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2: Four Myths About Callings · Finding God at Work

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  (Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message.) Hi, I'm Chris.
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  This is Finding God at Work.
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  Just a reminder that Finding God at Work
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  isn't just a podcast, it's also an online
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  course.
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  Check it out at findinggodatwork.org.
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  Our current series is Meaningful Work, Calling, Formation,
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  Service, and Love.
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  And I want to start this episode with
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  St. Joan of Arc.
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  If you have never just hopped on Wikipedia
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  and read the story of Joan of Arc,
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  it really kind of defies the imagination.
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  It feels like it's something out of myth,
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  but it's actually historical fact.
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  Joan of Arc was a military leader who
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  essentially saved France and helped restore the rightful,
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  as understood at that time, heir to the
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  throne of France, Charles VII, who was known
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  as the Dauphin at that time, to the
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  throne during the Hundred Years' War between France
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  and England.
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  She's also a canonized saint of the Roman
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  Catholic Church.
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  She believed that she was following the provision
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  and the guidance of God in her mission.
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  And there's a lot of complexity and layers
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  in that story that we can't get into.
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  But there's this historical quote of St. Joan
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  of Arc from a particular moment in this
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  kind of perilous journey where she had to
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  go from one part of France to another.
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  And she had to go through territory where
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  there were a lot of English soldiers.
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  And she was seeking out the Dauphin, the
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  rightful heir to the throne.
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  And someone asked her, like, how are you
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  going to do this since there's so many
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  soldiers?
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  Here's what she said.
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  I do not fear the soldiers, for my
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  road is made open to me.
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  And if the soldiers come, I have God
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  my Lord, who will know how to clear
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  the route that leads to Messire the Dauphin.
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  It was for this that I was born.
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  It was for this that I was born.
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  Have you ever had that feeling?
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  Something where you're in it, you're doing it,
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  and it just feels like your whole being
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  is in the right place.
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  Like things have somehow come together so that
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  you can be there and do that thing.
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  There's a moment of truth, a truth about
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  who you are, that also seems somehow to
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  resonate more deeply than just that moment.
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  But it's about your whole life.
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  There's something meaningful about it that connects to
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  who you were meant to be, who you
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  were born to be.
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  Now, not everybody has a dramatic moment like
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  this, certainly not as dramatic as St. Joan
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  of Arc.
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  But I think many of us have had
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  an experience of something that we do feeling
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  right.
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  Something about an activity or a certain kind
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  of work or a certain kind of relationship
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  or a certain place that we occupy in
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  a community just sort of ringing true.
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  And for us as followers of Jesus, like
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  Joan of Arc herself, we should see that
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  this is God who is opening the way
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  for us if there really is something meaningful
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  there.
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  And the word that Christians throughout the centuries
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  have used to describe this dynamic is vocation.
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  It comes from the Latin root voca, which
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  is the same root as for the word
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  voice.
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  And so there's this idea that God can
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  make his voice heard.
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  He can speak in a way that we
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  can hear and we can respond to that.
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  And when we do, we're stepping into our
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  vocation or to use more contemporary parlance, we're
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  stepping into our calling.
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  But there are a lot of misunderstandings about
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  calling, especially perhaps in the Christian world.
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  There can be misunderstandings about calling in the
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  secular world for sure.
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  But we have our own little foibles in
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  our Christian subcultures, at least the one that
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  I'm familiar with and the kind of evangelical
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  subculture in the United States where people can
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  kind of think about calling in the wrong
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  way.
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  It can get confused.
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  It can get muddled.
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  So what I want to do in this
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  episode is look at four myths about calling.
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  So we're going to look at a few
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  different scripture verses and try and offer just
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  a slightly different version, a different vision where
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  I think what scripture invites us into is
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  better than the kind of common assumption that
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  we might run into in our Christian subculture.
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  OK, so I'm going to say what all
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  four myths are and then we're going to
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  start digging into them.
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  OK, so myth number one, you only have
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  one lifelong calling.
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  Myth number two, calling is first and foremost
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  about what God wants you to do.
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  Myth number three, calling and passion are the
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  same thing.
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  Myth number four, calling is about what God
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  wants, not what I want.
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  OK, so myth number one, you only have
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  one lifelong calling.
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  Sometimes when we talk about calling, we'll ask
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  the question, what is my calling?
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  In the singular, as though there's only one
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  calling that we have and we sometimes envision
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  it as this is one thing that I'm
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  supposed to do and kind of build my
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  life around doing that one thing and that
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  that's what I'm supposed to do.
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  What we see in scripture is that God
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  often gives people callings that change over time.
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  So just one simple example of this, Nehemiah.
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  Nehemiah, he says in Nehemiah chapter two, that
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  God put it into his heart to go
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  and rebuild the wall of Jerusalem.
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  This was during the period of the exile.
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  There wasn't much leadership in Jerusalem.
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  Nehemiah was in the the Babylonian context of
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  the exile, but he had gone and visited
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  Jerusalem and seen that the walls had been
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  burned down and he had a heart to
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  go and rebuild them.
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  OK, how long did it take to rebuild
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  those walls?
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  Well, let's go Nehemiah chapter six, verses 15
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  through 16.
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  So the wall of Jerusalem was finished in
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  52 days.
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  It only took 52 days.
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  Now, it was a story of God's miraculous
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  provision.
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  That's that's part of what makes the book
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  of Nehemiah is such a compelling story of
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  divine provision and the purpose and calling of
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  God in Nehemiah's life and for the whole
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  nation of Israel.
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  But rebuilding the wall, that part of the
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  call, that only took 52 days and then
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  it was done.
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  And then Nehemiah had to move on to
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  other things, like learning how to how to
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  organize community life in Jerusalem, etc.
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  Similarly, we might think of somebody like Mary,
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  Luke chapter one, verses 30 through 31.
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  But the angel said to her, do not
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  be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with
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  God.
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  You will conceive and give birth to a
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  son.
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  And you were to call him Jesus.
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  OK, now, Mary obviously in some ways had
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  a lifelong calling to be Jesus's mother from
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  that point forward, but even in the passage
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  itself, it's talking about the stages of that,
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  like you will conceive and give birth to
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  a son.
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  And then obviously after giving birth, there's the
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  infant stage and the toddler stage.
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  And then Jesus was a boy and then
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  Jesus was a man.
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  And motherhood changes a lot during all of
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  those stages.
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  As any mother knows.
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  And so even if you do have a
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  calling that's longer term, exactly what that calling,
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  what form it takes is going to shape
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  or it's going to change shape over time.
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  You are going to to mature and change
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  during that whole journey.
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  And that's OK.
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  So God may give you a calling that
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  lasts a long time.
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  He may give you a calling that lasts
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  52 days.
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  He may give you a calling that's even
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  shorter than that.
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  And it may change over time.
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  And that's OK.
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  That's what we see in scripture.
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  So we should have a flexibility about calling.
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  Again, remember, voca, voice.
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  We need to continually listen for God's voice
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  as he may shift what he's calling us
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  to do or where he's calling us to
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  go.
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  OK, myth number two, calling is first and
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  foremost about what God wants you to do.
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  Often, this is the way that people phrase
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  the question, right?
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  So like if I'm talking with Christian teenagers
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  or college students, they'll often say sometimes with
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  some measure of anxiety, what does God want
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  me to do with my life?
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  What am I supposed to do?
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  Now, obviously, we do a lot of things
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  in life and God can call us to
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  do things, but it's interesting when you go
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  to the New Testament and you look for
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  the times that the word calling or call
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  is used, usually it's not talking about something
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  that we do.
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  It's talking about something bigger and richer than
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  that.
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  So let me give just a couple examples.
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  Again, Philippians 3, 14, Paul writes, I press
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  on toward the goal for the prize of
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  the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
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  OK, so so Paul says that there's a
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  call, but what is the call?
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  It's the upward call of God in Christ
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  Jesus.
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  OK, we'll come back to that.
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  Another passage also by Paul, Romans chapter one,
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  verse seven to all in Rome who are
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  loved by God and called to be his
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  holy people.
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  Grace and peace to you from God, our
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  father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
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  What's the calling?
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  It's that the people are called to be
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  his holy people or another translation puts it
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  called to be saints.
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  It's more about a call to be someone,
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  to be a certain kind of human being
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  than to accomplish a specific set of tasks.
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  That upward call of God in Christ Jesus
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  is ultimately a call to God himself.
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  We are in Christ.
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  We're in union with God in Christ, drawing
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  close to him and becoming holy, becoming set
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  apart for him, living lives where our character
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  reflects the character of God.
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  The first and primary and most important call
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  of our lives is not a to do
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  calling.
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  It's a to be calling.
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  We are called to be by God's grace
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  more and more like Jesus over time.
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  And that also takes a little bit of
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  the pressure off of the doing, because if
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  we're on that journey of growing in Christlike
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  character, then whatever we do, we're going to
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  we're going to do that by God's grace
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  with with Christlike character and hopefully more and
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  more that way over time.
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  And so whatever we do, it will be
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  something that is an expression of love for
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  God and love for other people.
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  It will be something that's meaningful in that
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  way as a, as a form of service
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  to other people and as a way to
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  honor God.
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  And so the what kind of can change
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  over time as long as the who is
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  becoming more like Jesus, so that can take
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  a little bit of the pressure off where
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  it's not like if you land the what
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  wrong, oh, you're sunk and you didn't get
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  the right thing.
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  And then it's all problematic and bad.
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  Like, no, no, no.
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  As long as you're just becoming more like
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  Jesus, that, that grace is going to kind
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  of fill in to all the little details
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  of the what, like, like syrup, filling all
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  the little spaces in a waffle.
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  That's the image that came to mind for
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  some reason, but, uh, you know, God wants
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  to, to, to bring that Holy spirit syrup
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  and saturate all the little portions of your
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  vocational life.
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  Okay.
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  Uh, myth number three, calling and passion are
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  the same thing.
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  You might know that quote, uh, do what
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  you love.
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  You'll never work a day in your life.
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  This is kind of in the water in
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  our broader American culture, this idea that you
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  should follow your passion.
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  You should do what you love.
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  You should find a way to get paid
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  for things that you just really love doing.
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  And because that's so much in our American
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  culture, we can sometimes get confused and try
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  and kind of Christianize it or combine it
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  with language about calling and think that like,
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  oh, the things that I'm just really passionate
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  about, that must be my calling and hopefully
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  it goes along with a paid full-time
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  job to do those things.
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  And when you look at scripture, God's science
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  calls people to do things that are very
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  unpleasant and not particularly enjoyable.
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  Um, so obviously that's not the only kind
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  of calling that God gives.
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  Uh, but I think about, uh, Ezekiel, uh,
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  when was the last time you had a
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  chance to check out Ezekiel four really weird
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  passage.
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  Uh, it makes sense.
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  God's kind of having Ezekiel engage in a
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  kind of almost like street theater as a
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  prophecy against the people of Israel and Judah
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  for the that they've hardened their hearts and
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  turned away from God.
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  But what he has Ezekiel do is lie
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  down on his side for 390 days to
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  talk about the sin of Israel and only
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  eat, uh, like, you know, a limited amount
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  of food, uh, beans and barley bread.
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  And he has to cook it over cow
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  dung during that time.
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  And then he flips and he lies on
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  his other side for 40 days to talk
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  about the sin of Judah in the same
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  way.
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  That doesn't sound like, you know, do what
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  you love and we'll never work a day
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  in your life.
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  At least not to me.
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  I do not have a passion for cooking
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  lentils and baking barley bread over cow dung
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  to prophetically express the judgment of God.
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  Okay.
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  But that was what God had Ezekiel do.
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  And that was for that period of time,
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  Ezekiel's calling from God.
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  That was the voice of God speaking to
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  him.
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  He could discern God's voice.
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  And thankfully Ezekiel obeyed.
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  And that was an expression of God's judgment,
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  which we know served God's purposes in his
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  generation.
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  So God may not call us to do
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  that specific unpleasant thing, but God may call
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  us to do things that are really hard,
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  really difficult that aren't particularly gratifying and certainly
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  may not be our particular passions.
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  I remember talking with an academic leader.
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  Once he had a position of provost at
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  a Christian college.
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  And, uh, and I, I said, you know,
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  uh, what was that like for you?
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  And he said, well, it was a calling.
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  And you can kind of tell from the
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  way he said it, that, uh, there had
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  been some real sacrifice in, uh, in that,
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  that step of obedience for him to take
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  that role.
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  He actually would have preferred to remain a
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  professor and focus on research and teaching, which
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  is what he was doing before, but he
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  felt called by God to step into that
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  administrative role.
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  Uh, another example from scripture, we think about
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  Jesus's conversation with Peter.
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  Uh, this is from John chapter 21.
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  It's often called Peter's reinstatement.
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  Uh, this is after Peter denied Jesus, Jesus
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  kind of restoring him, reestablishing both their friendship
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  and his call to be an apostle.
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  And part of what Jesus says, this is
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  in, uh, starting in verse 17, he says,
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  Jesus said this to indicate the kind of
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  death by which Peter would glorify God.
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  Then he said to him, follow me.
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  Jesus really spells it out there.
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  He says, sometimes following me involves being led
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  where you do not want to go.
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  That's, that's the exact opposite of what Jesus
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  said.
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  Of assuming that we'll just get to do
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  what we love all the time.
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  And so we need to have an openness
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  to discerning the voice of God, even when
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  it tells us to hard and challenging things
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  that we may not be particularly passionate about
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  and trusting that when we lean into that
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  call and obedience, that it will still serve
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  God's purposes.
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  Okay.
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  But alongside that, this combating this fourth myth
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  is really important.
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  So the fourth myth is calling is about
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  what God wants, not what I want.
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  Okay.
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  Now that might sound almost like a restatement
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  of the true version that I just gave
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  for number three, right?
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  That like, Hey, we, we gotta be willing
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  to do what God says.
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  And if it's not what we want, but
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  here's the thing.
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  Desire can also be part of how God
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  communicates his voice.
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  Uh, the, the Lord is the one who
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  imagined desire.
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  The Lord is the one who made us
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  with, with bodies and souls and minds that
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  have desires.
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  And so if we really consistently desire something,
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  we can pay attention to that.
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  Now it doesn't automatically mean that the desire
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  is good or should be fulfilled, but it's
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  coming from somewhere and we can pay attention
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  to it.
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  Um, and, and we see this even in,
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  for example, that Nehemiah language.
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  So, uh, going back to Nehemiah chapter two,
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  um, when Nehemiah is, uh, still in, uh,
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  uh, exile, he's talking to King Artaxerxes, right?
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  And he, uh, has a really sad appearance
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  on his face.
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  And so this is verse two.
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  So the King asked me, why does your
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  face look so sad when you were not
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  ill?
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  This can be nothing but sadness of heart.
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  So there's this like emotional dynamic of grief
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  that Nehemiah is experiencing.
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  And then later on in, uh, in the
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  same chapter, Nehemiah says that I had not
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  told anyone what my God had put in
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  my heart to do for Jerusalem.
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  This is the language of desire.
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  Nehemiah clearly has a desire to rebuild the
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  wall of Jerusalem.
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  And yet he's saying that God put that
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  desire in his heart.
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  And so as we're discerning what the voice
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  of God is telling us, we should actually
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  pay attention to our desires.
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  Those are part of the puzzle that might
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  lead us toward obedience.
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  Now there's a, there's a paradox there, right?
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  Because obviously God can tell us to do
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  things we don't want to do.
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  And if what we want, if what we
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  desire is also part of how he communicates
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  to us, it's, it's not always immediately clear
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  what the right thing to do is.
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  That's why we need community.
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  We need other help.
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  We need guidance.
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  We need prayer in order to make those
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  kinds of life choices.
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  But we shouldn't have a simplistic attitude either
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  direction, right?
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  We shouldn't have the attitude of a kind
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  of health and wealth.
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  I get to do what I want.
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  That's always what God wants for me.
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  Nor should we have an attitude of, Oh,
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  what I want doesn't matter.
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  I should just ignore that and suppress that.
• 16:22
  Rather, we need to pay attention to our
• 16:24
  desires while holding them open-handedly as we
• 16:27
  discern what God wants us to do.
• 16:29
  That's how we find out what our calling
• 16:30
  is for the next season of life.
• 16:35
  Lord Jesus, help us to hold our desires
• 16:37
  loosely and openly.
• 16:40
  Help us to hear your voice clearly so
• 16:43
  that we can answer your call.
• 16:46
  Help us to keep answering it again and
• 16:48
  again, to keep listening to your voice again
• 16:49
  and again, to become the kind of people
• 16:52
  you want us to be and to do
• 16:54
  the things you have for us to do,
• 16:55
  whether they fulfill our deep desires or whether
• 16:58
  they're really challenging.
• 16:59
  Jesus, do your work in us as we
• 17:01
  do our work with you.
• 17:07
  Thanks for listening.
• 17:09
  Finding God at Work is a production of
• 17:10
  Mission Central, a ministry based in Aurora, Illinois,
• 17:13
  dedicated to forming Christians for mission in everyday
• 17:16
  life.
• 17:17
  You can subscribe to the podcast wherever you
• 17:19
  listen to this episode to get 10 minutes
• 17:21
  of teaching on faith and work every Tuesday
• 17:23
  and Thursday.
• 17:24
  To get resources to go deeper with each
• 17:26
  podcast series, read our blog, and get info
• 17:28
  about upcoming courses on faith in the workplace,
• 17:31
  go to our website, missioncentral.church.