Calling
“I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called” (Eph. 4:1, ESV).
Recently I’ve been reading a book by the late Timothy Keller, Every Good Endeavor: Connecting Your Work to God’s Work.The foreword alone is worth buying the book. One quote that grabbed my attention was by Pastor Jack Miller:
“Cheer up: You’re a worse sinner than you ever dared imagine, and you’re more loved than you ever dared hope.”
I love this quote! It makes me smile and gives me confidence to keep on doing what I’m doing. How does this statement give me confidence, and what does it have to do with connecting our work to God’s work?
Understanding the gospel in relation to our life and work is everything. That statement above is the essence of the gospel. And because we are loved more than we can ever hope, God is committed to:
“Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ” (Heb. 13:21).
The Apostle Peter stated it this way:
“His divine power has granted to us everything that is needed for life and godliness.”
God has given us everything we need for every area of our life, including our work—our vocation. When the gospel is infused with divine power, our work has purpose and is full of excitement and enthusiasm. When I recognize how much God has forgiven me, loves me, and extended His grace and mercy towards me, I am motivated to work harder, think more creatively, pray more expectantly, and step out in faith more boldly. When our work is wrought with the power of the gospel, we experience profound change in ourselves, in others, and in our culture.
Keller writes,
“We’re to create an environment in which people can flourish and use their God-given gifts to contribute to society. We’re to embody grace, truth, hope, and love in the organizations we create. We’re to express our relationship with God and his grace to us in the way we speak, work, and lead, not as perfect exemplars but as pointers to Christ.”
Work has eternal value when it connects with the divine mandate to be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the earth, and conquer it (Gen. 1:28, translation mine). For what does it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his soul? Work governed by the power of the gospel brings fulfillment in life, causing one to sleep soundly, knowing he has received God’s calling and is following it.
This brings me to one of the most important and misunderstood words in the Bible—calling. Paul wrote to the Ephesians:
“I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called” (Eph. 4:1, ESV).
The King James Version translates this verse as:
“I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called.”
The KJV translates the word calling as “vocation”. The word call comes from the Latin word vocare, which is where vocation is derived, and which also means “to call.” The idea of a calling or to call is elusive.
Many are looking for their calling. Many wonder if they have really been called to their work. The idea of one’s calling is quite simple, however. Keller writes,
“A job is a vocation only if someone else calls you to do it and you do it for them rather than for yourself. And so, our work can be a calling only if it is reimagined as a mission of service to something beyond merely our own interests.”
Work, solely in relation to self-interest, according to Keller, “slowly crushes a person.” In regard to God's calling, the Apostle Paul writes:
“And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful” (Col. 3:15).
“Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power” (2 Thess. 1:11).
“That ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory” (1 Thess. 2:12).
“For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness” (1 Thess. 4:7).
“Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called” (1 Tim. 6:12).
The Apostle Peter wrote:
“But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation” (1 Pet. 1:15).
“According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue” (2 Pet. 1:3).
God’s calling is characterized by thankfulness, working by faith with power, striving for holiness (separation from the world), fighting the good fight of faith, forgiving others, growing in the knowledge of God, and giving diligence to make one’s calling and election sure.
Man’scalling is a request to join someone to help meet a need. Regardless of the type of work, it is always a call to help further the gospel in relation to one’s work. As we respond to these two different types of calling in our lives, our responsibility is to walk worthy of the vocation wherewith we are called. A worthy walk is characterized by “giving all diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things (adding to your faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love), ye shall never fall: (2nd Pet 1:10).
Sincerely,
Mark Hamby
M.S., M. Div., Th. M., D. Min.
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