the gospel-centered life @ work

The following quotes are attributable to Clives Staples Lewis, ( I really enjoy his frank terse style… much like Luther in these regards!)

The work of a Beethoven, and the work of a charwoman, become spiritual on precisely the same condition, that of being offered to God, of being done humbly “as to the Lord.” This does not, of course, mean that it is for anyone a mere toss-up whether he should sweep rooms or compose symphonies. A mole must dig to the glory of God and a cock must crow”

“Every disability conceals a vocation, if only we can find it, which will turn the necessity to glorious gain”

“There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations–these are mortal…But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit.”

“Christianity is the story of how the rightful King has landed, you might say landed in disguise, and is calling us all to take part in a great campaign of sabotage.”

For more information on the historical view of vocation and how careeer, calling and profession inter-relate take a peek at Professionals: Men and Women Partnering with the Trinity in Everyday Life.

The following quotes are all attributable to Martin Luther…

A cobbler, a smith, a farmer, each has the work and office of his trade, and yet they are all alike consecrated priests and bishops, and every one by means of his own work or office must benefit and serve every other, that in this way many kinds of work may be done for the bodily and spiritual welfare of the community, even as all the members of the body serve one another…”

“What you do in your house is worth as much as if you did it up in heaven for our Lord God…We should accustom ourselves to think of our position and work as sacred and well-pleasing to God, not on account of the position and work, but on account of the word and faith from which the obedience and the work flow”

“Monastic vows rest on the false assumption that there is a special calling, a vocation, to which superior Christians are invited to observe the counsels of perfection while ordinary Christians fulfil only the commands; but there simply is no special religious vocation since the call of God comes to each at the common tasks.”

“The idea that the service to God should have only to do with a church altar, singing, reading, sacrifice, and the like is without doubt but the worst trick of the devil. How could the devil have led us more effectively astray than by the narrow conception that service to God takes place only in a church and by the works done therein…The whole world could abound with the services to the Lord, Gottesdienste – not only in churches but also in the home, kitchen, workshop, field”

For a more detailed understanding of Luther’s approach in the broader historical spectrum of career, calling and profession consider reading Professionals: Men and Women Partnering with the Trinity in Everyday Life.

The following quotes are attributable to Frederick Buechner:

Vocation comes from the Latin vocare, ‘to call’ and means the work a person is called to by God. There are all different kinds of voices calling to all kinds of different kinds of work, and the problem is to find out which is the voice of God rather than of society, say, or the superego, or self-interest.

By and large a good rule for finding out is this: The kind of work God usually calls you to is the kind of work (a) that you need to do and (b) that the world needs to have done. If you really get a kick out of your work, you’ve presumably met requirement (a) but if your work is writing cigarette ads, the chances are you’ve missed requirement (b).

If, on the other had, if your work is being a doctor in a leper colony, you have probably met requirement (b), but if most of the time your bored and depressed by it, the chances are you have not only surpassed (a), but probably aren’t helping your patients much either. Neither the hair shirt nor the soft berth will do.

The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.

– Frederick Beuchner, Beyond Words: Daily Readings in the ABC’s of Faith

One life on this earth is all that we get, whether it is enough or not enough, and the obvious conclusion would seem to be that at the very least we are fools if we do not live it as fully and bravely and beautifully as we can.

For a greater understanding of the historical views of work and vocation and how the ideas of career, calling and profession inter-relate take a peek at Professionals: Men and Women Partnering with the Trinity in Everyday Life.

The following quotes are from the teaching of Douglas J. Schuurman, a professor of religion at St. Olaf College in Minnesota, and are found in Vocation: Discerning Our Callings in Life. (2004, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.)

In the Bible, vocation has two primary meanings. The first, and by far more prevalent, meaning is the call to become a member of the people of God and to take up the duties that pertain to that membership. The Puritans referred to this as God’s ‘general calling;’ Luther referred to it as God’s ‘spiritual calling.’ The second meaning is God’s diverse and particular callings – special tasks, offices, or places of responsibility within the covenant community and in the broader society. Luther referred to this as God’s ‘external calling;’ the Puritans referred to it as God’s ‘particular calling.’ It is this second sense of vocation that many Bible scholars and theologians in recent years have disdained.” (Page 17)

… Put in general terms, the purpose of God’s call is for the people of God to worship God, and to participate in God’s creative and redemptive purposes for the world, to enjoy, hope for, pray for, and work toward God’s shalom. This is what it means for Christians to be in Christ and to follow Christ.” (Page 18)

To think more about historical views about Gods broad / diverse and personal / specific calls to every person and how these might apply to you today consider reading Professionals: Men and Women Partnering with the Trinity in Everyday Life.

The following quote is attributed to John Piper:

I have in mind five ways to make God known through your secular job and all of them are important. When one of them is missing, the witness to the truth of Christ suffers.

First, the excellence of the products or services you render in your job shows the excellence and greatness of God.

Second, the standards of integrity you follow at your job show the integrity and holiness of God.

Third, the love you show to people in your job shows the love of God.

Fourth, the stewardship of the money you make from your job shows the value of God compared to other things.

Fifth, the verbal testimony you give to the reality of Christ shows the doorway to all these things in your life and their possibility in the lives of others.

To further integrate the how and whys of Glorifying  God in your work and explore the implications of these (and other ways) to do so consider reading Professionals: Partnering with the Trinity in Everyday Life.

The following quotes are from the teaching of Gary D. Badcock a lecturer of theology at University of Edinburgh in Scotland and come from in The Way of Life: A Theology of Christian Vocation. (2002, Wipf & Stock Publishers. Originally published in 1998 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.)

‘What will I do with my life?’ is vocation’s question. God does not act out the details of my living for me, or even in me; instead, my existence is one of created freedom. Even though my entire being is dependent on God, I nevertheless choose and act, and I build my own life story through the decisions and projects that I undertake.” (Page 53)

My argument has been that the question ‘What ought I to do?’ really leads to another: ‘What kind of person ought I to be?’ … I ought to be a person for whom love, service, and obedience to God are the major priorities. The Christian ethic is flexible insofar as it allows a multitude of possibilities by which one can fulfill such goals, but there is nevertheless an irreducible core concern within it, which can never be relinquished.” (Page 136)

For additional considerations of the ethical implications of Christian behavior based on an integrated understanding of career, calling and profession consider examining Professionals: Men and Women Partnering with the Trinity in Everyday Life.

The following quotations are from Kevin and Kay Marie Brennfleck who work as certified career counselors. To learn more about their philosophy on vocation visit www.LiveYourCalling.com. Quotes are excerpted from their teaching as found in Live Your Calling: A Practical Guide to Finding and Fulfilling Your Mission in Life. (2005, Jossey-Bass.)

Our vocational calling emerges out of our relationship with God, so inevitably there is a dimension of mystery to it. … We present three biblical ‘compass principles’ here that guide us in the search for our vocational calling. …

1. God calls us to keep our primary calling primary
2. God calls us to use our gifts to meet needs in the world – We can do God’s work in the pulpit or in the factory. We are called to be full-time Christians wherever we are and in whatever we do. God calls some of us to work in churches, mission agencies, and Christian organizations. He calls others of us to work in the marketplace.
3. God calls us to proactive stewardship of our gifts (Pages 12-13, 17)

Living your vocational calling is a journey. As you grow and mature, God can use you in new and more significant ways. Your journey may take you through the levels of vocational fit one step at a time, such as progressing from just a job to OK work to enjoyable work. As you continue on your journey, investing the time and energy needed and being willing to risk, you can move up the levels of vocational fit. … Our vocational calling is an ongoing journey, not a destination.” (Pages 23)

To find out more about the model of a progressive journey of vocational calling through stages of career, calling and profession consider also examining Professionals: Men and Women Partnering with the Trinity in Everyday Life.

The following quotes are from the teaching of Parker Palmer who is a senior associate for the American Association for Higher Education and are taken from Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation. (2000, Jossey-Bass.)

Vocation does not mean a goal that I pursue. It means a calling that I hear. Before I can tell my life what I want to do with it, I must listen to my life telling me who I am. I must listen for the truths and values at the heart of my own identity, not the standards by which I must live – but the standards by which I cannot help but live if I am living my own life.” (Pages 4-5)

The deepest vocational question is not ‘What ought I to do with my life?’ It is the more elemental and demanding ‘Who am I? What is my nature?’ (Page 15)

Seasons are a wise metaphor for the movement of life, I think. It suggests that life is neither a battlefield nor a game of chance but something infinitely richer, more promising, more real. The notion that our lives are like the eternal cycle of the seasons does not deny the struggle or the joy, the loss or the gain, the darkness or the light, but encourages us to embrace it all – and to find in all of it opportunities for growth.” (Page 96)

To learn more about issues of the nature of humanity, seasonality of calling and being who you are rather than who you want to be consider examining Professionals: Men and Women Partnering with the Trinity in Everyday Life.

The following quotes are from Quentin Schultze who is a professor at Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Michigan. His teaching on calling listed here is in Here I Am: Now What on Earth Should I Be Doing? (2005, Baker Books.)

Scripture and life experience both demonstrate that God calls us on two levels. One is the vocation shared by all followers of Jesus Christ. The Bible says that each of us is called to care for God’s world. The Old Testament defines this caring as ‘being a blessing to others.’ The New Testament focuses on ‘loving God and neighbor.’ God calls his people of all ages to be sacrificial care-takers, not to [be] selfish career-seekers.

The other level of calling includes each person’s many stations – the particular places, relationships, and work in and through which a person cares. … God wants us to respond favorably to our shared vocation and to our own stations so that we might flourish in community, serving others as they serve us.

Our calling is a lifelong process of connecting our shared vocation with our individual stations. As Scripture puts it, we are called to ‘work out’ our faith just as God works in us. In short, throughout life we need to ask ourselves how to apply our faith to our stations. Answering that question faithfully is the daily adventure in vocational living.” (9-10)

Occupational callings emerge out of a faithful relationship with God, not just a message from God. (Page 13)

None of us can determine from the Bible precisely which stations to pursue. Most of our stations emerge as we pay attention to the needs and opportunities that present themselves. (Page 16)

For additional perspectives on how career, calling and profession are given for the sake of others and not merely ourselves consider looking at Profession-als: Men and Women partnering with the Trinity in Everyday Life.

The following quotes on vocation have been attributed to Os Guiness:

A sense of calling should precede a choice of job and career, and the main way to discover calling is along the line of what we are each created and gifted to be. Instead of, ‘You are what you do,’ calling says: ‘Do what you are.’

There is not a single instance in the New Testament of God’s special call to anyone into a paid occupation or into the role of a religious professional.

The call of Jesus is personal but not purely individual; Jesus summons his followers not only to an individual calling but also to a corporate calling.

Quotes are from ‘The Call: Finding and Fulfilling the Central Purpose of Your Life.’ (2003, Word Publishing Group.) Pgs 45, 49, 93. Os Guinness is a writer and moderator for the Trinity Forum. To learn more, visit www.ttf.org

To investigate the individual and communal aspects of career, calling  and profession more deeply and personally consider examining the devotional Profession-als: Men and Women Partnering with the Trinity in Everyday Life.