Research on Christian Vocation

June 19, 2019 By Gene Veith

The Barna Research Group, in conjunction with Abilene Christian University, has published a study entitled Christians at Work. It demonstrates that Christians’ awareness of the doctrine of vocation seems to have grown considerably over the past few years. But I’m not sure the researchers or the subjects fully “get” the concept.

According to a summary, 50% of Millennials, 39% of Generation X-ers, and 37% of Baby Boomers say that “I feel ‘made for’ or ‘called’ to the work I currently do.” It may seem odd that people at the end of their careers feel less “called” than those at the beginning–especially since many Millennial young adults are not yet settled in the professions they have prepared for–but I suspect that the data is showing that younger Christians are more aware of the concept than the older generations.

But though the report keeps using the word “vocation,” the term has reference only to “work,” which of course is the emphasis of the study, but, properly speaking, our “callings” also have to do with family, citizenship, and church. In fact, what we do for a living is subordinate to our vocations in the earthly estates that God has ordained, so that whatever we are doing to support ourselves and our family–whether or not it corresponds to “my unique strengths, talents, and capabilities” (as one survey question puts it)–is fulfilling our primary callings as husband, father, and citizen. In fact, the report seems to play work and church involvement off against our work, as if they were not all facets of God’s calling.

More problematic is that much of the survey focuses on “satisfaction,” perpetuating the misconception that our vocations from God have to do with our self-fulfillment. Some do, and some don’t. Some vocations give us a sense of fulfillment some times, but not other times. But “self” is not the point.

The purpose of every vocation is to love and serve the neighbors that the vocation brings into our lives (spouse; children; fellow church members; fellow citizens; clients; customers; etc.). In the course of that service, we sacrifice ourselves for others, experience trials and tribulations, fall into sin and repent and receive Christ’s forgiveness, and so grow in our faith and our sanctification.

But there was one question that related to serving our neighbor: “I want to use my gifts and talents for the good of others.” Among Millennials, 67% agreed; among Generation X-ers, 60%; among Baby Boomers, 57%.

The oft-criticized Millennial generation of Christians seems to have more of a sense of vocation than us Baby Boomers. That bodes well, though we all have more to learn.

Image by StockSnap from Pixabay, Pixabay License

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“Vocation: How God Provides for Us”

April 2, 2019 By Gene Veith

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The magazine Interest Time has a special issue on vocation. The lead article “Vocation: How God Provides for Us” by Demian Farnworth is an excellent introduction to the concept. The issue also includes an interview with me, in which, among other things, I tell how I first discovered vocation.

Interest Time is a publication of the Lutheran Church Extension Fund (LCEF), a financial services organization that handles savings and investments for congregations and their members and that provides loans for church buildings and other worthy projects. The LCEF has nearly 60,000 investors, and this magazine goes out to them, but it’s available online.

The special issue actually is more than just an introduction, since it brings out many facets of vocation that go deeper into the concept. The lead article, which is unsigned but Demian–a Senior Content Writer for LCEF–admitted to me that he is the author, not only draws on my three books but on the insights of other folks: Ft. Wayne seminary professor John Pless explained how vocation is related to justification, baptism, and sacrifice. Deaconness Betsy Karkan discussed vocation as gift, which entails not only blessings but also crosses that we have to bear. Pastor Andrew Preus explained how vocation “contains”–but is not identical with–occupation:

“An occupation,” said Rev. Andrew Preus, senior pastor of two Lutheran churches in Iowa, “is what you do within your vocation. Vocation contains an occupation. The occupation serves the vocation.”

“A father, for example, works as a plumber to support his family as well as other families, his church and even to pay taxes to give revenue to whom revenue is due.”. . .

“Father is instituted by God,” Preus said. “Christian is instituted by God. Plumber isn’t. You can, without sinning, stop being a plumber. You can’t, without sinning, decide to stop being a father.”

The issue also included an interview with me, conducted by Demian. Here is a sample from that:

When did you know you should write about vocation:

I had been asked to speak to a group of Christian artists, and, in the course of trying to find a topic, I picked up a book that a friend had given me: Gustav Wingren’s Luther on Vocation. I thought I knew what vocation was, but I was astonished at what I was learning from this book, things I had never heard before. So I taught these artists about vocation, and when I saw the impact it was having on them—some were weeping with joy—I knew that I should try to make Luther’s teachings about vocation more broadly known.

What do you wish your younger self knew about vocation?

Vocation is not primarily about self-fulfillment, happiness, or success (though these may come). Rather, vocation has to do with self-sacrificially loving and serving the neighbors whom our callings bring into our lives. . . .

What’s threatens the doctrine of vocation?

The cult of the self, which reduces our economic labors to self-interest, destroys families in the name of self-fulfillment, and ensures our isolation from the neighbors whom God calls us to love and to serve.

[Keep reading. . .]

Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay, Creative Commons License

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“Two Kinds of Righteousness” and Vocation

February 28, 2019 By Gene Veith

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I’m in a reading group that just finished discussing Luther’s Two Kinds of Righteousness. Friends, you have got to read this brief tract based on one of Luther’s sermons from 1519. It’s from the early days of the Reformation, two years after the 95 Theses and two years before the showdown with the emperor at the Diet of Worms. This is Luther at his very best.

Setting aside polemics, despite the tumultuous controversies of the time–this was also the year of the Leipzig disputation with Johann Eck over indulgences and the authority of the pope–this work is pure pastoral care. It is one of the clearest, most penetrating, most profound, and most beautiful expositions of the Gospel–with stunning applications of Scripture–that I have ever come across.

And it is helpful in explaining something that we often overlook, that the “alien righteousness” we have in Christ is a real righteousness, delivering us from the “alien” sinfulness that we have in Adam. When we are united to Christ by faith–as a result of His grace and the Holy Spirit’s work through Word and Sacrament–we are saved by His good works, which become ours, since we are members of His body.

Therefore a man can with confidence boast in Christ and say: “Mine are Christ’s living, doing, and speaking, his suffering and dying, mine as much as if I had lived, done, spoken, suffered, and died as he did.” Just as a bridegroom possesses all that is his bride’s and she all that is his—for the two have all things in common because they are one flesh [Gen. 2:24]—so Christ and the church are one spirit [Eph. 5:29-32].

Furthermore, Luther explains the connection of this “alien righteousness” that we did not accomplish with our “proper righteousness”; that is, the good works that are the fruit and consequence of Christ’s righteousness in us.

Luther relates all of this to vocation. That is, to the Christian life as we each, in our various capacities and walks of life, love and serve our neighbors.

Luther’s text for this message is Philipians 2:5-6: “have this mind among yourselves, which you have in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped.” He focuses not just on what this passage teaches about Christ but also on what this passage means when it says “have this mind among yourselves.”

I was struck by this passage, which specifies how we are to have the “mind” of Christ in our different vocations in the way we ought to empty ourselves–as Christ did–in love and service to our neighbors:

Whenever we, on the ground of our righteousness, wisdom, or power, are haughty or angry with those who are unrighteous, foolish, or less powerful than we—and this is the greatest perversion—righteousness works against righteousness, wisdom against wisdom, power against power. For you are powerful, not that you may make the weak weaker by oppression, but that you may make them powerful by raising them up and defending them. You are wise, not in order to laugh at the foolish and thereby make them more foolish, but that you may undertake to teach them as you yourself would wish to be taught. You are righteous that you may vindicate and pardon the unrighteous, not that you may only condemn, disparage, judge, and punish. For this is Christ’s example for us, as he says, “For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him” (John 3:17). He further says in Luke 9:55-56, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of; for the Son of man came not to destroy men’s lives but to save them.”

When “righteousness works against righteousness”! Using our very righteousness to mistreat people and thus to be unrighteous! This is an example of the subtlety and precision of this work.

So read the Two Kinds of Righteousness. free at the link (or buy it here or look it up in Luther’s Works, Vol. 32, pp. 297-306). It’s exceedingly short, only 20 brief paragraphs! So you probably have time to read it right now. You will be glad you did.

Illustration by John Warner Barber, “Christian Similitudes” (1866), p. 103, via Flickr, Public Domain.

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Vocation, Technology, & Luther’s “Theology of Tools”

February 14, 2019 By Gene Veith

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Rev. A. Trevor Sutton, the co-writer with me of Authentic Christianity: How Lutheran Theology Speaks to a Postmodern World, is working on a doctorate in which he is studying the relationship between technology and theology. He has written some interesting articles lately that I wanted to pass along.

In Mr. Zuckerberg, Meet Martin Luther, he applies the doctrine of vocation to Silicon Valley. Like the “Robber Barons” of the Gilded Age, the tycoons of Silicon Valley have been both lauded for their economy-and-culture-changing entrepreneurship and condemned for their all-too-human faults. Trevor shows that not only in their influence but in the “digital interfaces” that they rule over, the CEOs of high-tech companies function much like the “rulers” whom Luther exhorts to serve their subjects.

Then Trevor connects technology to what Luther wrote about tools, in the context of vocation. I’ll give you a sampling of that.

From A. Trevor Sutton, Mr. Zuckerberg, Meet Martin Luther:

Luther’s advice for Zuckerberg would extend beyond principles for social responsibility in leadership; he also wrote about technology. Similar to power and influence, technology should be used in service to neighbors. In The Sermon on the Mount (1538), Luther suggested:

If you are a manual laborer, you find that the Bible has been put into your workshop, into your hand, into your heart. It teaches and preaches how you should treat your neighbor. Just look at your tools—at your needle or thimble, your beer barrel, your goods, your scales or yardstick or measure—and you will read this statement inscribed on them. Everywhere you look, it stares at you. Nothing that you handle every day is so tiny that it does not continually tell you this, if you will only listen. … All this is continually crying out to you: “Friend, use me in your relations with your neighbor just as you would want your neighbor to use his property in his relations with you.”

In Luther’s mind, the methods and tools of one’s craft—technology—are rightly used when deployed in service to neighbors; needles, thimbles, beer barrels, scales, computers, and smartphones ought to enrich the lives of others instead of hurting, harming, or taking advantage of them. This implies also that those who create these technologies must also consider the ends to which they are being employed—to help or harm others. This understanding of technology suggests that the Silicon Valley creators of software, user interfaces, algorithms, and social networking platforms are more responsible to the individual users than the tech investors and profit margins to whom they’ve traditionally answered. One can imagine the widespread change that would occur if designers, programmers, and tech companies as a whole created their technologies with the well-being of their neighbors at the forefront of their minds. To be certain, this way of producing technology would also be very disruptive to the current economic paradigm.

Zuckerberg and other leaders in Silicon Valley possess considerable power through their social networking sites, whether they’re willing to say so or not. And while Luther may not be able to help us fix the inherent problems of our economic system, his theology of tools—that is, arguing that the technologies we create and employ should serve rather than take advantage of our neighbors—should at least give Zuckerberg and other tech leaders pause to consider, “for whom are we to fix things.”

Illustration via MaxPixel, CC0, Public Domain

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Psychologists on Vocation

January 11, 2019 By Gene Veith

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Even secularists today are talking about the importance of having a sense of “calling”; that is, a sense of vocation (a Latinate word that means, simply, “calling”). Many secularist treatments seem to be oblivious to the fact that this is a theological concept and that, strictly speaking, you cannot have a “calling” apart from Someone who “calls” you. Nevertheless, this interest in vocation is a good sign, demonstrating that churches would do well to recover and to teach the doctrine of vocation, which is a subject of urgent interest to people today, both inside and outside the church.

Furthermore, the doctrine of vocation teaches that while non-believers do not know the Caller–so that their work is not the fruit of their faith, as it can be for Christians–God nevertheless does work through non-believers as well.

I have written quite a bit about vocation. To review, vocation is not just about how we make a living. Rather, we have multiple vocations in the “estates” that God has designed for human life: the family, the society, and the church. Also the workplace, which might be an aspect of any of those estates. God providentially works through human beings in their vocations to give His gifts: He provides daily bread through farmers, bakers, and shopkeepers; He creates new life by means of fathers and mothers; He protects us by means of lawful authorities; He proclaims His Word by means of pastors, etc., etc. And the purpose of every vocation is to love and serve one’s neighbors.

I stumbled across an article in Aeon that summarizes psychological research on “finding your true calling.” This is not the theological understanding of calling. For one thing, it restricts the discussion to the workplace. And instead of focusing on loving and serving the neighbors whom your calling brings to you to love and to serve, it is more about self-fulfillment, which is NOT what Christian vocation is all about. So though it misses the main points about “calling,” I found it interesting nonetheless. It can help us see some other misconceptions about vocation. And it illuminates, from a secular point of view, some other aspects of our callings and how we should think about them.

I’ll give the five points it raises and comment about each one. (Go to the link, which tells about the research in each of these areas.) From Christian Jarrett, Psychology’s five revelations for finding your true calling:

(1) “First, there’s a difference between having a harmonious passion and an obsessive passion.”

The article uses the language of having a “passion” for your work. “Passion” used to be a negative word, evoking strong emotions that need to be curbed. But in this sense it refers to a certain zeal or enthusiasm (which used to be another bad word) for your work. But we hear this a lot, as in, “you need to have a passion for what you are doing.”

The research has found two different kinds of passion in this sense. An “obsessive passion” is an all-consuming pre-occupation with your work or what you are trying to accomplish. That kind of passion leads mainly to stress, lack of control, and burn-out. “Harmonious passion,” though, involves a sense of control and harmony with other facets of your life. This kind does result in better work performance and over-all vitality.

(2) “Secondly, having an unanswered calling in life is worse than having no calling at all.”

This says that if you have a sense of calling to do something, but it is “unanswered”–that is, you aren’t doing it–this creates dissatisfaction with what you are doing, as well as other kinds of frustration and unhappiness. This is in contrast to the Christian understanding that vocation is in the here and now, that God has called you to this moment and this task where He has placed you. (See #4 below.)

(3) “The third finding to bear in mind is that, without passion, grit is ‘merely a grind’. “

Experts have been referring to “grit”; that is, perseverance and toughness. Such “grit” is important to effectiveness at any kind of work. The psychological research cited here has found that you need “grit” along with “passion.” If you just have grit, but no passion for what you are doing, you will only experience drudgery. While if you have passion but no grit, you will get little done.

The doctrine of vocation does include “bearing the cross” in vocation, the trials and tribulations that your vocation will bring upon you, the difficulties and failures involved in loving and serving your neighbor. Yes, indeed, we must persevere in our callings (for example, marriage), even when it isn’t easy. But bearing our own crosses and realizing how they are taken up into Christ’s cross as we depend on Him builds up our faith and contributes to our sanctification.

(4) Another finding is that, when you invest enough effort, you might find that your work becomes your passion.

This is an important finding. If you don’t have “passion” for the work you have to do, if you devote yourself and put in the effort, you can develop the passion. The passion doesn’t necessarily come first.

This is more constructive than some of the other findings. It fits in more with the teaching that your calling is in the here and now. Your attitude–particularly, for a Christian, acting in faith, with a realization that God is present, even in this boring job or this frustrating relationship–can transfigure how you see that calling and how you experience it.

(5) “Finally, if you think that passion comes from doing a job you enjoy, you’re likely to be disappointed.” Instead, the beneficial, satisfying passion comes “from doing what you believe in or value in life.”

This is extraordinarily important and deals with a misconception that Christians too often have. Your calling is not measured by how much you enjoy what you are doing. In secular terms, your “passion” is not the same as enjoyment. If you aren’t getting pleasure from your job, or your family, or your church, that doesn’t mean they aren’t part of your calling. Rather, the good kind of “harmonious” passion comes from doing what is right, knowing that your work has a purpose that you are committed to. For a Christian, that means loving and serving your neighbor. Such a purpose can give your work, your relationships, your responsibilities, your offices, a meaning and a “passion” that can make all the difference.

If you are interested in vocation, you might want to check out my “trilogy” on the subject:

God at Work: Your Christian Vocation in All of Life,

with Mary Moerbe, Family Vocation: God’s Calling in Marriage, Parenting, and Childhood

Working for Our Neighbor: A Lutheran Primer on Vocation, Economics, and Ordinary Life

Illustration by lsucc via Pixabay, Creative Commons

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Trying to be a Missionary Apart from Vocation

December 4, 2018 By Gene Veith

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You have probably heard about John Chau, the 26-year-old who was dropped off at Sentinel Island, home of one of the most isolated tribes on earth, so that he could tell the inhabitants about Jesus. They responded by shooting him with arrows, killing him on the beach. Some Christians are hailing him as a martyr. Some secularists are condemning both him and missionaries in general of being “colonialists.”

Lyman Stone, a missionary with the Lutheran Church-Hong Kong, offers a different perspective, applying the doctrine of vocation.

He says that Chau was sincere, well-intentioned, and pious. He didn’t want to dominate the Sentinelese, but loved them, wanting them to have the Gospel of Christ. That is good, and he will surely have his reward in Heaven.

But he did not know the Sentinelese language, had minimal preparation to be a missionary to this kind of tribe, and did not have the knowledge or skills to be successful.

This was the second time Chau went to Sentinel Island. The first time he ran up the beach shouting “I love you and Jesus loves you!” Never mind that since he didn’t know the language, the islanders had no idea what he was saying. When they started shooting arrows, he fled back to his boat, his life saved by his Bible, which stopped an arrow. The next time he went back, didn’t go so well. Witnesses from off-shore said that they saw tribe members burying Chau’s body.

Being a missionary, Stone explains, is a vocation. And God’s calling to be a missionary involves getting the training that such a vocation entails, as well as working with other Christians to accomplish the mission:

For all that God sometimes works through unexpected means, the usual way that God accomplishes his work is through the mundane vocations of normal people. God heals diseases mostly through doctors, proclaims his word mostly through pastors, and reaches uncontacted people groups mostly through long-term missionaries doing years of advanced preparation in a variety of disciplines and skills.

Some say that Chau’s case is similar to that of the five missionaries killed in Ecuador, as chronicled by Elisabeth Elliott in Through Gates of Splendor. Her husband Jim Elliott was one of those speared to death, but she came back as a missionary to that tribe and eventually brought them–including the very murderers of her husband–to Christ. But Stone contrasts Chau with the Elliotts, who did know the languages and worked with the indigenous people for 15 years before making contact with the unreached tribe that killed them.

Stone also points out that the reason the Sentinelese, who live off the coast of India, are so hostile to all outsiders, going so far as to shoot arrows at the helicopters that were checking on them after a tsunami, is likely because in the 1880s a British admiral and probable pedophile kidnapped several of their children. After he finally brought them back, the tribe, now numbering about 100, have attacked all visitors.

Read Stone’s article in its entirety, which concludes with this point:

Chau is not emblematic of how mission activity has historically proceeded but, sadly, his approach, disconnected from any rational assessment of vocation, untethered from durable community roots, decontextualized and nomadic like an Instagram travel blog account, may be what much Christian mission work looks like in the future. That is, unless Christian churches push back against that trend, and demand of mission-sending organizations that they have realistic plans for how missionaries will be engaged in a materially productive relationship with their local community.

Illustration: The Massacre of the Lamented Missionary, The Rev. J. Williams and Mr Harris [at Vanuatu], by G. Baxter (1841), via Wikimedia Commons [Public Domain].

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