Vocation

God is at work in Genesis 2. Even before sin entered the world, God gave Adam the assignment to work the ground. God’s call upon human beings is we have the privilege to work. When sin entered the world in Genesis 3, the nature of work changed. What had been joyful became hard. Nevertheless, Nehemiah is a great example of a person called by God to go to work (repairing the walls of Jerusalem). The Good Samaritan modeled a great work ethic. The story of Martha complaining to Jesus about her idle sister, Mary, follows. The Apostle Paul stressed work and not idleness. When inspired in our work, great things are accomplished. The story is told of a reporter watching Mother Teresa of Calcutta as she cleaned the maggot-infested wound of a homeless man, only to say, “I wouldn’t do what you do for a million dollars.” As the story goes, she replied with a wry smile, “I wouldn’t either.” She felt God called her to her role. I feel called by God to ministry as vocation. My brother, on the other hand, is a Christian in the workplace who is not called to pastoral ministry. His call is every bit as legitimate as mine. Christians in the workplace are to live out good values. However, those who pay our salaries don’t pay us to be good people – they pay us to get the job done. Good attitudes/behavior + productivity is a package deal. I like the quote in “The Second Mountain” (p. 127): “Work is the way we make ourselves useful to our fellows. ‘There may be no better way to love your neighbor,’ Tim Keller put it, ‘whether you are writing parking tickets or software or books, than to simply do your work. But only skillful, competent work will do.’” - Pastor Tom Harrison