WHAT IS A VOCATION?
Every adult I know has had a job. I have had several. A job is work you do because you need or desire the money. I am thankful for the jobs that I have had. There is nothing wrong with hard work, at least for a time, it is good for the soul.
A career is like a job, but it offers more than just money. The person with a career enjoys the possibility of advancement, increases in income, and status. Many people have found satisfying careers. In addition to the money and the status, there is also the satisfaction that comes with getting more skilled at work that you do over time. People who have found a career stay in it long enough to get good at what they are doing. Having a career is usually more rewarding than having a job.
However, a vocation is different from a job or a career. It is being engaged in work that feels like a privilege to do. The feeling is like I can’t believe I get paid to do this. It is work you would be happy to do without any compensation. A vocation is an intersection between what you like to do, what you are good at doing, and what others need. A vocation isn’t necessarily easy. They often have greater challenges, disappointments, and require greater effort than a career or a job. Often a vocation comes with little compensation or status.
HOW I STUMBLED INTO MY VOCATION
In high school I had no idea what I wanted to do, but I thought that if I had a lot of money life would be grand. In my first year at Phoenix College I studied business and accounting, thinking that those courses would lead to making a lot of money. However, I ran low on funds for school and joined the US Navy thinking that the G.I. Bill would allow me to return to college and make my fortune.
While in the Navy I was stationed on the USS Midway, which was homeported in Japan. During my enlistment
I spent a lot of time at sea, but I was able to spend several weeks in Japan, and in the summer of 1977, I was able to spend three months in the Philippine islands. While in the Navy, I found spiritual refreshment and good friends at the Yokosuka Servicemen’s Center in Japan and the Subic Servicemen’s Center in the Philippines, both operated by Cadence International.
When I was discharged from the Navy, I missed the kind of deep fellowship I had experienced in Japan and the Philippines. I wanted to know God and His plan for my life, so I moved to Portland, Oregon to attend Multnomah University. While at Multnomah I felt like I would like to pastor a large church. I could see myself speaking to thousands, writing books, and enjoying popularity and wealth.
Every year at Multnomah there was a weeklong missionary conference where students were asked to consider the possibility that God would use them in missions. I didn’t want anything to do with missions. I had no calling to live overseas in poverty. All students were required to spend time talking with missionaries. I spent all my time with the missionaries from Cadence. We shared stories of our time in the military, and the missionaries would share stories of what God was doing in the mission. I listened politely, but never had any interest in joining the mission.
Schweinfurt Rathaus
After Bible school I discovered that churches were not really interested in having me on their staff. They thought I was too young and too inexperienced. However, Cadence needed missionaries and our church leadership encouraged me to pursue those missionary opportunities. A lot happened quickly and, in August of 1983, I was in Schweinfurt, Germany with my wife, and two kids, 3 and 4 years old, working as the director of the Schweinfurt Hospitality House. The work was exciting and overwhelming. Surprisingly, after six months in Schweinfurt, I was in love with the work. I did not know it at the time, but I had found my vocation.
However, my calling is not to be a missionary with Cadence. Instead, my calling is a mix of theologian, pastor, counselor, life coach, philosopher, and teacher. I was living out my vocation yesterday teaching high school. I was living it out last night at dinner with an airmen, and I will live it out next week when I lead a small group in reading the New Testament from 6 a.m. – midnight. I am able to live out this calling most days.
LOOKING FOR YOUR VOCATION
When you find your calling a lot of things fall into place and your work has meaning even when other parts of your life may be in chaos.
As I have thought about vocation, and talked with others about the idea, I believe that God has called everyone to a vocation, but few find it. As my story illustrates, my vocation found me. But I wonder if more people might find their vocation if they were looking for it. Most young people have never even considered the possibility. This week I was talking with two high school seniors who are headed to college next year, and they had never heard of such an idea. The only two categories they had were how can I make a lot of money (which sounded a lot like me when I was in high school), and what do I like to do.
Because vocations often lack significant financial rewards and status, they take some courage to pursue. It is also something which is best discovered when you are young and have freedom to move and try a few different possibilities. Once you are supporting a family and have a mortgage, the reality of the modern world creates significant barriers to looking for a vocation.
Finding your vocation is a gift that not everyone gets. If you are not able to find or practice your vocation, you can still have a great and satisfying life by pursuing the virtuous life. However, one of the ways I try and help young people today is by suggesting there is a calling on their life and they might be well served by looking for it.
