Tag: God's Will

book quote of the week
Live Out Your Calling Today

Live Out Your Calling Today

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“What is my calling?” Is that a question you have ever asked yourself? I am almost certain you have met a Christian who has asked that question at some point or is currently asking it. “What is God calling me to do? Where is God calling me to go?” And probably most important of all: “What is God calling me to do with my life?”

I don’t think I have met a sincere, Christ-loving Christian who wants to waste their life. Christians want to live out God’s will for their life, to spend the time allotted to them in a God-honoring way. But this often is easier said then done, especially when you aren’t clear what God wants you to do.

Recently, I have been reading a book called “Grit” by Angela Duckworth . It is a pretty useful book which focuses on the positive effects of perseverance in life. If you are a Christian who reads your Bible consistently, you almost certainly understand and know all that Duckworth says in her book. But there was a “parable” she gave in one of her chapters which helped me think through what “calling” is and how it connects to the Biblical idea of “renewing your mind”.

Three bricklayers are asked: “What are you doing?”

The first says, “I am laying bricks.”

The second says, “I am building a church.”

And the third says, “I am building the house of God.”

The first bricklayer has a job. The second has a career. The third has a calling.

GRIT by Angela Duckworth

What the quote means

Perspective is everything

What I love about this little story is how memorable it is. You have three people doing the exact same job: laying bricks. On the surface, there is absolutely no difference between them. But when asked what they are doing, their answers could not be more different.

The first is focused merely on the task at hand: laying bricks. It simply is a task; there is no higher calling. This is why the first bricklayer merely has a “job”. You have certainly met people like this: they come to work to get a paycheck, that is all. There is no bigger picture or larger goal. There is simply the task at hand, the task they are paid to accomplish.

The second bricklayer has a bit better perspective. Rather than focusing on the task, the second bricklayer focuses on a larger goal: building a Church. This second person is connecting their work to something bigger than the individual task. They are conscious of what their work means and what goal their individual task contributes to. This bricklayer is said to have a “career.”

But it is the final bricklayer that is the most important for our discussion. This last bricklayer connects their work to something larger than their individual task, and larger than the final “product.” Despite the sketchy theology in this parable (see 2 Samuel 7 for what God thinks about David building a house for Him), I think it is a profound illustration of Biblical truth. This last bricklayer connects his or her work to God, to theology, to a their larger worldview.

And it is this bricklayer which is said to have a “calling.”

I would summarize the three bricklayers as follows:

  • The first bricklayer is focused on the daily tasks
  • The second bricklayer is focused on the end goal of the tasks
  • The third bricklayer is focused on why they are pursuing the goal

Why it is important

Don’t try to figure out God’s will for your whole life. Live faithful today.

“Calling” is a tough word to define. A lot of times, when I hear Christians ask what their calling is, what they mean is “I want to know the specifics of God’s will for my life. I want to know for certain what I am to do now and in the future.” But this certainty is not promised in Scripture.

J. I. Packer in his book “Knowing God” contrasts two views of “knowing God’s will.” What you and I often want is to see the whole picture, like if you were to look at a whole map of a subway system. You want to know exactly and with certainty all the different paths God wants you to take. But knowing God’s will is not like looking at a subway map. It is more like driving a car: you can only see and make decisions based on what is immediately ahead of you.

This parable of the three bricklayers builds on this idea. You don’t “find your calling” by figuring out God’s sovereign plan for your life. You live out a calling by connecting what you are doing in the present with your Theology. The last bricklayer has a calling by connecting his daily tasks and the goal of his job to God. God is not going to write out His sovereign will for your life in the sky for you to read. But He does promise to guide your steps as you trust in Him.

How can you live your calling? Remind yourself each day “this is God’s sovereign will for my life.” And then work for His glory, not your own. I think we need to re-define “calling” to “obeying God commands in all He ordained for you to do while staying conscious of how what you are doing connects to God’s larger plan.” In other words

You turn your tasks into a calling simply by connecting it back to God, the Scripture, and the Gospel

“What does God want me to do with my life?” is an impossible question because God doesn’t promise to answer it in specifics. But I guarantee there are daily tasks you have to accomplish each time you wake up. These tasks are the part of God’s plan for your life that He has revealed. God has prepared good works for you ahead of time so that you can walk in them (see Ephesians 2). Don’t focus on the part of God’s will that you don’t know. Focus on faithfulness today by doing all your daily tasks to God’s glory.

Takeaways

1. The most practical thing you can do each day is renew your mind with Scripture

An implication of all this is to renew your mind each day. The last bricklayer had a theological, God-focused mindset which enabled him to connect what he was doing to why he was doing it. He had a different perspective than the other two. It does not get more practical than this.

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Romans 12:2, ESV emphasis added

You aren’t naturally going to wake up with the mindset “all I do today is for God’s glory.” The natural perspective of life when you wake up is that of the first bricklayer: just get done these tasks and be done with it. But as Christians, part of the privilege we have is doing all that we do for God’s glory and to make much of Christ.

Your theology should transform your most mundane daily tasks.

Don’t buy the lie that says Theology is some study of God divorced from anything you actually do during the day. There is absolutely nothing more practical than renewing your mind with the Word. It changes everything. The parable of the bricklayers argues that it is your mindset, your perspective, that matters each day. The Bible makes it more explicit: you must renew your mind or you will be conformed to this world.

2. Ask God to show you what faithfulness looks like today. Let Him work out your long term “calling.”

If God explained to you every single plan He had for your life, do you really think your life would be better? I think God is merciful to allow us to take one day at a time. Your calling is to die to self daily and subject each day’s tasks to the Lordship of Christ. That is hard enough to do without also knowing everything coming tomorrow.

“Sufficient is the day for its worries” Jesus said. You can only be certain of what God is calling you to do moment by moment. So pursue faithfulness and obedience moment by moment. As a Pastor I know once said “Do the next faithful thing.”

You might not know God’s long term plans for your life. But you know today you are called to “glorify God and enjoy Him.”

3. Consciously, through prayer and meditation on Scripture, offer each part of your day up for the glory of God

To get even more practical, doing all things for God’s glory probably means praying a lot. “Without ceasing” as Paul says. The mindset of the third bricklayer is not easy to maintain. There are dozens of distractions and sins each day that cause you to lose sight of why you are doing what you are doing, and for whom you are doing it.

Dedicate time throughout the day to read Scripture. Call out to the Lord before you start a new task. Ask yourself “how does what I am going through connect to any Bible passages I have heard lately?” It is only through focus on God that our tasks become a calling. Why? Because God has called His people to exalt Him in all things.

What tasks do you have to accomplish today at work? At home? For Church? Will you merely check the boxes? Or will you realize everything you do is done before the presence of God?

For previous posts in this ongoing series “Book Quote of the Week”, click here. If you found this post helpful, please share and subscribe below. Follow The Average Churchman on Instagram to get more content.
I Didn’t Switch My College Major

I Didn’t Switch My College Major

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I graduated in May 2019. My college major was Mechanical Engineering. If you had asked me in the middle of getting my degree, I would have told you that I wanted desperately to change my major to Biblical studies. Engineering was tough. It took a lot of time. I wanted to be a pastor. Technology didn’t excite me. But I didn’t switch my college major.

Why didn’t I change to a major I would enjoy better? The immediate reason was the advice I got from the Elders at my Church. They said I should finish my degree. I could get a MDiv later if needed. Not everyone could get an engineering degree. Finish what I started. The advice frustrated me at the time, but it kept me in Mechanical engineering.

But the ultimate reason I didn’t switch my college major was God’s sovereign will in my life. Looking back now, I can see several reasons why He led me to stick with engineering. I know a lot of people who struggle with whether they should switch their college major or not. I hope some of the lessons I personally learned will help you or help you counsel those in your Church who are having to make tough decisions about college degrees and future career choices.

God has purposes beyond what you can see in the moment

A question I asked myself often in college was “why am I in engineering? Why did God lead me to choose this major starting out?” After all, when you are a new high school graduate, you barely know what the world is like, much less knowing what career you want to pursue. I chose engineering initially because it paid well and I was good at math. That was it. Nothing overly spiritual at all.

Then as I went through college, the Lord grew me through local Church involvement. I read rich theological books. My passion was for the Church, for teaching, for studying Scripture. I met one of my best friends who was getting his Biblical studies degree. And let me tell you, our conversations about the Word were far more engaging than anything I was doing or learning in engineering.

I asked God “Why would you have me in a degree I’m not passionate about?” I came to realize this was the wrong question to ask. God’s will, not my passion, is the ultimate driver in my life.

Looking back now, the question I should have asked was simply “Lord, how can I glorify you in my degree I am currently in?” I could have switched my college major at any time. But I didn’t. And it is only now, two years after graduation, that I begin to see God’s purposes for keeping me in engineering. Purposes which were invisible to me at the time. An engineering degree:

  • Allowed me to get a job out near my local Church so I could serve as a deacon there
  • Gave me an income to support a wife and family right out of college. Which is good, because I got married a year after graduating and my wife is having our first child this coming fall.
  • Enabled me to get a job I do, in fact, love. I never ever dreamed in a hundred years I would find an engineering job I would like. God proved me wrong.

There are more reasons, but these three serve to illustrate a principle.

Don’t judge where God has you based on what you know now or feel now. God has plans and purposes for your current circumstances beyond what you understand right now. Trust Him.

Serving God is a present-tense activity. And you can serve God no matter where you are at.

I was almost certain in college that the best way I could serve the Lord is by becoming a pastor as soon as humanly possible. Of course, I wasn’t really certain of God’s will. I was just certain of what I wanted. And what I wanted was to “do big things for Jesus” by becoming a pastor. It was so simple! If God would just let me get a bible degree, I would go off to seminary, then serve Him.

Serve God on His terms, not your own terms.

What God has taught me looking back is I can’t put conditions or timelines on when and how I would serve Him. Serving God is a present tense activity. Saying you will serve God tomorrow or sometime in the future isn’t obedience. Today, with what opportunities God has given you now, you must obey Scripture, follow Christ, and preach the gospel.

I thought I had to have a certain degree to serve the Lord well. That wasn’t true. All I needed was to wake up each day and say “Lord, how would you have me glorify you with this day?”

I know a lot of people who switched their majors based on some abstract idea that a certain major would equip them to serve God better. Maybe that was true. But having graduated, I find that the thing you need most for serving God is present-tense obedience. Specific skills might help you to be sure.

But at the end of the day don’t switch your college major because you feel that you need a certain one thing you desire to serve God. When I look at my local Church, I see a combination of dozens of people who have different vocations, callings, family situations and backgrounds. Each one can serve the Lord. Today. Why? Because God has already given us everything we need to serve Him.

His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence

2 Peter 1:3, ESV

So don’t stress out about what major your are currently in or which one you want to change to. Focus on serving God in the present and He will direct you.

The Church benefits from all kinds of skills, not just teaching and preaching

As I said before, the local Church is filled with people from different backgrounds. I didn’t switch my college major to Biblical studies, so now my local Church has a member who is trained as an engineer. Is that type of training a waste? Is it a purely “secular” vocation? Are my skills inapplicable to the Church?

No. I would argue the local Church benefits from a large collection of skills, vocations, and backgrounds. The Bible presents both unity and diversity as glorifying to the Lord.

There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. 7 But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.

Ephesians 4:4-7, ESV

Christianity does not erase your individuality, but nor does it make your individuality the most important thing.

Let me give an example. A couple months ago, the deacons at my Church decided to fix a ramp at my Church. Now, none of the deacons have any background in construction or painting. But the Lord brought several skilled men to our Church who do have those skills. And those skills were leveraged to bless the body.

So the question is: what if those men had not spent the time to develop those skills? What if everyone in the body only had MDiv’s and nothing else? I would argue that would be a disservice to the Church body. The individual skills God gives to each believer are for building up His Church. And those skills include “secular” ones.

Ask yourself “How might the skills from this degree bless the body? How can I do the most good to the most amount of people, believers and nonbelievers?”

I have learned that mechanical engineers can bless the Church, serve the Lord, and worship Christ just as much as any other college degree. God does not call all of us to the same thing. And praise God for it! It creates a beautiful diversity in the Church!

Conclusion

There are more lessons I learned when I look back on my college experience. But ultimately, I am glad I didn’t switch my college major. God used the struggle, the perseverance, and the (often) disappointment of engineering to shape me into who I am today. I realize now God had larger purposes than I could see in college. Sticking with engineering forced me to focus on serving the Lord with what I had, not with what I wanted. And finally, I see now God has given me unique skills to serve the local body. Skills I wouldn’t have if I didn’t complete an engineering degree.

Whether you end up sticking with or changing you college major, whether you stay in your current job or leave it, just remember what Paul told the Church in Corinth:

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

1 Corinthians 10:31, ESV

Glorify God, pursue Christ, and love the local Body where you are at. God will take care of the rest.

Click here to read some of my other reflections on experiences I have had. Follow The Average Churchman on Instagram to get updated whenever a new post comes out.