Choosing Between Vocations

Pastor Biermann said that it’s a complete misunderstanding to think that our vocations are completely static.  Contrary to what its critics say, the Lutheran doctrine of vocation does not mean that if God called you to a certain job you can never leave it.

Another misunderstanding is that God has one specific plan for our lives–and we have to find it.  And if we don’t, we are living outside of God’s will, so that our lives are wasted and we are letting God down.

Our calling is to do what God has given us to do, to serve the neighbors whom He has put into our lives in the here and now.  He orchestrates our situations to bring us where He wants us to serve.  So right now, where we are, in the tasks that are set before us, that’s our vocation.  As our lives change, our vocations will change.

We find them in the ordinary way:  in terms of our gifts and interests, yes, but also what’s available, whether we get hired, what opportunities come our way.  We are to understand whatever we find ourselves doing and whoever our neighbors are at the moment as coming from the hand of God, as the place where God has placed us to live out our Christian life.

We will still have to make choices.  How do we discern which choice God wants us to make?  How do I know which college to go to, or which job offer to take?

On “discerning God’s will,” Pastor Biermann says that Scripture makes clear what His will is:  to keep His commandments.  We should indeed consider whether one choice or the other might lead us to violate or tempt us to violate His commands.  Should I go to the “party school,” knowing myself as someone easily tempted to go astray morally?  Or should I go to the school where there is a strong campus ministry and a good church nearby that will be good for me?  Would taking this job offer require my doing something that would violate my conscience?  Would the other job, though it pays less, contribute more to the common good?

But if neither college or job offer poses a moral problem, Pastor Biermann said, take your pick!  It’s quite legitimate to consider where you would rather live, the cost of one school over another, the relative quality of the programs the schools offer.  Or how much money you would be paid, which job would be more interesting to you, whether your family would be willing to move.  (Pastor Biermann says the family is the primary vocation, so considering what would be best for your family is an important consideration.)

Pastor Biermann said that in the LCMS, every pastor receives a document from the calling  congregation entitled “Diploma of Vocation,” informing him of the “divine call” that the congregation is conveying to him.  After our congregation voted to extend a call to the man we wanted to be our pastor, we sent him a Diploma of Vocation.

So now that pastor has two Diplomas of Vocation.  He has two calls.  Both of them are divine calls, meaning they are from God.

Which one does God want him to take?  Either one is God’s will, Pastor Biermann said.  The pastor with two calls in hand can be assured that he has a vocation from God in whichever congregation he chooses, as he exercises his Christian freedom.

Yes, he will “prayerfully consider” the new call.  Family considerations, issues in his current congregations that might be factors in whether to stay or go, practical matters of salary and place to live, personal preferences of one kind or another, issues of conscience–these are some of the factors he should consider, and he should indeed pray for God’s guidance.  But which ever congregation he chooses will be within God’s will.

And other vocations, according to Pastor Biermann, work in much the same way.  What do you think of this vocational advice?

Photo:  Make Decisions by Gerd Altmann via PublicDomainPictures, Public Domain, CC0.