If I could talk today’s generation out of pursuing something – if I could I could convince every teenager and child that one concept was a lie – it would be that of “calling.”
The dictionary has two definitions for “calling.”
- n: a strong inner impulse toward a particular course of action.
- n: the activity in which one customarily engages as an occupation
Most people have combined the two definitions and rephrased it as:
n: a strong inner impulse toward a particular occupation
The term “calling” is used constantly by Christians today, especially those in high school and college. For most people I’ve talked to about it, the word refers to something God gives us, and on the surface, I would agree with them. God does give each of us a calling.
The problem is that most people spend their entire high school and college years searching for this calling. Some spend even longer. Some spend their entire lives and never find it. I find this extremely sad and alarming.
Clearly this is not what God intended when He created the cosmos.
So what is the problem? Why do so many spend so long searching for their calling? The answer is two-fold, though really quite simple.
- Christians have bought into the devil’s lie that each of them have their own specific calling.
- Christians have bought into the devil’s lie that their calling cannot be found directly in the words of Scripture.
These two lies are incredibly interlinked, but I will do my best to explain them separately.
Let me assure you that if you believe either of the lies stated above, you have been deceived. One of the devil’s most successful lies against believers today is the idea that God promotes individuality.
Now, I’m not saying that people aren’t different. Of course we are different, and that is a good thing. But our differences were never supposed to be a focal point. Read the word’s of Paul to the Galatians…
For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.*1
And Paul’s letter to the Colossians…
You have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all. *2
And finally Paul’s letter to the Corinthians…
For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body – whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free – and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. *3
Paul clearly found this issue important enough to address to at least three of the churches he wrote. But Paul wasn’t the only New Testament man who preached unity. Listen to the words of Jesus, as He prayed before His death…
I do not pray for these alone (the disciples), but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. *4
Jesus says the word “one” five times in that section of his prayer. This was Jesus’ last prayer to the Father before the cross, and what He found to be the most pressing matter to bring before God was the unity of believers – both present and those to come.
This is not the message of today. Today’s youth are consumed with conforming to this world and finding their individuality in Christ. Again, the devil has won a great victory, though he really isn’t the one to blame. If believers truly studied the words of Christ, how could they miss an entire testament devoted to unity?
Think about it. Unity is what it’s all about. When asked what the greatest commandment was, Jesus answered to love God and to love others.
To unite with God and unite with others, especially the believers.
Which brings me to the second problem with our generation’s view of calling. So many students and young adults view their calling as “a strong inner impulse toward a particular occupation” that God will magically give them at some point. This is a flawed view.
God calls no one to a certain occupation. He is not calling me to be a writer. He is not calling you to be a fireman. He did not call Uncle Billy to be an engineer or Aunt Ruth to be a lawyer. He is not calling you be to a policeman or accountant or teacher or plumber or psychologist or physical trainer or radio host or pastor.
Stop wasting your time waiting for God to call you to something, because He won’t. God is not in the business of choosing occupations. He is in the business of curing a age old curse. He is in the business of changing lives. And He has (to use the word everyone loves so much) “called” you and me to help Him do this.
That is the only thing he has called us to.
Paul wrote these words to the church in Thessalonica…
Therefore we also pray always for you that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith with power, that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. *5
You want a calling? Well here you go. Fulfill the good work of Christ. Make sure that whatever you do – whatever occupation – that you glorify the name of the Lord Jesus Christ through it. Paul made this really simple to the church in Corinth when he wrote…
Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense, either to the Jews or to the Greeks or to the church of God, just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved. *6
Paul wasn’t concerned about money. He wasn’t concerned about occupation. He was concerned about how he drank, how he ate, how he spoke, how he slept, and how he walked. When people looked at any aspect of what Paul did, they saw Christ.
What do people see when they look at you? What do they see when you go shopping – how you use your money? What do they see when you go to the movies – what you watch? What do they see when you eat – how much? What do they see when you are in your house – how you spend your time? What do they see when you help the poor – or do you? What do they see when you visit people in jail – or do you? What do they see when you help a stranger – or do you?
In the book of Matthew, Jesus speaks of what will happen when He returns. All the nations are gathered before Him. He will separate the righteous from the unrighteous, and this is the reason He will give for how they were separated…
Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me. *7
The righteous will then look at Jesus and ask when they did these things, because many of them will be seeing Jesus for the first time. Then Jesus will say…
In as much as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me. *8
Brothers and sisters. Stop looking for God’s calling on your life. It’s right here. Glorify God in everything you do, especially by helping people in need. I guarantee this calling is so much better than any other one you are waiting so desperately for.
You don’t need a book, a mentor or a $200 Christian conference to tell you this. Christ told us for free a long time ago.
So be what you want to be. Don’t wait for God to give you a vision that it’s okay to be a fireman. Let me tell you now. It’s okay for you to be a fireman. But be a fireman that glorifies God in every fire. Be a nurse that glorifies God in the way you treat every patient. Be a lawyer who glorifies God through every court case and through every piece of evidence.
Paul says to pray that God would count us of worthy of this calling. Why? Because it’s a high calling. It’s a calling with eternal consequences. It’s a beautiful, wonderful calling that unites every believer together. And if every believer took hold of this calling, the work of Christ would flourish in a way that the world hasn’t experienced for two thousand years.
* All Scripture is from the NKJV
1. Galatians 3:28
2. Colossians 3:9-11
3. I Corinthians 12:12-13
4. John 17:20-23
5. II Thessalonians 1:11-12
6. I Corinthians 10:31-33
7. Matthew 25:34-36
8. Matthew 25:40
