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March 17, 2008

Food for Thought

by by Ben Patterson

While I don't understand everything, there is one thing I am solidly convinced of: a call is not a career. The pivotal distinction between the two may be the most important thing we ever understand about the call of God, especially in these times.

The words themselves immediately suggest one difference. Our English word career comes from the French carriere, meaning "a road," or "a highway." The image suggests a course one sets out on, road map in hand, goal in sight, stops marked along the way for food, lodging, and fuel.


Looking back, we can speak of one's career as the road one took in life. But more often we speak of it as we look forward, as the path one chooses and plans to travel professionally, an itinerary charted and scheduled. The destination is primary. The roads are well-marked. The rest is up to the traveler.

A call, on the other hand, has no maps, no itinerary to follow; no destination to envision. Rather, a call depends upon hearing a Voice. The organ of faith is the ear, not the eye. First and last, it is something one listens for. Everything depends upon the relationship of the listener to the One who calls. Careers lend themselves to formula and blueprints, a call only to a relationship. A career can be pursued with a certain amount of personal detachment, a call never.


Excerpted from an article in Find Your Calling, a downloadable resource from Gifted For Leadership.

Posted by Bonnie McMaken on March 17, 2008 2:48 PM

Comments

I love the distinction you make between career and calling.

In "Let Your Life Speak", Parker Palmer said, "Vocation comes from the latin word for 'voice'. Vocation does not mean a goal that I pursue. It means a calling that I hear."

He seems to agree with you. …”vocation is a gift to be received, not a goal to be achieved. …accepting the treasure of true self I already possess.”

Unfortunately, too many of us are not true to ourselves. It's easier to chart out a path for a career than to be still and know my true self and listen to that voice.

Posted By: Angela C | March 17, 2008 5:49 PM

However, when one identifies their calling, they must actually, get a job, or start a career path, or they get... NOWHERE!! Lofty philosophical ponderings merely seperate. As a Christian career counselor of several decades I would recomend you get off your high horse and "get a job" and serve the Lord!

Posted By: amy | March 18, 2008 10:09 PM

One must always be careful drawing hard and fast lines. Christians love to do that. I discovered my calling when I discovered my career. When I discovered my career I discovered my calling. The two for me are inextricably intertwined. I hear God's voice as I pursue my career. It is not fixed nor certain, nor do I pursue it according to a "blueprint." To separate the two does a disservice to the thousands of professionals who serve God through their "calling" to a specific "career." They don't separate secular from spiritual. I wonder if Paul considered his career as a tentmaker separate from his calling as an apostle.

Posted By: Lora | March 21, 2008 12:47 PM

Some are called INTO their careers and continue to serve God in it; Others are called IN their carreers and continue to serve God in it; Yet others are called through their carreers and continue to serve God in it; and still others are called AWAY from their carreers and continue to serve God in the new path.

However, one and the same person can hear all these different calls in the same lifetime at different periods of his life. I guess what is really important for us is to make sure we CAN hear God call and are listening all the time... Something like 'Watch and pray'

Posted By: Kofo | March 26, 2008 9:47 AM

I wish more people entering the ministry full time would understand the distinction between their chosen career and their calling. The blessing benefits from yielding to the calling for ministry work is that here God calls first and then equipts. It is a flow that a yielded vessel can see how His power is perfected in weakness. Without the calling ministry can result in burnout and in striving to get things to work only without the approval of God and the anointing that is so needed to supernaturally transform lives.

Posted By: Valerie Caraotta | April 18, 2008 12:25 PM

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