The Purpose of Our Vocation - Don't Serve God, Serve People?

As someone who works in the marketplace, I know that it can sometimes be challenging to understand the significance of a "marketplace calling". As I'm reading through God at Work, Gene Veith is offering me fresh perspectives on how to view my vocation.

Veith makes the point, that as Christians, we are citizens of two kingdoms - the spiritual kingdom of God where He rules the hearts of His people and the earthly kingdom where God rules over His creation. Understanding the difference between the two kingdoms is vital to shaping our approach to vocation.

Christians are citizens in both of God's kingdoms. In His spiritual kingdom, we rest in Christ; in His earthly kingdom, we serve our neighbors. The greatest commandments as affirmed by Christ Himself, are thus fulfilled: "Love the Lord your God" and "love your neighbor as yourself" (Mark 12:30-31). p.38

Veith's point is that in the spiritual kingdom, we must not relate to God on the basis of our works but rather by grace alone. In this realm, our works have no merit, it is faith that pleases and "serves" God.

It is dangerous according to the Reformers to confuse the two realms. We dare not come before God trusting in all the good works we have done. We come before God as sinners. If we trust in our works...we feel no need for Christ's forgiveness. This is why all vocations are equal before God. In the spiritual kingdom...peasants are equal to kings. p.38-39

He goes on to tell us that the point of our vocation is not to serve God but to serve our neighbor.

Again, Luther said that faith serves God but works serve our neighbor. We often speak of "serving God"... in the spiritual realm, it is God who serves us. "The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many" (Matthew 20:28). In our vocations, we are not serving God - we are serving other people. p.39

OK, let me get this straight - the purpose of vocation isn't to serve God? Just in case, I might have misunderstood, he clarifies by repeating the assertion a little later.

In vocation, we are not doing good works for God - we are doing good works for our neighbor. This locates moral action in the real messy world of everyday life...in concrete interactions with other people. The purpose of vocation is to love and serve one's neighbor. This is the test, the criterion and the guide for how to live out each and every vocation anyone can be called to...who are my neighbors in my particular vocation, and how can I serve them with the love of God? p.39-40

Do you agree with Veith? Is the point of our working, not so much to serve God but rather to serve our neighbor? If so, who are your neighbors in your vocation and how do you serve them?

God at Work

Earlier this year, I read God at Work by Gene Veith, the culture editor of World magazine. It's an excellent book about the doctrine of Christian vocation as it applies in all of life. Even in the introductory chapters, Veith makes some very salient points. Here's an excerpt about the implications of the Reformation on the vocation of every believing Christian.

The Reformation notion of "the priesthood of all believers"...taught that the pastoral office is a vocation...But it also taught that laypeople as well have vocations, callings of their own that entails holy responsibilities, authorities and blessings of their own. The "priesthood of all believers" did not make everyone into church workers; rather it turned every kind of work into a sacred calling.

Veith gladly concedes that he draws much of his insights about vocation from Martin Luther's understanding of the topic.

...for Luther, vocation is not just a matter of the Law...rather, above all, vocation is a matter of the Gospel, a manifestation of God's action, not our own. In this sense, vocation is not another burden placed on us, something to fail at, but a realm in which we can experience God's love and grace, both in the blessings we receive from others and in the way God is working through us despite our failures.

The area of vocation and work/faith integration is much discussed today and is in fact one reason I started blogging at Every Square Inch. I'm also glad to participate in this blog, both as a contributor and reader. However, I find that biblically sound resources on the topic of faith/work are few and far between. This book is one I would heartily recommend and I'll post a little more about it, in the next couple of weeks.

Serving God in Our Work

"Never is a life more ennobled than when we do all things as unto God."

Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892)


CH Spurgeon tells us that true faith in God leads a person to serve God in his/her daily calling. He further maintains that this service is marked by obedience to God's commands.

"Brethren, Christian men are helped by faith to serve God in their calling by obedience to God's commands, by endeavouring to order everything according to the rules of love to God and love to man. In such a case, integrity and uprightness preserve the man, and his business becomes true worship."

When we walk in obedience, our work is transformed into worship to God. On this topic, Spurgeon goes on to exhort us to "manifest a Christian spirit" in all we do. His point is simple - God is not honored by "correct behavior" that is devoid of a gracious spirit.

Here is what he says about this -

"The spirit that actuates us may seem a small matter so long as we are outwardly right; but it is in reality the essence of the whole thing. Take away the flavor from the fruit, or the fragrance from the flower, and what is left? Such is correct living without the savor of grace."

Years before Charles Sheldon issued the now popular, WWJD call, Spurgeon asked not only "what would Jesus do" but also "how would Jesus do it". He tells us the following -

"Oh, to act in your trade and calling as Christ would have acted had he been in your place. Hang that question up in your houses, "What would Jesus do?" and then think of another, "How would Jesus do it?" for what he would do and how he would do it may always stand as the best guide for us. Thus faith puts a man upon serving God by leading him to exhibit the spirit of Christ in what he ordinarily does, showing all courtesy, gentleness, forbearance, charity and grace"

Also, take note of Spurgeon's perspective on daily work, taking one day at a time and making full use of it.

How to Choose Your Occupation

Charles Spurgeon offers timeless advice on faith, work and the choice of one's occupation. Whether you're a college student embarking on your career or a 45 year old executive in the midst of a midlife career change, these are truths worth remembering.

True faith in him who loved us, and gave himself for us, also seeks direction of the Lord as to the sphere of its action, and waits upon him to be guided by him in the choice of a calling. Some people are trying to do what they were never made for, ambitious beyond their line. This is a grievous evil. There should, therefore, be a seeking unto God for guidance and direction; and faith leads us to such seeking.


Spurgeon also speaks to the nature of the work suitable for a Christian.

In the choice of a calling faith helps a Christian to refuse that which is the most lucrative if it be attended with a questionable morality... Trades which are injurious to men's minds and hearts are not lawful callings before God. Dishonest gain is awful loss.


He warns not only of dishonest gain but also of the kind of motivation that places the pursuit of money as the primary aim of work and the center of one's ambition.

"Make money," said the worldling to his son; "make it honestly if you can, but, anyhow, make money." Faith abhors this precept of Mammon, and having God's providence for its inheritance, it scorns the devil's bribe.


Spurgeon's advice is practical in the sense that he understands that God creates each person with unique gifts and abilities. The discovery of one's call must take that into account.

Callings should be deliberately chosen with a view to our own suitableness for them. Faith watches the design of God, and desires to act according to his intent.


He advises that faith also takes into account the providence of God in placing us within the scope of a particular time, place and opportunity. The faith that seeks God for vocational guidance is markedly different from a purely analytical assessment of our circumstances. Instead, there is a leaning upon God as we assess our position in life; trusting in God's sovereign favor to lead us into what he intends for us.

We should also by faith desire such a calling as Providence evidently has arranged and intended for us. Some persons have never had a free choice of what vocation they would follow; for from their birth, position, surroundings, and connections they are set in a certain line of things, like carriages on the tram lines, and they must follow on the appointed track, or stand still. Faith expects to hear the voice behind it saying, "This is the way, walk ye in it." Trusting to our own judgment often means following our own whims; but faith seeks direction from infallible wisdom, and so it is loaf in a right way. God knows your capacity better than you do; entreat him to choose your inheritance for you.

If the flowers were to revolt against the gardener, and each one should select its own soil, most of them would pine and die through their unsuitable position; but he who has studied their nature knows that this dower needs shade and damp; and another needs sunlight and a light soil; and so he puts his plants where they are most likely to flourish. God doeth the same with us.


What I love about Spurgeon's perspective is that he never drifts far from the gospel. He reminds us that God may have either fortune or poverty for us but he remains faithful to work for our good and the praise of his own glory.

He hath made some to be kings, though few of those plants flourish much. He has made many to be poor, and the soil of poverty, though damp and cold, has produced many a glorious harvest for the great Reaper. The Lord has set some in places of peril, places from which they would gladly escape, but they are there preserved by his hand; he has planted many others in the quiet shade of obscurity, and they blossom to the praise of the great Husbandman.


These God centered perspectives from the 19th century may seem odd to us at times. Unfortunately, much of what passes as career advice today, even from Christians, will often emphasize the practical aspects of choosing a career but leave little room for the spiritual. It may espouse the view to "do what you love" but often without accounting for God's calling. It may assess career opportunities on the basis of pay or marketplace demand but not in terms of what brings honor to God or serves our neighbor.

Spurgeon exhorts us to think about our career choices rather differently.

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For more advice from Spurgeon on integrating faith-work, read this post on Every Square Inch

Incredibly Called!

By Yoke Yeow, The Tent

The Incredibles was truly incredible to watch. Trust Brad Bird to write a story that's fall-off-your-seat entertaining and emotively satisfying all at once. Having given us years of irreverent Simpsons and some heart-warming work like the Fox and the Hound, Bird is a master at his craft of story-telling and irony. And what a story of ironies it is!

First there's Bob Parr, aka Mr. Incredible. A herculean hunk who files insurance claims and cramps himself into a tin can for an automobile. Then there's his wife Helen, the Elastigirl (probably inspired by Plastic Man?), a body-stretching crime-fighter now mother of two and lawkeeper at home, doing all she can to hold together their precarious existence. Dash - now that's a character I can identify with! - capable of sound-barrier-breaking speeds but whose only expression of talent is tacking teacher's butt and losing at races to conceal his abilities. And Violet, the proverbial wallflower girl whose gift of invisibility helps her fade ever more into the background. Sad?

Sad it is. Yet the irony in The Incredibles is often the irony in our own lives. We too, are often forced to go undercover. The bigger part of our life stories are chapters of confusion. We try to make sense of our station in life and make good of our calling (whatever THAT may be!) While we plod on in the doldrums of work our gifts and passions get buried in increasing layers of disillusionment and despair. We strive to make a living but never actually LIVE. Not the way we were meant to anyway.

Our gifts may not necessarily be the popular ones, or sensational like superhuman strength or subsonic speed. But in big or small ways, the one who stands against the norms, who dares to make a difference, and hold on to the Truth against opposition is the real hero. The real hero is the one who exercises faith, believing when all around have given up. Who exercises hope, giving everyone the courage to press on against all odds. And the one who will continue loving no matter how much it hurts. Faith, hope and love - sounds familiar?

I believe there's a hero waiting to be set free in each of us.

I guess that's why I had to fight the urge to jump and cheer when Elastigirl blew up into a parachute bringing Dash & Violet to safety. Or when Dash whirred his feet to propel the boat that was his mother and run flaming circles round his captors. And when Violet bubbled up her force field for the first time, shielding everyone from the onslaught of heavy fire. I found myself rooting for these undercovers breaking loose and rejoicing in their moment of triumph. But it's not just the triumph of good over evil that fired up my heart. Or the good guys giving the bad guys a sound thumping that gave me satisfaction.

No, I find it was their triumph over internal obstacles that satisfied the most. When they find the joy of finally doing what they were made to do. When their outer blows were aligned to their inner passion to give to the world what they were given. When they broke free of their self-imposed bars telling them to be less than what they could be. When faith, hope and love brought Purpose and Passion together.

Well, maybe I'm just a die-hard fan of the superhero-comic genre, trying to derive meaning from a fantastic animation flick. But while I am trying to make sense of my job, ever trying to move from career to calling, the Incredibles are my heroes for this moment in time. In a world of little hope, this production goes down as a classic for me. As John Schuster says in his book, Answering the Call, it is in the time of doldrums and meaninglesness that we must mightily believe that we are called to a deeper purpose and pursue that with all our hearts.

Quotes on Vocation

Fellow Agora Bloggers,

I'm in Malaysia for a brief visit and am planning to attend CDPC on Sunday - hope to have a chance to meet some of you. It'll be great to put a voice and face to the names. I've come across a few quotes on vocation by notable Christian leaders (mostly old, dead guys) that I thought were interesting (HT: Washington Institute). You're probably familiar with some of them but they offer timeless wisdom and are worth revisiting:


On whether our daily work is "spiritual":

"...The work of a Beethoven, and the work of a charwoman, become spiritual on precisely the same condition, that of being offered to God, of being done humbly "as to the Lord." This does not, of course, mean that it is for anyone a mere toss-up whether he should sweep rooms or compose symphonies. A mole must dig to the glory of God and a cock must crow..."

C.S Lewis, Weight of Glory


"...A cobbler, a smith, a farmer, each has the work and office of his trade, and yet they are all alike consecrated priests and bishops, and every one by means of his own work or office must benefit and serve every other, that in this way many kinds of work may be done for the bodily and spiritual welfare of the community, even as all the members of the body serve one another..."

Martin Luther (aka the Reformation Guy)




On how we are to work:

"...We know that men were created for the express purpose of being employed in labor of various kinds, and that no sacrifice is more pleasing to God than when every man applies diligently to his own calling, and endeavors to live in such a manner as to contribute to the general advantage..."

John Calvin (aka Mr. Five Pointer)


On the quality of work we should produce:

"...No piety in the worker will compensate for work that is not true to itself…. work must be good work before it can call itself God’s work..."

Dorothy Sayers


On Christian discipleship and work

Not an old, dead guy, but ever insightful is Tim Keller, pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian in NYC. In a paper on how a church can successfully engage a city culture, he writes about the need to integrate work and faith. He also says this:

You can't just disciple people on how to be Christians in their private lives (e.g. prayer, witnessing, Bible study). Center-city people don't have much of a "private life." If you are in finance, or art, or acting or medicine, your vocation dominates your life and your time. Discipleship must include how to be distinctively Christian within your job, including how to handle the particular temptations and ethical quandaries, and how to produce work in one's own field from a distinctly Christian world-view.


How are you distinctly Christian within your job?
What does it mean to produce work in our field of work from a distinctly Christian world-view?

Discover Your Life Mission

Paul Stevens, a former lecturer at Regent and theologian on marketplace ministry, shared about discovering our life vocation at an event organised by Grace@Work and Agora some time last year. Here are the slides used, and if they are helpful, pls feel free to share w friends in church.