One of the common phrases that many mothers say to their children when they act out is, \u201cThat was uncalled for.\u201d That\u2019s an interesting phrase, isn\u2019t it? \u201cUncalled for.\u201d It\u2019s as if there is something outside of ourselves that calls us to be who we ought to be, and when we are acting apart from that, our actions are uncalled for. Christians believe that one of our deepest human hungers is to be called for, by someone outside of ourselves, to be who we ought to be. We believe that this summons does not come from within as some inner human strength, but from outside of ourselves. God does not stand indifferent to us and aloof from us, but communicates to us, summons us that we are called for something beyond ourselves. When Jesus sees James and John and calls for them, saying, \u201cFollow me,\u201d no questions were asked, they dropped their nets and followed him. So powerful is the call of God and so hungry is the human heart for someone to call for them that they stepped out of the boat and followed.<\/p>\n
One day, a member of our church who was a frustrated businessman, came into my office for guidance. \u201cI need a new job,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m working too many hours at a job I don\u2019t like trying to maintain a lifestyle I don\u2019t really care about either. But I can\u2019t really change my lifestyle, so can you help me think about a new job that will be more fulfilling in the same pay range?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy don\u2019t you like your job?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s boring\u2014numbers and documents all day. Boring and meaningless. I want to do something more meaningful than working for an investment firm.\u201d Before addressing his use of the word \u201cmeaning\u201d in relationship to secular work, I decided to have a little fun with this man.<\/p>\n
\u201cHere\u2019s the problem,\u201d I said. \u201cYou can get a new job if you want, but I think you\u2019ll be back here in a year.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause that job\u2019s going be boring too.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do you know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, because all the jobs that you can get that pay the kind of money you think you need, are all jobs that will feel meaningless. Jobs that feel meaningful<\/em> don\u2019t often pay enough money. And even worse, some jobs don\u2019t pay any money and still feel meaningless. Those are the worst. What if you get one of those jobs?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t want one of those jobs!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI know!\u201d<\/p>\n At this point, he was thoroughly depressed and I reminded him that this is why pastoral care is free. So I said, \u201cI think you need to consider the possibility that you don\u2019t need a new job.\u201d We looked at Exodus 3 and read through the Call of Moses and the Burning Bush. \u201cWhat does this have to do with my job?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n \u201cHave you ever considered the possibility that your office is a burning bush? The presence of God ablaze, calling you everyday to do your work to his glory? That your work is meaningful even if it doesn\u2019t feel<\/em> like it?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, I know I\u2019m supposed to do my job with integrity and do a good job, and try to share my faith with non-Christians in the office, and that is pleasing to God, but I still want to spend my time doing something meaningful.\u201d<\/p>\n Then I asked him, \u201cHave you ever considered the truth that God not only cares about business people, but he also cares about business?\u201d Then I quoted him Abraham Kuyper: \u201c\u2019There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!\u2019 So, it\u2019s not just whether you evangelize in the office or give your earnings to the poor that makes your secular work meaningful, the work itself is inherently meaningful to God. We labor to serve the common good in every sphere of life, with gratitude in response to God\u2019s grace, and this is God\u2019s will as it points to the new creation\u2014the coming of heaven to earth and the renewal of all things.\u201dThe eschatology was a little heady for this man, but it was a start. I encouraged him to take a pair of sandals and place them at his desk so that he can remind himself everyday that he too, is standing on holy ground. Over time, this man\u2019s internal motivations for secular work were transformed, and new surprising breakthroughs along the way helped him to see God\u2019s hand everywhere.<\/p>\n This is precisely the kind of energy that Weber claims fueled the emergence of capitalism and a rational economic system for the world. Weber argues that the anxiety of Calvin\u2019s doctrine of Predestination along with Calvin\u2019s understanding of \u201ccalling\u201d and living all of life to the glory of God, were two of the dominant forces of the spread of capitalism around the world.<\/p>\n Weber believed it was salvation anxiety that largely drove the desire to pursue secular calling in the world with rigor. It was the English Puritan literature that convinced Weber of this anxiety and uncertainty. Calvin\u2019s God is transcendent, \u201cHoly Other\u201d and wholly unknowable. Add to the Doctrine of God, the Doctrine of Predestination, which was ironically intended to provide assurance not anxiety, and the Christians then found themselves in need of seeking signs of their election in the world. Weber argued a sort of influence of prosperity gospel on the Calvinists that drove their work ethic in that time.<\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t really until the Calvinist Puritans emerged in the 17th<\/sup> century was Calvin\u2019s notion of \u201ccalling\u201d visibly translated to economic development. While other streams of Protestantism shared aspects of Calvin\u2019s view of calling, such as Methodism and Baptist, Weber predominately focused on Calvin, who insisted that all people exist for the glory of God, who is sovereign over the entire cosmos. Every person created, therefore, has a calling in the world, and to pursue one\u2019s calling is an expression of the Christian\u2019s gratitude for God\u2019s saving grace in Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n The Puritan Calvinists imagined an ethical form of Capitalism, and a set of ascetic practices, whereby wealth was to be reinvested into society rather than used in the pursuit of luxury (so as not to become an idol). Weber, however, noticed that these ethics and ascetic practices were lost in the godlessness of the Industrial Revolution.[1]<\/a><\/p>\n While salvation anxiety may not serve society at any time in history, Calvin\u2019s (and even more, Kuyper\u2019s) understanding of the secular callings of Christians, needs recovery today. Even in my Calvinist Presbyterian congregation, most people are not able to make any connection between Sunday morning and Monday \u2013 Friday. At best, they think their calling as Christians is simply to be honest and to evangelize their friends. But to recover a theology of vocation for Christians in the modern Western world, is an opportunity to bring ethics and commerce back together again, to give meaning and therefore joy to the lives of most Christians in America, to improve the equity of society, and to give the opportunity of faith for non-believers who also don\u2019t find meaning in their work or consumption.<\/p>\n [1]<\/a> Bruce Gordon, \u201cCalvinism and Capitalism: Together Again?,\u201d\u00a0Reflections: A Magazine of Theological and Ethical Inquiry from Yale Divinity School<\/em>, 2010.\u00a0https:\/\/reflections.yale.edu\/article\/money-and-morals-after-crash\/calvinism-and-capitalism-together-again<\/a>\u00a0(accessed March 8, 2018).<\/p>\n [2] Max Weber, The Protestant Ethic and The<\/i>, trans. Peter Baehr and Gordon C. Wells Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics (New York: Penguin Books, 2002), 1.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" One of the common phrases that many mothers say to their children when they act out is, \u201cThat was uncalled for.\u201d That\u2019s an interesting phrase, isn\u2019t it? \u201cUncalled for.\u201d It\u2019s as if there is something outside of ourselves that calls us to be who we ought to be, and when we are acting apart from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":101,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16942","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","cohort-lgp8"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16942","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/101"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16942"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16942\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16943,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16942\/revisions\/16943"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16942"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16942"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16942"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}