11. Gifts, vocation and work

• Discerning vocation is a high priority in and before our early years of work.
• Developing our gifts is fundamental to this.
• Some comments on professional ministry in the church are included.

"As well as being delivered, we need to be driven!"

"His sacrifice compels our sacrifice."⁶⁶

An essential outworking of Christian faith is turning our beliefs into behaviour, and especially activity which over the long term utilises the gifts God has given each of us and is aligned with his purposes in the world.

But before turning to that broader picture we need to pause and think about what sort of person we are called to be as a disciple of Christ, and how that contrasts with the alternative. How are our values expressed in lifestyle? In how we spend our money (cf chapter 6) and how we stand apart from consumerist culture. In how we prepare ourselves for later life and ministry of all kinds.

We need to perceive purpose, significance and real meaning in each day's activities throughout our lives! And we need to understand that work is a characteristic of God who is creator, and is part of his commission to all of us. The Bible has much to say about work as a normal human activity, and its purposes.

There is a much-recounted story of someone visiting a big cathedral construction project and talking with three workers who were shaping stones for it. When asked what they were doing, the first said that he was shaping a stone - his 20th for the day. The second said he was helping build a wall. The third said he was building a wonderful cathedral for the glory of God, and was excited by that. This is very relevant to how any of us sees our work. While any job has its boring aspects, overall we have the option of seeing only the details or looking past those to the goal and purpose of it all.

It is important to explore the need for work from a Christian perspective, along with its purposes, meaning, motivation and rewards, but we shall not attempt that here. Suffice it to say that a Christian needs to have a better perspective on work than anyone operating outside the Christian context. He or she needs to understand it in the context of God's purposes and the individual's own calling in relation to that. Hence work hard, fight laziness, take responsibility, and serve others with joy. This should be exciting at best, and certainly lift it out of the mundane always!

11.1 Vocational guidance

So having talked about general guidance in life and God's guidance as a concept, we now narrow the focus to the aspect of guidance which is discerning God's calling for our lives (i.e. our vocation). This means understanding what he wants us to focus on and do with our time, energy, abilities, opportunities and money. This relates very much to what he has endowed us with in gifts and opportunities, and that vocational calling needs to be distinguished for each of us from what is more appropriate to recreation.

The Bible does not talk directly about God providing gifts and callings for secular work. But the notion of any work being entirely secular is questionable, the New Testament teaches much about serving God faithfully wherever we are. Indeed, many Christians, especially professionals, feel called to the work they do, and perceive in it a ministry from God. The calling is both in terms of the Christian love and witness we can show to all whom we meet through this work, and also the way we can influence work and the operation of each workplace to be more congruent with God's purposes in his world. St Paul finishes off his great exposition to the Corinthian church of the significance of the resurrection with: "Always give yourself fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain."⁶⁷

Christians need to think big and aim high in these regards. As mentioned in chapter 1 on Fellowship regarding the "Clapham Sect" which transformed the whole of British politics, most social reform movements in history have spiritual foundations, notably those tackling slavery, suffrage, child labour and civil rights. All these were built and driven by faithful believers who were passionately (but often also patiently) committed to embodying Christian values firmly in political and economic structures. In God's purposes they were clearly equipped and enabled to do that. Their legacy lived on very powerfully in politics and the whole economic sphere for many years.

It is entirely realistic to aim to be the best in the world in your vocation! Of course that may require your role to be defined fairly specifically or even narrowly, but the point remains: if you are called and equipped for a role there should be no mediocrity in how it is filled. Ian in his last 15 years of working life has evolved his role (the provision of comprehensive and up to date information on nuclear power) so as to make that aim realistic, and he is confident that Will will in due course be able to say the same in whatever specific role he fills in his peak professional years. The inevitable specificity saves such an aim from becoming a source of pride, such as being the best footballer, the best surgeon or the best economist!

The broader public agenda today is more about fighting poverty and the ingrained corruption in many countries which perpetuates it. There is no lack of challenge for Christians here, but one needs a more specific vocational target than the big picture. Indignation about those wider dehumanizing wrongs must feed into effective specific work to counter them in particular respects. Wisdom is required.

One particular way of gaining some wisdom and certainly broadening the mind usefully is the GAP year away from home base either after school years or after graduation. This can be a useful pointer to vocation either immediately or much later.

Gifts wider than 'spiritual': Unless we take a narrow view of God's purposes in the world and about Christian vocation in it, not to mention his concern for 6.5 billion people inhabiting planet Earth, our understanding of those gifts should not be limited to "spiritual" ones. If he is not indifferent to the welfare of all people - as any reading of the bible would suggest, then what is our role in providing for that welfare? - both through our paid work and in our unpaid time? Our prayer needs to canvass broader options than church or personal ministry to people, and take in elements of all that is happening in his world, since he is sovereign Lord of it all. The parable of the talents⁶⁸ is germane: we need to invest what we have in the way of gifts, not just sit on them.

Generally we can expect gifts - both those given to each of us for building up the church, and those with wider application - to become evident by early adulthood and then be developed continually through the different stages of life. Mozart wrote some of his best music while a teenager. But we also need to be effectively open to the progressive recognition and development of further gifts. The Christian fellowship has a significant role to play in this, along with prayer partnerships and more particular personal relationships. We need to be alert to how each of us can more strongly affirm and encourage the development of gifts in one another.

Vocation or hobby? We need to try and distinguish interests which are more properly pursued as recreation or hobbies throughout life from those which are truly vocational, or we risk being diverted into trivial vocations and at the same time depriving ourselves of absorbing future recreation. This is an individual matter - what is recreational for many people may be vocational for a few.

How to discern for each of us? What is the most interesting and fulfilling thing a person has done in the last few months or more may be some guide. And more generally: what one finds most stimulating (the opposite is also a guide!), and what sort of things sustain one's interest and passion beyond the short term, providing new and absorbing challenges from one week or month to the next. Can one identify these reasonably clearly? How many are task-oriented? How many people-oriented? And which of them achieve something for the greater good, as distinct from simply being self-indulgent? Of course that is likely to be reflected in what one can arrange to be paid for pursuing them!

We also need to check what is the feedback from friends and colleagues on what they think are one's strengths and gifts. What is our own blend of practical and planning skills? Ability to read the cultural undercurrents of things one has observed and commented upon? Leadership of people?

As we go through the early years of life we will make many contacts and friendships. It becomes increasingly impossible to maintain all of these, but building and maintaining a network is important for each of us vocationally as well as providing opportunity to give and receive hospitality (which reinforces the network). One never knows which contact may later become significant in some aspect of personal growth, guidance, ministry (eg mentoring) or vocational endeavour. So, a little effort in maintaining a network of friends and contacts is a good investment, and works both ways.

Becoming a parent is an important vocation for many of us — it should not be simply an inexorable consequence of marriage, let alone an inconvenience arising from that, but a privilege and calling. It requires prior thought and discussion with our partner as it will call for a major re-ordering of priorities regarding time and money, and often also our paid work - usually more so for mothers than fathers. Young women may need to think ahead and consider seeking 'family-friendly' work roles so that motherhood does not displace other vocational priorities long-term. Shared responsibility and job sharing is workable and rewarding for some.

Along with the sense of being called to serve people as a doctor, accountant, plumber, business executive or whatever, comes the need to develop a specifically Christian understanding of that personal vocation and the wider consideration of work, and where it fits into God's purposes in the world. Often this will be congruent with a range of other activities drawing on professional skills which may serve people without remuneration, including ministry in its narrower senses. One thinks of medical doctors - by no means only Christians - who use vacation or retirement time to serve in third world situations.

11.1 Discussion questions:
How are your values expressed in your lifestyle?
How do you understand your work or study in the context of God's purposes?
Do you see yourself as having spiritual gifts for secular work? To apply to God's wider concerns in the world?
How are you contributing to making your workplace more congruent with God's purposes?
To what extent do you to aim to be the best in the world in your vocation?
Have you had to wrestle with the question of what interests should be relegated to recreation, and which comprise a major element of vocational calling?
How much do your friends reinforce or counter your vocational instincts?

11.2 Get going early!

The whole business of post-secondary education and the intimidating effect of big organisations can put one off being proactive and taking initiative early in life. It should not. There is huge scope for any energetic and thoughtful young person to make their mark even as a teenager.

Without any need to factor in considerations of long-term vocational commitment, where ideas are matched by opportunities, take them! Be ready to step forward and take responsibilities, exercise leadership and have a go at any stage of life. It is never too early.

In school, university, church and community organisations there are many opportunities for young leaders, though there will also be plenty of places where upstarts are discouraged. That is a challenge to be met and overcome.

Speaking to a (male) church leaders' seminar in Sydney, Mark Driscoll, pastor of the large Mars Hill church in Seattle, USA, said: "The longer you delay responsibility, the longer you delay masculinity. Being in a Peter Pan lifestyle indefinitely is a sin. Jesus Christ had atoned for the sins of the world by the age most men become associate ministers. There are good godly men in their 30s leading big churches overseas, and you are flying them in to preach to you because you don't have them in your system." These comments, and the need to take responsibility early in life, apply particularly to young men. However, gender should not be seen as a barrier to discerning opportunities and acting on them under God's guidance.

Taking on responsibilities and exercising initiative early in life is both good training for the long term and a good indicator of gifts. So in general, don't hold back when opportunities arise, and be ready to find and create opportunities well before they are offered to you on a plate.

There is a lot to be said for getting involved in as much leadership and volunteer organisational work as possible as early in life as one can. While not wanting to deprive yourself of fun during your teenage years, the skills and the patterns of work and leadership that can be set into your life at that age are phenomenal. A young person who is able to pick up on management, organisational and leadership skills as a teenager is set up to be able to be used in God's kingdom in many different ways for the rest of their life as a person who makes things happen. Acquiring early a mindset of service and then applying this without necessarily getting anything back in return is a wonderful attribute, and once again is something that God will really be able to use throughout their life.

There is a view of work that is essentially just putting in the time and average effort. Without your becoming an obsessive workaholic, we suggest that in fact you do much more than this. First class performance needs to be your standard, with reliability and cooperation being the characteristics. Build quality relationships even with people you do not esteem, where humility is a real challenge, and look after your colleagues' interests, not just your own.

11.2 Discussion questions (use with 11.3):
How much of a start did you make in vocational discernment as a teenager?
Are there opportunities you can still take for responsibility and leadership?
Is Mark Driscoll correct in telling guys that "The longer you delay responsibility, the longer you delay masculinity."
Are you just coasting or really performing in any work-type roles that you have? Are you perceived as cooperative and reliable?

11.3 Seeking specific roles

Gaining access to many work roles will mean applying for jobs. The main tool here is a resumé or CV (curriculum vitae - a running sheet or course of life). A CV needs to outline a person's education, achievements and experience, and it also needs to reveal much more, including personal interests and values. Often what a person does recreationally tells a potential employer much more about them than simply the basic education and employment history.

An employer who gains a positive impression of a person from the CV will interview them ahead of another with equal or better "paper" qualification. So it is important to communicate in a CV, through listing experience in non-work (as well as work) activities, such things as your reliability, initiative, teamwork skill, ability to work independently, your energy, thoroughness, communication skills, people and leadership skills, and so on. These need to be implicit in what you document factually about your activities and experience, certainly not just asserted!⁶⁹ Documenting something like musical ability will imply a lot about self-discipline, summarising major travel experience will imply much about your ability to cope in unfamiliar circumstances and mentioning church or Christian group involvement will convey something of your values.

From the point of view of the individual seeking guidance in relation to vocation, one of the most important things is to actually frame the relevant questions concerning a possible way of proceeding. Then they can be addressed and answered. It is all too easy to be influenced unduly either by a positive or optimistic attitude to a proposed course of action or commitment, or by a negative but superficial impression of it. In both cases there needs to be logical approach which identifies the real questions concerning a possibility and its consequences so that the answers are obtained and understood. This is likely to save much disappointment later.

The other point that needs making is that no role can be expected to continue for long - more than a few years. The idea of a job for life is two generations out of date. Most people today can expect to fill many successive roles through an active employment lifetime, and any vocational thinking must allow for this. Of course those roles may not be very diverse, and many could be with one employer.

Finally, it is perhaps worth noting that at Blackburn High School in suburban Melbourne a relatively high proportion of the elected student leadership for many years has been committed Christians. This is a much higher proportion than in the student body generally, and is perhaps largely attributable to the fact that these leaders have come up through the ranks of three local churches and taken the initiative to gain experience in responsible roles throughout their teens. It possibly also says something about their attitude to fellow students being something which equips them as servant leaders. This situation is probably quite common; the point here is that the kind of experience giving rise to it is definitely worth mentioning in a CV.

11.3 Discussion questions (use with 11.2):
What does you CV look like? Have you had it checked by experienced friends?
What are the main relevant questions concerning possible roles for you? Have you talked these through with friends who have some idea of the workplaces and organisations concerned?

11.4 A Christian understanding of work

Work, beyond that identified in some sense as "ministry", is a major aspect of a Christian's role in the world. Certainly there is a practical role in providing for our material needs, but our involvement should be much more than this. We should aim to understand how to participate in the economic enterprise of our communities and societies, creating wealth in the broadest sense of that term, and serving others even as a relatively insignificant cog in larger enterprise.

Such wealth creation, although not a central aspect of the church's mission in the world, nevertheless is vitally congruent with it and forms an important part of ensuring life on Earth is sustainable, and even enjoyable. Since the church's mission must occur in the world, the church has a clear interest and even mandate in respect to the world's basic affairs, central among which is wealth creation - broadly understood. It is important for Christians to be involved and setting the tone of this in all aspects of public life and professions. In his 2009 New Year message on the importance of economic development in alleviating poverty and creating peace, Pope Benedict affirmed that: "The creation of wealth is an inescapable moral duty". Paul is careful to make clear that being a heavenly minded Christian is not a sufficient reason to be idle and unproductive⁷⁰.

Furthermore we should develop an understanding of how our work fits in to God's kingdom and purposes. Having done so, it is good to be able to articulate that on a biblical basis, as one aspect of developing a Christian mind - further discussed in chapter 12.

One important perspective on work is Christian stewardship of God's creation, and how this is undertaken. In response to an understanding that God has provided very liberally for us, it needs to involve attention to the human economy as well as to the natural ecology. Science and technology can bring these aspects together and provide the tools for the job. (Christians above all should resist the extreme green agenda, which puts six billion people in second place to some narrow, idealised concept of "the environment". It would seem that some of today's Christian environmentalism is essentially pagan, effectively commending the elevation of God's creation to something more like God himself.)

Care for creation is important but does not preclude careful and respectful use of it. Christians should understand that they can virtuously apply their lives to meeting people's needs by focusing on the utilitarian aspects of creation - notably its productive potential including minerals and energy - without losing sight of the need for care and respect. Respect and care for God's creation must not divert us from using its resources to benefit people, especially those people who are in poverty or economic disadvantage, effectively deprived of access to God's bounty.

11.4 Discussion questions (use with 11.5):
How do you see you present or likely future work serving others?
How do you understand economic wealth creation and the Christian role in it?
Do you agree with Pope Benedict on wealth creation?
Do science and technology contribute to your role in the stewardship of God's creation?

11.5 Professional ministry in the church

Professional paid ministry in the church, notably ordination, is an important and particular expression of vocation for some. The timing of offering for it, the whole question of personal gifts and experience qualifying for it, are major issues to address. Professional ministry of this kind may be outside the confines of the church, and also inside the church but preceding professional commitment to it. Theological education is mostly just that - beyond some minor particulars it cannot itself equip a person to lead a church and manage its affairs competently. It is Ian's observation that most effective management and leadership training probably occurs in teenage years, at school and maybe university, and not so much in management or leadership courses later on (though they can certainly help develop such abilities).

Two kinds of experience in particular are required for the ordained ministry: that of effective ministry in the church on the basis of gifts, energy, love and commitment as a lay person; and life experience involving the application of basic organisational, management and leadership skills in any context. The emphasis given to each will differ according to individual situations.

Of course, following theological training and ordination much experience remains to be gained on the job, and this too is critical. Today in the UK the Church of England is becoming less concerned about prior workplace experience. The reasons advanced are two-fold: 1) because they would like younger priests. 2) because it has been recognised that leading a church is not hugely similar to managing in a business. Many now think that the best preparation for church work is actually engaging with the issues in church work, learning from elders.

An objection to this is that a minister who has only ever done church work will not sufficiently understand the pressures, temptations and difficulties of daily life. The lack of worldliness and the shallow life experience is most likely to be considered alienating and limiting rather than suitable for a minister. On the other hand, workplaces differ. So wherever a minister comes from, he or she will have to establish credibility by listening and learning.

11.5 Discussion questions (use with 11.4):
Do you sense any calling to ordained or other professional ministry? How?
What are the gifts you consider most important for such ministry?
How important do you think life experience is for such ministry?