Still not getting Vocation

Our newspaper publishes Billy Graham’s Q&A column.  Here is a recent question from Mrs. K. W.:

DEAR DR. GRAHAM: My husband and I want to serve God, but we’re still tied down with family responsibilities and jobs. Maybe we can volunteer for some kind of mission work once our children are grown or we retire.

Dr. Graham’s reply talked around the doctrine of vocation–you can serve God now by being good parents, helping others, and witnessing on the job–but he didn’t really seem to get the concept either.

“Family responsibilities” and “jobs,” as well as our citizenship and our involvement in church ARE the arenas where God has placed us to serve Him.  And we serve Him by serving our neighbors, the human beings we interact with in our families, jobs, churches, and society.

And it isn’t just by overtly pious activities in these areas (such as witnessing on the job) that we serve God and our neighbors, but by the work of the calling:  changing the baby’s diapers, spending time with your spouse, meeting the needs of your customers, etc.