Gifts and Calling

"Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms." 1 Pet. 4:10

Those of us familiar with the language of the Bible notice something strange about the phrase “vocational choice." The Bible teaches that God gives us certain gifts and that He calls us to exercise those gifts in the service of others. This is our calling, our vocation—for "vocation" just means a calling from God. Strictly speaking, then, we do not choose our vocation . . . we choose a career that enables us to pursue our vocation.

How do we go about this choice? The answer begins with the Christian tradition that work is a social place to exercise our gifts in service to others. This immediately raises two important and practical questions about career choice.

First, what gifts has God in fact given me? I cannot do everything. But I can do some things. What has God enabled me to do and do well? To try to answer this question is to engage in the long—and often difficult—quest for self-knowledge. For gifts are not just abilities and aptitudes, but also interests and concerns: the things that make us tick.

Second, how are our gifts best employed in service to our neighbors? Of course it is tempting to assess job desirability strictly in terms of salary, security, status, and location. But a Christian’s chief consideration is service. Besides salary, security, and the like—all legitimate considerations—we must also consider others’ needs.

The best choice on this score may call for self-sacrifice—lower salary, less job-security or status, a less-congenial location. Yet Jesus told us to expect sacrifices in following Him, including our following Him in the world of work.

Questions for discussion

• Service may be a Christian’s chief consideration in career choice, but it is not the only consideration. How may a follower of Christ also weigh salary, security, and location?
• A friend of mine was a very fine bass player—one of the industry’s best. But he chose not to make a career of music because it brought out his worst side, made him competitive, egotistical, and crabby. The last I heard, he was a car mechanic in California. Did he make the right decision?