The Key to Discovering Your Calling

Therefore, brethren, be the more zealous to confirm your call and election, for if you do this you will never fall; 11 so there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ~ 2^nd Peter 1:10-11

It occurred to me recently that modern humans worry about an awful lot of stuff that my great-Grandparents would have viewed as trivial and even a little strange.

I suspect that women in my great-Grandmother’s day were far too occupied with issues related to food, clothing and disease to fixate on potty training their infants or agonize over finding a stimulating preschool environment for their toddlers. They didn’t concern themselves with being the “crafty” Mom, nor did they obsess over how to stay sexy into middle age. 

No one gave any thought to the notion of “going vegan” or to the health consequences of excessive gluten. They didn’t expend a lot of energy worrying about what they would do during their retirement years. They were just content to live to their retirement years.

Modern Christians have our own fair share of novel worries. I doubt our spiritual predecessors gave much thought to finding Churches with cutting-edge kid’s and youth programs. They didn’t worry about whether or not they were  “getting fed spiritually.” Previous generations of believers were not consumed with finding their “calling,” nor did they spend a lot of time obsessing about whether or not they were doing “what God made them to do.”

A longing to discover our spiritual calling and be in the center of God’s will is without question a good and healthy desire. But like most of our modern spiritual concerns, this one reveals some misdirected priorities.

Parents should be concerned about their kid’s spiritual growth and development, but what kids really need is to witness their parents attending and supporting their local Church. Kids need Moms and Dads who will faithfully teach them about God and right from wrong much more than they need just the “right” program.

Getting fed spiritually is a well-intentioned ambition. Acquiring the knowledge to feed ourselves is a better ambition. It frees us from the bondage of church-hopping and Bible study bouncing in a never-ending quest for spiritual food. Learning to provide our own spiritual food also enables Christians to teach and serve in local congregations, rather than continuously searching for new and novel places to be served and taught.

I simply cannot find a New Testament passage that clearly instructs Christians to search out their individual calling in Christ. I have found several passages that tell us exactly what believers are called to be. Christians are called by God to be:

In fellowship with Jesus~ 1^st Corinthians 1:9

Holy~ 2^nd Timothy 1:9

Living in unity with other Christians~ Colossians 3:15, Ephesians 4:4

Encouragers~ Hebrews 3:13

Enduring suffering for doing good~ 1^st Peter 2:20-22 

Followers of truth~ 2^nd Thessalonians 2:13-15

Servants~ Galatians 5:13

Kind~ Ephesians 4:31

Living in peace with people~ 1^st Corinthians 7:15

Pure~ Philippians 2:14-16

Continually declaring the goodness of God~ 1^st Peter 2:9

For decades well-meaning church leaders have taught that we should attempt to do great things for God. We were told that if we discovered our calling, determined our gifting and got busy, we would accomplish great things for the Kingdom of God. Any and all discussion of altering lifestyle choices, sanctification or doctrinal instruction was casually dismissed as needless and archaic legalism.

This well-intended instruction has led to some unintended and peculiar consequences. The body of Christ is inundated with oodles of Christians who are eager to build the Kingdom but are lacking the character, wisdom and knowledge necessary to resist sin, defend their faith, make lasting disciples and remain faithful to Christ. We have missed the mark because we have forgotten that God cares more about who we become and how we behave than what we accomplish.

God wants men and women to be shaped into the image of Jesus Christ (Romans 8:29). It’s all we need to work on any thing else is superfluous.  Our ambition in this life should be to take on the characteristics of Jesus as we grow in our knowledge of Him. If we seek to meet this goal we might just start building the Kingdom and accomplishing great things for God.