On Vocation
December 5, 2017
Back in 2013 I picked up the book "Radical" by David Platt. Reading this book was eye-opening; I eagerly devoured it, and what he had to say really "resonated" with me. The main thing I took away from it is that God has a heart for the unsaved and for the poor, and that if I am a true Christian who is serious about my faith, I will make God's priorities my own and re-orient my life around reaching these two groups of people.
We live in a wonderful house - private yet close to everything, and situated on 5 acres...it is everything I could want and more. Ever since we moved here I've been humbled and wondered why God has allowed us to live in such an idyllic location. I came to believe He must have given us our property for a reason, and we needed to be actively using it to reach the poor and the lost.
Pondering how this could possibly happen, I came up with the idea of using some of our land to create a garden with which to feed the poor, with the idea that we could then use that ministry as a way to share the gospel with them. At first this thought was a wonderful one, and while it remained in the realm of "idea", it was a positive thing. I talked with people about it, and found many confirmations that this must be the purpose God had in mind by giving us our property. As time went on though, and as "idea" needed to turn into "reality," I became a little paralyzed not knowing how or where to start. Guilt began to set in, and also fear. The fear was derived from the opposite of the blessing: I deduced that if God gave us this property for a reason, then if we didn't fulfill our task in pursuing and carrying out that reason, He would take it away from us. Ultimately I didn't have a great, burning passion for the poor or the spiritually lost. My primary motivation became obedience, spurred on by this fear of what would happen if I didn't.
Eventually I did start the garden, driven and controlled by that fear, and a belief that this was my "God-sized dream", formed and propelled by what I believed were God's direct revelations to me (via signs and promptings)...but all of that is a topic for another post. I ended up donating the fresh produce to our church's food pantry, and helping out there when I could. But the next spring after the pantry closed, when it came time to plant, I found I couldn't bring myself to continue.
I was hearing, and believing, that God had a great purpose for my life, something far beyond what I was living in my day-to-day existence. What I'd been taught I needed to do was find that purpose - discern what it was God was leading me to do to make a difference - and step out in blind faith to walk in that purpose. I thought the garden was it. I set other things aside in my life to make room for the immense amount of time and effort required to make it happen - mostly things like spending time with my family, cooking, and cleaning. I spread myself thin, living with the expectation of seeing God move through my sacrifice, expecting to see actual miracles happen because of my risky faith. I did find I was a little concerned about how I had to kind of set aside my role as wife and mother to make this happen, but I managed to push those worries down when they'd start to surface.
After the garden tanked - or rather, I tanked, and couldn't force myself to do it any more - my guilt returned. What was I doing to reach the lost? Why wasn't I out there serving God in a radical way, moving outside of my "comfort zone"? I had an angst in me, and saw my role at home as something that hindered me from being able to fulfill what God really wanted from me.
As my two boys grew older, the housework grew. Being a procrastinator and a "messy" person by nature, I found (and still find) the burden of keeping up with the housework overwhelming. Laundry, dishes, cooking, vacuuming, mopping...the never-ending tasks weighed me down, and my inability to keep my head above water in that way made things worse. If I couldn't even keep up with my tasks at home as a stay-at-home mom, how could I add more to my life via outreach efforts and this nebulous destiny that God had in store for me? I felt I was missing it somehow, that I was being disobedient. And yet, I knew that the Bible has exhortations for wives, and that serving well in the home is biblical, so I couldn't let that slide. Basically, what I came to realize was, I'm not enough.
Then, last year, we got a puppy.
I am not, and will never be, a dog person. In fact, I'm not neutral on the topic - I actively dislike them, other than for the occasional short visit. My husband however, most definitely IS, and it was very important to him that we have one. I put it off, and put it off, but eventually it became vital enough to him that I felt I could not longer resist, and needed to agree to this out of love for, and deference to, my husband. However, the addition of a 4-month-old puppy only added to my sense of inadequacy, and allowed for even less time to pursue God's will for my life.
I was frustrated, confused, and even more guilt-ridden. The only real "ministry" I still had was my role on the worship team, playing a couple of times a month, but I knew this wasn't enough. I was missing something, my life was becoming even more entrenched in a bubble, and I didn't know what I was supposed to do.
Then, this spring, in my searching, I began to question my thinking, wondering about the idea of God having a grand, world-changing purpose that I am meant to seek out and pursue. Is this actually found in the Bible? What verses support it? If it's meant to be the over-arching design for our lives, why isn't the whole New Testament filled with instruction on how to figure this out?
When I went looking for biblical teaching on the topic, I came up short. There are surprisingly few portions of Scripture that can be made to support this idea...and I use the words "made to" intentionally. The verses I found had to be taken out of context, or read-into, or allegorized to make this stand. Most of the teaching seemed to be based on people's life stories, experience, etc. To go into all of this, on a scripture-by-scripture basis would make this into an exceedingly-lengthy post, and is a bit beyond the reach of my ability besides, so I will try to put some links to good resources that tackle this topic, on the "To learn more..." page, for anyone wanting to search this out in-depth.
Suffice it to say, I had some serious doubts about what I'd believed about what God's will for my life really was. I allowed my understanding to no longer be shaped by anecdotes but rather by scripture. I saw teachings having to do with simple, less grandiose, good works - things like being a good wife and mother, being a good citizen, a good neighbor...but nothing about being a world-changer.
The Lutherans have a teaching referred to as the doctrine of vocation, and when I encountered it, it was such a relief. I will share with you where I first read about it, and as usual, it comes from Rev. Bryan Wolfmueller's book:
"Our vocations define our good works.
"If I am a child, I honor my father and mother; I love and cherish, serve and obey them. If I am husband or wife, I love and cherish my spouse and live faithfully in the bonds of marriage. If I am a parent, I provide for my children's earthly and eternal life. If I am a citizen, I live peacefully with my neighbors and pray for those given the privilege of government. If I govern, I use my reason and authority to serve my neighbor. If I am a student, I listen to my teachers. If I am a Christian, I listen to the Lord's voice in the Scriptures, I go to church to receive the Lord's gifts of the Gospel and the Lord's Supper, I pray, I listen to my pastor. If I am a pastor, I preach and teach, I pray and care for the Lord's people with His Word.
"When, then, I ask what I ought to do every day, the answer is found in my vocation. What is my station in life according to the Ten Commandments? That is what I should do. Who is my neighbor in my family, at my work, in my congregation? It is my task to love them according to vocation. It really is that simple, and the Lord really is pleased with these simple works of service in our vocations. It is not glorious; it is not noticed by anyone else; there might be no 'Thank-you" card. Our neighbor might not even notice. Works according to vocation are often dirty, small, and completely lacking the glory of more 'holy' works, but if these are done with faith in God and love for neighbor, these small works are great, high, and glorious in the Lord's estimation.
"The doctrine of vocation is a tremendous blessing. It sets us free to love and serve in the places where the Lord has placed us with a confidence and joy that is normally missing from the Christian life. Cleaning your room, doing your homework, getting to work on time, doing the dishes, changing the baby's diaper, doing the best work you can at your job, helping your parents move, fixing the fence in the backyard - all of the normal things of this life, when they are done with faith in God and out of love for the neighbor, are glorious good works."
-from "Has American Christianity Failed"
This doesn't mean that, as a Christian, I will never end up doing anything great that reaches and impacts large numbers of people, but it does mean that the "small" and "insignificant" things are not so small and insignificant after all. It means that God isn't sitting around waiting for me to step out in faith and do something that will rock the world, and is shaking his head at me if I miss it. On the contrary, it means that when I mop the floor (and five minutes later you can't tell because it has dog prints on it), when I make a batch of chocolate chip cookies (because I know my husband would like some), when I smile at the cashier (because they seem harried), when I read to my boys at night and tuck them in, these are all good works, and done in faith, God is pleased with them all.
The question of good works is a vast one, and this is a mere toe-dip into it. There are many good resources on the topic, and I recommend checking them out. But I will leave you with this quote from Gene Edward Veith, Jr. found in his book "The Spirituality of the Cross":
"The Christian's relationship to God is based on sheer grace and forgiveness on God's part; the Christian's relationship to other people, however, is to be based on love put into action. As [Gustav] Wingren puts it, 'God does not need our good works, but our neighbor does.'"
-M
Next post: On Doctrine
Back in 2013 I picked up the book "Radical" by David Platt. Reading this book was eye-opening; I eagerly devoured it, and what he had to say really "resonated" with me. The main thing I took away from it is that God has a heart for the unsaved and for the poor, and that if I am a true Christian who is serious about my faith, I will make God's priorities my own and re-orient my life around reaching these two groups of people.
We live in a wonderful house - private yet close to everything, and situated on 5 acres...it is everything I could want and more. Ever since we moved here I've been humbled and wondered why God has allowed us to live in such an idyllic location. I came to believe He must have given us our property for a reason, and we needed to be actively using it to reach the poor and the lost.
Pondering how this could possibly happen, I came up with the idea of using some of our land to create a garden with which to feed the poor, with the idea that we could then use that ministry as a way to share the gospel with them. At first this thought was a wonderful one, and while it remained in the realm of "idea", it was a positive thing. I talked with people about it, and found many confirmations that this must be the purpose God had in mind by giving us our property. As time went on though, and as "idea" needed to turn into "reality," I became a little paralyzed not knowing how or where to start. Guilt began to set in, and also fear. The fear was derived from the opposite of the blessing: I deduced that if God gave us this property for a reason, then if we didn't fulfill our task in pursuing and carrying out that reason, He would take it away from us. Ultimately I didn't have a great, burning passion for the poor or the spiritually lost. My primary motivation became obedience, spurred on by this fear of what would happen if I didn't.
Eventually I did start the garden, driven and controlled by that fear, and a belief that this was my "God-sized dream", formed and propelled by what I believed were God's direct revelations to me (via signs and promptings)...but all of that is a topic for another post. I ended up donating the fresh produce to our church's food pantry, and helping out there when I could. But the next spring after the pantry closed, when it came time to plant, I found I couldn't bring myself to continue.
I was hearing, and believing, that God had a great purpose for my life, something far beyond what I was living in my day-to-day existence. What I'd been taught I needed to do was find that purpose - discern what it was God was leading me to do to make a difference - and step out in blind faith to walk in that purpose. I thought the garden was it. I set other things aside in my life to make room for the immense amount of time and effort required to make it happen - mostly things like spending time with my family, cooking, and cleaning. I spread myself thin, living with the expectation of seeing God move through my sacrifice, expecting to see actual miracles happen because of my risky faith. I did find I was a little concerned about how I had to kind of set aside my role as wife and mother to make this happen, but I managed to push those worries down when they'd start to surface.
After the garden tanked - or rather, I tanked, and couldn't force myself to do it any more - my guilt returned. What was I doing to reach the lost? Why wasn't I out there serving God in a radical way, moving outside of my "comfort zone"? I had an angst in me, and saw my role at home as something that hindered me from being able to fulfill what God really wanted from me.
As my two boys grew older, the housework grew. Being a procrastinator and a "messy" person by nature, I found (and still find) the burden of keeping up with the housework overwhelming. Laundry, dishes, cooking, vacuuming, mopping...the never-ending tasks weighed me down, and my inability to keep my head above water in that way made things worse. If I couldn't even keep up with my tasks at home as a stay-at-home mom, how could I add more to my life via outreach efforts and this nebulous destiny that God had in store for me? I felt I was missing it somehow, that I was being disobedient. And yet, I knew that the Bible has exhortations for wives, and that serving well in the home is biblical, so I couldn't let that slide. Basically, what I came to realize was, I'm not enough.
Then, last year, we got a puppy.
I am not, and will never be, a dog person. In fact, I'm not neutral on the topic - I actively dislike them, other than for the occasional short visit. My husband however, most definitely IS, and it was very important to him that we have one. I put it off, and put it off, but eventually it became vital enough to him that I felt I could not longer resist, and needed to agree to this out of love for, and deference to, my husband. However, the addition of a 4-month-old puppy only added to my sense of inadequacy, and allowed for even less time to pursue God's will for my life.
 |
| Facebook post, October 21, 2016 |
I was frustrated, confused, and even more guilt-ridden. The only real "ministry" I still had was my role on the worship team, playing a couple of times a month, but I knew this wasn't enough. I was missing something, my life was becoming even more entrenched in a bubble, and I didn't know what I was supposed to do.
Then, this spring, in my searching, I began to question my thinking, wondering about the idea of God having a grand, world-changing purpose that I am meant to seek out and pursue. Is this actually found in the Bible? What verses support it? If it's meant to be the over-arching design for our lives, why isn't the whole New Testament filled with instruction on how to figure this out?
When I went looking for biblical teaching on the topic, I came up short. There are surprisingly few portions of Scripture that can be made to support this idea...and I use the words "made to" intentionally. The verses I found had to be taken out of context, or read-into, or allegorized to make this stand. Most of the teaching seemed to be based on people's life stories, experience, etc. To go into all of this, on a scripture-by-scripture basis would make this into an exceedingly-lengthy post, and is a bit beyond the reach of my ability besides, so I will try to put some links to good resources that tackle this topic, on the "To learn more..." page, for anyone wanting to search this out in-depth.
Suffice it to say, I had some serious doubts about what I'd believed about what God's will for my life really was. I allowed my understanding to no longer be shaped by anecdotes but rather by scripture. I saw teachings having to do with simple, less grandiose, good works - things like being a good wife and mother, being a good citizen, a good neighbor...but nothing about being a world-changer.
The Lutherans have a teaching referred to as the doctrine of vocation, and when I encountered it, it was such a relief. I will share with you where I first read about it, and as usual, it comes from Rev. Bryan Wolfmueller's book:
"Our vocations define our good works.
"If I am a child, I honor my father and mother; I love and cherish, serve and obey them. If I am husband or wife, I love and cherish my spouse and live faithfully in the bonds of marriage. If I am a parent, I provide for my children's earthly and eternal life. If I am a citizen, I live peacefully with my neighbors and pray for those given the privilege of government. If I govern, I use my reason and authority to serve my neighbor. If I am a student, I listen to my teachers. If I am a Christian, I listen to the Lord's voice in the Scriptures, I go to church to receive the Lord's gifts of the Gospel and the Lord's Supper, I pray, I listen to my pastor. If I am a pastor, I preach and teach, I pray and care for the Lord's people with His Word.
"When, then, I ask what I ought to do every day, the answer is found in my vocation. What is my station in life according to the Ten Commandments? That is what I should do. Who is my neighbor in my family, at my work, in my congregation? It is my task to love them according to vocation. It really is that simple, and the Lord really is pleased with these simple works of service in our vocations. It is not glorious; it is not noticed by anyone else; there might be no 'Thank-you" card. Our neighbor might not even notice. Works according to vocation are often dirty, small, and completely lacking the glory of more 'holy' works, but if these are done with faith in God and love for neighbor, these small works are great, high, and glorious in the Lord's estimation.
"The doctrine of vocation is a tremendous blessing. It sets us free to love and serve in the places where the Lord has placed us with a confidence and joy that is normally missing from the Christian life. Cleaning your room, doing your homework, getting to work on time, doing the dishes, changing the baby's diaper, doing the best work you can at your job, helping your parents move, fixing the fence in the backyard - all of the normal things of this life, when they are done with faith in God and out of love for the neighbor, are glorious good works."
-from "Has American Christianity Failed"
This doesn't mean that, as a Christian, I will never end up doing anything great that reaches and impacts large numbers of people, but it does mean that the "small" and "insignificant" things are not so small and insignificant after all. It means that God isn't sitting around waiting for me to step out in faith and do something that will rock the world, and is shaking his head at me if I miss it. On the contrary, it means that when I mop the floor (and five minutes later you can't tell because it has dog prints on it), when I make a batch of chocolate chip cookies (because I know my husband would like some), when I smile at the cashier (because they seem harried), when I read to my boys at night and tuck them in, these are all good works, and done in faith, God is pleased with them all.
The question of good works is a vast one, and this is a mere toe-dip into it. There are many good resources on the topic, and I recommend checking them out. But I will leave you with this quote from Gene Edward Veith, Jr. found in his book "The Spirituality of the Cross":
"The Christian's relationship to God is based on sheer grace and forgiveness on God's part; the Christian's relationship to other people, however, is to be based on love put into action. As [Gustav] Wingren puts it, 'God does not need our good works, but our neighbor does.'"
-M
Next post: On Doctrine
I was going to type a long, involved post about the difference between the works we do FOR Salvation and works done FROM Salvation. Suffice it to say one is vain conceit and the other is nought but God's Grace...
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