Calling out "Calling"

I would like to challenge an idea that I've been struggling with this year. I'm not sure if I've really found my "calling" in higher education. For those of you who don't speak "Christianese" as well as us Taylor Grads, Fredrich Beuchner and my Intro to Christian Ed. prof would both say that a Christian calling is where "your deepest passion meets the world's greatest need."

In other words. Don't just get a job. Go out and serve a need where you are passionate. That is the job you should get. That's you're calling. It's how you live a fulfilling Christian life. That's why it's almost a sin if someone at a Christian school or a church or any non-profit organization says "Egh, it's just a job." Simply terrible.

I think that "Calling" is one of the most miss-applied and overused term in our vernacular. Before I start ranting, I would like to say that I think God does "call" some people to do things. But I think that makes up a VERY small part of the population. I don't think that everyone is supposed to go out and "find their calling" in the vocational sense. So keep in mind here that the arguments I'm going to make specifically speak to people who believe that a "calling" refers to finding "the right" job.

I think the idea of the "calling" is a very American, and not actually from the Bible. "Whoa whoa whoa" you might say. "Don't you be saying the Bible doesn't say things that it says. What about the "calling of the twelve?"

Well, I did say that I do think God does "call" people to do things. But I think that's an exception, not a rule. First of all look at that passage (Luke 6) and you'll notice that he calls his disciples to him and selects 12. Jesus had more than 12 disciples. WAY more. But we normally only think of the 12 because we hear stories about that. Disciple is one of those words we think is ONLY a Christian word and we actually begin to forget what it really means* (And that's a thought for another day).

But the point is that out of ALL of his disciples Jesus "called" 12. So what happened to the other guys? Sorry, no calling for you. Don't quit your day job, which by the way, is not your calling.

"finding your calling" means finding that job you would do for free because it completes you and you kind of think of it as a ministry. That's a great idea, but I've compiled a very small list of the few people who fall between the cracks and aren't fortunate enough to have the opportunity to find a job that "fits" them like that. In short, this is a list of people who don't have callings.

Anyone who is forced to stay at a job they don't like for financial reasons
Anyone who is forced who failed to get the job they wanted (I got cut from the NBA)
Anyone who was drafted by the army
Anyone who got (or got his girlfriend) pregnant in high school
Anyone in prison
Anyone born in America before 1950 except for white men
Anyone who died before reaching adulthood
Anyone born into a caste system
Anyone who was ever a slave in the history of the entire world
Anyone in civilization who was born into an economic class that did not facilitate prioritizing "personal fulfillment" as a criteria for a job

Considering all the people born in the history of the world, the relatively short life of technology and the leisure time it affords, the fact that the "middle class" is a social construct that doesn't even go back 100 years, the state of many third world countries today, and a few other factors...I would say that the number of people who had NO opportunity to fulfill their calling would probably figure somewhere around 99% (unless a lot of people had callings like "Build pyramid by hand").

Steve are you being a little harsh? Are you taking this a little too far? Why yes as a matter of fact I am. But it's only to make a point. I think that God does "Call" people. And a lot of people who use the word "calling" really mean "I like this job a lot and I feel like I get a chance to serve God here." Well that's great. I'm not mad at you. But let's not make guys like me (and all the seniors I know who are graduating) panic because we are afraid we won't find our calling and we might have to settle for a "job." I feel guilty about this sometimes. I hate the idea that I might actually just get a job because it pays money and not because it's where my deepest passion meets the world's greatest need. But then again, if I did, I would probably be in fairly good company

* Just like stewardship and baptize. Go ahead and use these words to talk to a non Christian about how you thought it was a good use of your time to do the dishes before you went to bed. They will think you are speaking Christianese, but you will know that you just have a good vocabulary "I thought it was good stewardship to baptize the dishes in water before bed"