you the satisfactions of life nor permits you to feel you are in God’s will, have courage to change your occupation. In preparing this message, I jotted down the names of seven friends of mine who in the last few years have made such changes when in middle life. One man had been an auditor and certified public accountant for 25 years, but had no satisfaction in his work. Then, in middle life, with a family and many responsibilities, he made a series of changes until he finally ended up in the printing business in which he is perfectly content.
Another friend spent over 25 years in an East Coast educational institution as an administrative officer. Dissatisfaction was mounting in his mind and heart and he dared to make a change by going to the West Coast and assuming a responsibility in a totally different field. There he obtained release, a sense of creativity, and joy. Another friend had been a surgeon for many years and had won fame and fortune; but he felt God wanted him to be an editor. Therefore, he laid his prosperous profession aside and accepted one-fifth his former income, but he has the satisfaction nevertheless of knowing he is in the will of God.
Someone else, at the age of 49 left a position as an officer in one of the great soap companies of this country, went to theological seminary, graduated, and was ordained a rector in the Episcopal church where he is living out his days of service in great happiness. Another acquaintance of mine had been an osteopath who, after sitting under my own preaching for several years, determined to go into the ministry. He therefore took his family to another state, renewed his college education, went on to theological seminary and today is the pastor of a church where he labors in God’s service.
Still another was the manager of a laundry, but after 10 years of supervising the work of 200 women, he was fed up with it all. He quit his job, looked around for another, found a managerial position of the type he wanted, and now reflects in his face and attitude a new contentment which has come into his life.
This takes courage, courage which the average man does not possess, but it is the courage to act upon what we believe to be the will of God. The result of it is contentment not judged by results, or success, but by faith. God knows the effectiveness of the vocation to which he has called you, and all he requires you to be is faithful. If you know you are in the will of God, that is sufficient.
God’S Challenge Today
Many are the vocations in the church which ought to be considered by men. There are openings in the preaching ministry, in foreign missions, in education, in medicine, in social work, in business, in publication, in advertising, in art, in technical skills and even in farming. The door to church ministry is wide open.
As for the secular vocations, nearly 10,000 are listed in the Vocational Directory. In choosing a vocation, the following criteria might help: Let us ask, is it a man-size occupation; is it a lifetime occupation; are my qualities adapted to it; can I prepare adequately for it; what opportunities are presented; will the vocation be congenial; what type of persons enter it; will the returns be adequate; can I through this vocation help, uplift and benefit society; can I grow in this vocation and thus serve God?
One of the great vocational needs today is for mathematicians, scientists and engineers. Our nation has fallen nearly 10 years behind Russia in the preparation of a generation of vocational scientists. Another great need is for teachers to occupy the thousands of empty classrooms in America. There is need for men of ability, integrity and experience at the top. There is always plenty of room at the top. Competition is keenest on the lower levels of occupation and lightest on the top.
A person’s vocation may change during his lifetime while he passes through several chapters of his career. A good illustration of this is a woman’s life, part of which is spent as a student, part as a housewife and mother in a family, and part in a possible career following the freedom gained through the maturity of her children. Hers can be a creative occupation through life and not for merely a few years.
If, then, we are to be laborers together with God we must meet the prerequisite of being born of God, of partaking of the divine nature. Then we must pursue a vocation which is in accordance with the will of God. The divine Architect expects us to be co-laborers with him in the fulfillment of his plan.
Repentance
Dear God,
I know my life
Is not the history of fine achievement will’d by Thee
When I became one of Thy myriad earthly sons;
I know the promise
And the purpose of my given being
Has never been fulfilled,
But smolders, neglected, ’neath the dead ashes of a life mundane—
Consumed empty forms (and futile end)
Of appetite debased, ambitions vain,
False values in a feverish, groping mind.
I know my heart
Has not been right towards Thee,
My Maker and my Lord;
Too often, insolent and proud,
Have I rebelled against Thy rule and Thy direction—
Have turned my back
Upon Thine altar true, to worship idols
Of my making, figments of my own desire.
And now I know the bitter taste
Of failure and despair and dark confusion—
The empty harvest of a hateful seed.
Somewhere along my path
Thy course, Thy clear perspective have I lost;
Until I wander aimlessly
From joyless pleasures to more wretched cares.
Oh Father of my soul!
I know I cannot claim forgiveness for my wrongs;
I know th’unending torture of a damned soul Is my just quittance for a heedless heart.
And yet I ask again,
From Thy great store of mercy,
One small gift—show me a light!
One tiny ray of hope
Midst all the darkness that surrounds,
One glimpse of Truth that is eternal, ever sure,
To light the way
From everlasting night into the glory of Thy day:
That day in which my soul may find its peace,
My life may find its rightful end and meaning,
Joined to Thy Spirit in the welcome task
Of serving Thee.
Amen.
WILLIAM H. COLBY
Harold John Ockenga has been pastor of historic Park Street (Congregational) Church on the Boston Common for the past 20 years. During that period the church budget has grown from $20,000 to $400,000 annually, and its support of two missionaries has been expanded to the support of 120 missionaries in 50 countries, the largest program of its kind carried on by an individual church in the United States.
