Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The goal of Anchored by Truth is to encourage everyone to grow in the Christian faith by anchoring themselves to the secure truth found in the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God.

Script:

I have chosen Bezalel, ... I have filled Bezalel with the Spirit of God, making him highly skilled, resourceful, and knowledgeable in all trades. He's a master artist familiar with gold, silver, and bronze. He knows how to cut and set stones and how to work with wood. He's an expert in all trades. Also, I have appointed Oholiab, …, from the tribe of Dan, to help him.

Exodus, chapter 31, verses 1 through 6, God’s Word Translation

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VK: Hello! I’m Victoria K. Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. We’re very grateful to be with you as today as we continue the series we began a few weeks ago on Anchored by Truth. We’ve entitled this series “Why am I here?” To help us in considering this question that has probably occurred to just about every person who has ever lived, we have RD Fierro back in the studio. RD is an author and the founder of Crystal Sea Books. RD, you entitled this series “Why Am I here?” Most people have probably asked this question at one time or another to themselves even if they haven’t specifically directed the question to anyone else. Why do you think that is?

RD: Well, before we get into our continuing discussion let me just say a word of greeting and thanks to the Anchored by Truth listeners. As anyone who has listened to one of our shows knows we try to approach the study of the Bible and the Christian faith from a common sense perspective. But we are not reluctant to ask people to fully engage their minds while we’re doing so and we know that makes the listeners work a little harder to fully grasp the material. We’re grateful for all who do but we also think it will be well worth their while. Anyway, the reason all human beings will, at one point or another, ask the question “why am I here” is essentially a question about meaning or purpose. And we ask the question because God created us with a built-in hunger for him. As we’ve mentioned earlier in this series man is God’s image bearer, so we can no more avoid a need to have a relationship with God than a mirror can avoid reflecting whatever stands in front of it. And one way we express our hunger for God is the desire to find meaning in our lives – in wanting to know the purpose for which we were placed on this earth.

VK: I think that raises a question. There are certainly people in our society who would deny that they have any interest in God or in having a relationship with Him. So, that would seem to mean they don’t need God to have a meaning in their life.

RD: So, I would say two things about that kind of person. First, people may certainly claim that they live perfectly fine and meaningful lives apart from God, but to do so they have to hold to an incoherent world view. That’s what we covered in our first episode in this series. The alternative view to God as creator of everything is that the universe is self-existent, devoid of a superintending intelligence, and life arose from the random and chaotic collision of inanimate particles. Obviously, in that kind of a universe any notion of purpose or meaning would be an illusion. Atoms and molecules randomly crashing into each other cannot create meaning and purpose. Second, people who make that claim are inadvertently demonstrating the truth of scripture.

VK: Because they are basically illustrating the truth of Romans, chapter 1, verses 19 through 22. “What can be known about God is clear to them because he has made it clear to them. From the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly observed in what he made. As a result, people have no excuse. They knew God but did not praise and thank him for being God. Instead, their thoughts were pointless, and their misguided minds were plunged into darkness. While claiming to be wise, they became fools.” That’s the God’s Word Translation.

RD: Yes. People can deny God’s existence but they can’t escape it. And to claim that meaning and purpose for life can be drawn out of the random interaction of matter and energy is like claiming that the moon orbits the earth because the moon knows that tidal activity is essential to the health of the earth. The moon moves but is inanimate. The moon serves a purpose, a very essential purpose, but it has no awareness of the purpose it serves. Same thing with atoms and molecules, quarks and neutrinos, electricity and gravity. All of them perform life giving, essential functions but they do so without having any awareness of the benefits they confer.

VK: So, remove a creating and sustaining God and all you are left with are bit of matter and stray bursts of various forces. There might be untold amounts of both but a greater number does not impart greater abilities. There is no way to turn impersonal chunks of matter and energy into personal beings no matter the size, number, or amount of time involved.

RD: Right. That’s one of the reasons the Bible’s definition of a “fool” is the person who denies God’s existence as in verse 22 of the passage you read from Romans. And notice that verse notes that those people may claim to be wise but that does not stop them from being fools in the eyes of God. And again part of the reason is because to hold to idea that we can be intelligent, personal, and moral beings but simultaneously deny God’s means we must embrace a basic contradiction about the nature of the created order.

VK: That’s why we started our answer to the question about “why we are here” by pointing out that the first fact we must acknowledge is that this universe is God’s universe.

RD: Exactly. And certainly one reason, as we’ve mentioned, that we ask questions about why we are here, what is the meaning of our lives, what is our purpose is that those kinds of questions will inevitably lead us to God if we’re just willing to be honest.

VK: But some people may ask the question “why am I here” and not necessarily be searching for the meaning of life but because they want to understand their individual purpose. It might be a question about what educational choices they may make or what career they should pursue.

RD: I agree and that’s something we wanted to spend some time on today. Where can we go when we are seeking answers to more specific questions about our lives? And today I did want to spend most of our time on the question of vocations and occupations.

VK: And, as always, we are going to look for those answers in the Bible. And that is where the trouble is going to start – because I’m sure that anyone who has much familiarity with the Bible will quickly tell you that the Bible does not tell any of us whether we should be accountants, plumbers, mechanics, or soldiers.

RD: The Bible does not tell Joe whether he should be a lawyer or electrician or Jane whether she should be a doctor or stay-at-home mom. But the Bible does give us some very clear guidance on how we should go about making such choices for ourselves. And one of the primary books of the Bible where we can find such practical guidance is, of course, the book of Proverbs. Proverbs is one of the books of the Bible that are sometimes termed “Wisdom Literature.”

VK: But, of course, wisdom may be found throughout the Bible. So, the term “Wisdom Literature” does not, by any means, mean that somehow wisdom in the Bible is limited to just a few books.

RD: That’s absolutely right, but I think it can be helpful to understand the Bible to know how that term is used.

VK: So, what books are part of the Bible’s “Wisdom Literature?”

RD: There’s not necessarily complete agreement among scholars as to what constitutes the Bible’s Wisdom Literature but most scholars will include the books of Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes. Some scholars will also include the book of Jonah and portions of the book of Psalms as being wisdom literature. We should note that wisdom literature was a common literary type in the Middle East and most of the nations that surrounded Israel also had some form of wisdom literature including Egypt, Babylon, Assyria, and Phoenicia among others. This is important because it helps illustrate the authenticity of the Bible as to its date and time of origin. All the ancient wisdom literature had some things in commons such as being designed to help their people live happier and better lives by presenting pithy statements of the lessons learned from previous generations or important political or religious figures.

VK: But, of course, only the wisdom literature in the Bible can trace its origin directly to the real source of all wisdom who is the Lord God Almighty.

RD: That’s a very important distinction. Anyway for purposes of us continuing to develop our answer to the “why am I here” question I like to think of Proverbs as a book of practical wisdom whereas Psalms is a book of poetic wisdom. So, whenever a Christian is looking for basic, practical advice about how to answer any question that’s facing them a great place to start is Proverbs. By the same token someone who is discouraged or who needs inspiration still needs wisdom but they would be better off starting with the book of Psalms. So, as we said, today we wanted to focus on the question of vocations as it pertains to the general question of why am I here.

VK: So, for that you would suggest that people begin with Proverbs. And, again, the reason we’re turning to Proverbs is not because we think it will tell someone whether to be a civil engineer or a train engineer but because Proverbs contains a lot of practical wisdom that will establish some principles that will guide people in making their choice.

RD: Exactly. So, one principle that emerges very clearly in Proverbs is that the Lord expects us to be productive and contributing members of our community.

VK: After all, some of God’s first words to Adam and Eve were to “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.” That’s from the New Living Translation. Filling, reigning and governing implies working, being active, and being productive.

RD: Right. Today we often think of “work” as being undesirable and possibly even a punishment – certainly an unpleasant necessity. But Adam and Eve worked before the fall. It was the fall that brought a curse to their work.

VK: How about if you give us an example of a principle from Proverbs that will help people who are trying to make decisions among various career choices.

RD: Let’s take a quick look at one of the best known passages in Proverbs. In this case I’d like to look Proverbs, chapter 10, verses 2 through 5.

VK: From the God’s Word Translation that section reads, “Treasures gained dishonestly profit no one, but righteousness rescues from death. The LORD will not allow a righteous person to starve, but he intentionally ignores the desires of a wicked person. Lazy hands bring poverty, but hard-working hands bring riches. Whoever gathers in the summer is a wise son. Whoever sleeps at harvest time brings shame.”

RD: So, immediately we see from that section that whatever vocation or job we are considering we need to be conscious about whether there are any aspects of the job that would call integrity into question. I’m old enough and have had enough jobs and job interviews to know that sometimes you will pick up on the fact that the person who might be hiring you is not overly concerned about being honest in their business or occupation.

VK: They will never come right out and say that but I know what you mean. They might ask you whether you’re ok doing extra work that won’t appear on the timesheet or assist them with personal tasks during company time. They might even say something like they expect you to be loyal to them above all other job requirements. Very rarely will a supervisor or boss directly ask whether you will lie or cheat for them but they will drop hints or send signals. In those kinds of situations we need to just say “no” and if it’s after we’ve been hired we need to decide how quickly we can get out of there.

RD: So, that’s a pretty straightforward principle we get from Proverbs. We must place integrity and honesty over all other conditions of our employment. The Lord says, “Treasures gained dishonestly profit no one.” That “no one” obviously includes all of us. But notice some other principles that come from that section. “Lazy hands bring poverty, but hard-working hands bring riches.” So, we can add to knowing that we and our employer must both be scrupulously honest, we also see that we should expect to be hard working. So, if someone is considering a job we should be leery of jobs that don’t seem to require some form of hard work. I don’t want to start naming specific professions but sometimes people will consider jobs where they think they will be able to spend the majority of their time scrolling through the internet or checking their social media accounts. We need to be cautious if a job is seemingly attractive because it doesn’t require much effort.

VK: I am struck by the fact that the Lord was specific that “hard-working hands bring riches.” In saying that, the Lord is honoring some professions that in our time have often been placed at the bottom of the esteem ladder. Plumbers, carpenters, truck drivers, mechanics, etc. are people who work with their hands and provide essential services but often their work is not honored in the same way we honor other professions such as doctors and lawyers. This is a conceit of our modern age. As a society we want to be able to pick and choose among things where the Lord has declined to create preferences or distinctions. We have elevated certain categories of work and demeaned others and too often we have done so on the basis of contemporary fads and sensibilities. This is not Biblical and it is not wise. In the last 50 years or so we have made a distinction between vocations that require various levels of formal education – and that’s fine when we are doing so for the purpose of making sure that people are properly qualified to serve others. But we err when we do so to exalt some work at the expense of other honorable work. So, when God said in Proverbs that “hard-working hands bring riches” He wasn’t just making an observation about work and wealth. The Lord was giving His approval to all professions where people work honorably.

RD: I agree. The supposed distinction between working with your “hands” and working with your “mind” has given rise to, as you said, a subtle form of conceit. We need to guard against such conceit especially when it comes to advising young people as to which professions are considered desirable or undesirable. So, the fact that the Lord gives His approval to work that some people might find beneath them is another lesson we learn from that passage in Proverbs. Here is another one. The passage says that “Whoever gathers in the summer is a wise son. Whoever sleeps at harvest time brings shame.” We see from this that when it comes to choosing vocations we need to be aware that we are putting our characters on display when we make our choice and that it is possible to do honorable work in a dishonorable way.

VK: That’s a good caution to keep in mind. As we seek to find out why we are here as it comes to our work and vocations it is important to not only choose wisely in what we do but in how we do it.

RD: Yes. There are a very wide variety of professions that the Bible mentions as it relates its redemptive history. Said slightly differently God used people in a wide variety of occupations as a part of accomplishing His purposes. For instance, in our opening scripture we heard about God telling Moses that He had “filled Bezalel with the Spirit of God, making him highly skilled, resourceful, and knowledgeable in all trades. He's a master artist familiar with gold, silver, and bronze. He knows how to cut and set stones and how to work with wood. He's an expert in all trades. Also, I have appointed Oholiab … from the tribe of Dan, to help him.” Sometimes we wonder whether the only professions in which we can serve the Lord are as a preacher or missionary. This is a clear statement from the book of Exodus that sweeps that misconception away.

VK: So, in that verse we see that God has specifically approved a wide variety of occupations that we might not ordinarily think of as serving the Lord. Just in that short passage God commends tradesmen, craftsmen, and artisans and even commemorates the names of two men who practiced those professions. That’s important because we sometimes wonder whether people can serve the Lord by going into the arts.

RD: Exactly – and obviously they can. So, besides craftsmen and artisans God obviously commends people who work in agriculture and farming.

VK: After all, one of the most famous of the Psalms, Psalm 23, opens with “The Lord is my shepherd...” David wouldn’t have used the metaphor of God being a shepherd unless that was honorable work. And that mention is even more significant. In Jesus’s time being a shepherd was the lowest rung on the esteem ladder but the very first people who received the news of Christ’s birth were shepherds. That just goes to show you that the world’s scales for evaluating vocational preference are not shared by God.

RD: Yes. And another profession in which Jesus found people of remarkable faith was military professionals. That might seem unlikely but in Matthew, chapter 8, verse 10, Jesus said this of a Roman centurion. “Turning to those who were following him, he said, “I tell you the truth, I haven’t seen faith like this in all Israel!” Centurions were high ranking Roman Army officers yet Jesus could commend one for possessing great faith. The same thing was true in Acts, chapter 10. The first Gentiles (non-Jewish) people who heard the Gospel were in the house of a man named Cornelius who was also a Roman centurion.

VK: The point that we are making is that often when people ask the question “why am I here” they are wondering what work or vocation they should choose to fulfill their purpose. And sometimes young people may think that their vocation must be specifically “religious” for them to do work that is pleasing to God. But that is not true. As we have been illustrating God has found commendable people in a wide variety of professions and occupations.

RD: Absolutely. Several of Jesus’s disciples were fishermen – again an occupation some people might consider too humble or low in status to merit consideration – but Jesus didn’t. One of Jesus’s disciples was a tax collector, a hated occupation in first century Palestine. And, to be fair, many tax collectors did abuse their position but when done honestly it was necessary work.

VK: The prophet Daniel was a senior public administrator in the Persian court – a very exalted position. Nehemiah was the cupbearer to the Persian emperor – also a very important and trusted position. But the prophet Amos was a shepherd and he took care of sycamore fig trees – two of the most humble jobs in his world and time. The Apostle Paul was a tent maker, a skilled craftsman to be sure, but still not a profession high on the social status list. One of the people who heard and believed Paul’s message was Lydia who sold purple cloth. We might have said she was in fashion merchandising.

RD: The conclusion that may derive from these observations is that God can and does use people from all walks of life.

VK: And that certainly includes stay-at-home mothers. Jesus’s and Moses’s mothers were stay-at-home moms.

RD: Absolutely. So, as people wonder why God put them on this earth, insofar as it concerns vocations and professions, they need to realize that they have a wide variety of choices. We can see that by a careful reading of the Bible. But – and we need to add this caution – just because an occupation is mentioned in the Bible DOES NOT mean that it is an occupation that would please the Lord.

VK: A great example of this point is Rahab who helped the Hebrew army conquer the city of Jericho. Rahab had great faith but the Bible tells us she was a prostitute before she encountered the Hebrews. And while the Bible does not say so specifically it fairly certain that once she joined the Israelites she gave up prostitution for good. This is a good example of people who have their lives altered when they encounter the One True God and His Son. God meets us where we are, but He doesn’t want us to stay there. During his ministry some people asked John what changes they needed to make in their lives. In Luke, chapter 3, verses 12 through 14 we hear: “Some tax collectors came to be baptized. They asked him, "Teacher, what should we do?" He told them, "Don't collect more money than you are ordered to collect." Some soldiers asked him, "And what should we do?" He told them, "Be satisfied with your pay, and never use threats or blackmail to get money from anyone." That’s from the God’s Word Translation.

RD: Yes. So, the Bible gives us examples of a wide variety of occupations and professions that are open to people to perform honorable work. But we’ve mentioned two cautions today and we’re going to expand on this in our next show in our “why am I here” series. Today, we’ve seen that even honorable work can be performed dishonorably – and the passage you just quoted from Luke illustrates that. We’ve also seen that there are some ways people make money that are obviously not acceptable as choices for God’s children. It shouldn’t be necessary to say, but I will anyway. God will never contravene His own commandments. So, the commandment to not commit sexual immorality obviously prohibits a wide variety of jobs that exist today.

VK: The point of today’s episode and the one we will be doing on our next show is that we are well aware that sometimes people ask the question “why am I here” because they just want to be sure that their lives have meaning. And our lives do have meaning because God made all people in His image and therefore they have an inherent worth and dignity regardless of whether the world recognizes that. But sometimes people aren’t just wondering whether their life has meaning but they want to know what they should do with their life and that brings up other questions like relationships, vocations, and goals. So, today we’ve taken on the question of vocations and developed some principles that can be useful in helping people make choices about what they should do. The Bible may not give us individually an answer about whether to be an accountant or an airplane pilot but it does give us guidance to help us as we prayerfully consider such choices. This sounds like a great time for a prayer so today let’s listen to a prayer for the celebration of Easter – the day our Lord rose from the grave proving the Father’s complete satisfaction with the sacrifice that makes our salvation possible.

---- PRAYER FOR EASTER

VK: Before we close we’d like to remind our audience that a lot of our radio episodes are linked together in series of topics so if they missed any episodes in this series or if they just want to hear one again, all of these episodes are available on your favorite podcast app. To find them just search on “Anchored by Truth by Crystal Sea Books.”

If you’d like to hear more, try out crystalseabooks.com where “We’re not perfect but our Boss is!”

(Bible Quote from the God’s Word Translation)

Exodus, chapter 31, verses 1 through 6, God’s Word Translation