It's been a while since I shared my thoughts, but recently there have been two things that have been on my mind recently. The subject of calling has been a subject that I have been very interested in over the past few years, but I gained a renewed interest for several reasons.
The first was a sermon that was talking about culture and suggesting something that I wholeheartedly agree with. No matter your profession, vocation, or general lot in life, you can glorify God in and through that. We have this often dangerous assumption that positions as pastors and missionaries are the only ways to work for the kingdom. While this is very true, we need people in all facets of life and we only have to look at recent scandals to realize even those leading churches are broken. They are not "holier" or "better" than anyone else, because we have all fallen short of the glory of God and desperately need his forgiveness.
Two interesting examples of calling that have come to my attention were the Biblical example of Stephen and then the historical example of William Wilbeforce, who I have used before. We think of St. Stephen as almost a mythical figure, who was stoned to death and in the face of his persecutors had eyes possibly glowing, because he was completely filled with the spirit. It is a brilliant picture that Luke paints for us in Acts and it's easy to forget who this man really. He was a follower of Christ, but he wasn't one of the 12 apostles. His job was simply to hand out provisions to the poor and the widows. When we think of that, it doesn't exactly sound like a prominent position and yet in the Kingdom of God it simply did not matter, because all that mattered was that Stephen was pursuing his primary calling to God. His secondary was the distribution of provisions and since he was an upright man I'm sure he did a wonderful job at that, but it fell under the umbrella of his greater calling.
Then if we look at William Wilbeforce he was really a fascinating story of conversion because he did not grow up a Christian and yet he became one and found himself a member of parliament with new convictions thanks to his faith in God. He openly considered becoming a pastor, falling into that type of thinking which says only pastors can do Kingdom work. His friend William Pitt (also a politician) and his mentor John Newton, told him instead to stick with his calling in parliament. And so his primary calling was again to God the Father in Heaven and his secondary calling was in the British government. He used his position and influence to abolish the slave trade and reform the Empire. It was a major accomplishment and just like season he followed his calling to bring glory to God.
It's humbly to think about such examples, but it's also truly freeing, because this suggests that we can follow our passions and interests knowing that whatever the road God has for us, we can still fulfill our calling to Him no matter where we are placed. That's awesome.
All the Glory be His.
"It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word. This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit..." ~ Acts 6: 2-5
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