The Chapel - Rediscovering God Changes Everything.

The word ‘vocation’ comes from the Latin ‘vocare’ which means ‘call’.  When you ask someone their vocation today we are asking them their job.  The original understanding is that anyone’s job is their calling.  The one who calls is God.  The question is whether there is a higher calling into ministry and whether all other callings are ‘secular’.  The problem with this perspective is that it creates two worlds.  In one world we have secular jobs, secular music and secular movies.  In another world we have prayer, worship, and Bible study.  However, God is one and his world is one.  The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it.  When we care for God’s world in any capacity we are carrying out a calling to serve God.

To minister is to serve.  A minister is a servant.  Working in ministry is working in service.  This is less of a position in the Kingdom of God and more of an attitude.  The person who serves God 100% by serving in the church and the person who serves God 100% by manufacturing cars for the glory of God are both ministering at 100%.  The absurdity of the common misconception is shown when we think of someone who sweeps floors.  If someone sweeps the floor of a church is it more or less of an act of service to God than sweeping the floor of a school if both acts are done with a joyful attitude of service to God.

We have done people a disservice by reducing the majority of employment to wage earning jobs.  We should rather encourage everyone working in God’s world to see their vocation as a God-given call to be done in a godly manner to the glory of God.

The direct answer, then, to the question above is, ‘No.’ This is because all calling is a calling to serve.

A second way to view the question is whether there is a supernatural ‘calling’ for those who are unpaid workers or whether we are in a less privileged role if we get paid for what we do.  Is there a career path as opposed to a supernatural ‘setting apart’?  The answer to that is that we are all set apart by God for good works in Christ (Ephesians 2:10).  Those good works are in every sphere of our lives.