Do You Feel Called?
Do you feel called?
Two things prompt this question:
1) As I’ve talked with both clergy and everyday Christians (my preferred term to lay people), I’ve been struck by a deep divide over the issue of vocation. Not about whether vocation is a great idea – who could argue that all Christians are called by God in Baptism to participate with God in caring for the world. Rather, the divide is two-fold. First, most pastors feel called by God to what they do, while most everyday Christians do not. Second, most pastors assume their people feel called, in part because they preach and teach about vocation, while most everyday Christians nevertheless do not identify the things they do with most of their time as a calling. (I will write more next week on why, in part, I think this is. For now, I just want to note it.)
2) In a recent conversation with some colleagues at different institutions about vocation, one colleague mentioned that she has been both surprised and delighted by how hungry people are to talk about vocation (particularly in terms of finding meaning and purpose in the activities of their daily life). Having led numerous workshops on vocation, she also said that she has learned that participants – largely everyday Christians – learn the most from each other, rather than an expert presenter. They are the experts on their lives but sometimes don’t have language to talk about these experiences in light of their faith.
So there it is. Pastors feel they’re called (and overestimate the degree to which their people feel the same way), while most everyday Christians do not. Yet given an opportunity, these same folks are eager to talk about their calling in terms of trying to find meaning and purpose and live faithful lives.
There’s more to say, of course. Lot’s more. And I hope to, but I want to get back to the original question: Do you feel called by God? If you’d be willing to answer in the comments, I’d be grateful to read them and share my own thoughts and observations next week. Thank you.
David –
You may know that at Westwood Lutheran (SLP) we’ve begun a very serious endeavor to make “Vocation” a part of our identity as a church. What are we called to do as a church? and What are we called to do as individual members within that church body? (Parallel question is: What is my calling WITHIN my family and what is the calling OF our family? or Community or workplace or…)
At our men’s retreat this weekend, “vocation” is the theme of our reflections. Developing a clearer sense of how God has uniquely gifted each of us to love and serve the neighbor – our live out our vocation – is powerful, life-giving stuff.
As we’ve dug into this, I think everyone feels they are called, but most aren’t sure how that call comes or what the answer might look like. The chance to think about it, to reflect on when you feel at your best in service to others, to explore all the roles you live and how God has enabled to you to be his presence in the world… it has changed the way our members see themselves and their faith.
Anxious to hear your thoughts on this.
Oh, yes, I feel called. I am one of those “everyday Christians.” I have learned to recognize God’s call, because it is so improbable, nothing I would ever have thought up on my own, the things for which I feel uniquely ill-equipped and highly resistant. Like Moses, I say “No. I can’t. I can’t teach seventh grade confirmation because I had a terrible confirmation experience, I’ve only been a Lutheran for eight months, I’d fill their heads with heresies, I can’t pray in public, I wouldn’t like them, they wouldn’t like me, I don’t have a way to get to church …” and I did it for 23 years, loving virtually every minute of it, growing in faith, and looking forward to my children’s own middle school years. I learned to lean on God, not on my own confidence and competence. I became equipped and fell madly in love with that to which God has called me. And that was only the beginning. So, thanks be to God for the calls to which I have been called.
Blessings,
Marilyn
I’m one of the clergy who feels called, but I feel called to more than just my professional vocation. I’m called as a husband, son, father, brother, community member, and many other things. I think some of the difficulty comes when circumstances force us into work that isn’t rewarding because sometimes you just gotta pay the freaking bills. In the first 9 years I was a pastor, either my wife and I were always working more than one job to pay the bills – and that’s after eliminating a lot of bills we knew we didn’t need! 2012 was the first time we were both in full-time “calls” as ministry professionals since we graduated from Luther Seminary in 2003.
So we’ve been there. It’s hard to feel called to deliver a daily newspaper at 4:00 A.M. It’s hard to feel called to work a minimum wage job at McDonald’s or in the child care center at the local gym. It’s hard to mow lawns and donate plasma and feel “called” when in reality you’re doing what you must to take care of your own. But there’s a different sort of nobility in this work. Perhaps it doesn’t feed your soul the way a vocationally-related job might, but in doing what must be done for the sake of your “other” vocations (spouse, parent, child, household member), you are following another calling. And perhaps we clergy need to get better at lifting up this nobility and this viewpoint on work and daily living for those who are struggling to find meaning in their work.
Yes and no. I definitely felt called to become a nurse after 31 years of being a research chemist. (It’s hard to explain to people how I could volutarily leave a job I liked, that paid 3 times more than I’m making now, and had to go to nursing school for 2 years.) I graduated nursing school & then wasn’t sure what type of nurse I was being called to be (hospital, school, home health, etc). I accepted a job 6 months ago as a new nurse where I can leverage my many years as a chemist to help the hospital’s quality program, but this isn’t what I had in mind when I started this process. No regrets for leaving chemist job but just confused now. So I’m a work-in-progress and accept that God is still leading me (but I’m not sure where.)
Debra – thanks for this. I think the confusion bit is far more widespread than we want to admit. So many of us follow where we think our hearts are being led, and the consequences can leave us in situations where we think, “How, exactly, did I get here?” But the Biblical witness tells us we are not alone. Faithful followers found themselves in odd places all the time, with results they could neither have predicted nor produced on their own.
I feel called. When I finished seminary, I switch to medicine. I am 74 now and I have the chance to serve patients every day and make a difference in the life’s of some of them. The seminary helped me find my calling even though it added 8 years to my preparation. Bill
I am about to begin my senior year of seminary and have given much thought to the idea of vocation, or call. I have my own “call story” but truly, I believe I was first called to be a mother and secondarily, to be a psychiatric nurse in my younger days. After my children had become somewhat self-sufficient, I really believed my work was my true vocation, and that I would do my ministry at the local mental health center until retirement, Then, through a series of events, I was awakened to another calling at age 53. Now I am able to see how God had been using my life and my work to prepare me for ordained ministry. We’ll see what other surprises are in store! Haha.
Interestingly, about 15 years ago, I was asked to serve on church council but after careful thought and much prayer just didn’t feel it was the right thing for me at that time (I later served under different circumstances). When I told the chair of the nominating committee that I really didn’t feel called to serve at that time, he was annoyed because he saw it as my duty to serve if asked. He later commented several times in different situations that he had never before, in many years of service on the nominating committee, heard anyone refuse to be nominated because they didn’t feel called. One example of how the everyday Christians really don’t consider their work in the church a calling.
I feel called, but the “power that be” at the church level appears threatened with what must be considered radical thinking, aka strategic planning. Being a Christian environment we don’t have difficult conversations, but simply go into passive resistance which is politically acceptable. I’m seventy years old and getting tired of fighting resistance to change in the church, especially when the verbiage trumpets the need to do things differently. As Emerson said what you are speaks so loudly I can’t hear what you’re saying. If you can’t convince the captain to alter course then I guess the ship has to hit the ice berg. Unfortunate though, as failing organizations tend to cannibalize themselves and experience has taught me it’s not a pretty sight. I am currently evaluating my church involvement.
I feel called to serve my congregation as a Synodically Authorized Minister, which is allowing us to keep the doors of the little white church on the hill open. I don’t need much by way of compensation, because I have retired from the US Navy with pension, and from an iron mining career with pension. I felt called by the Lord to my first two careers also.
I feel that a minister of the gospel must be called to be effective in sharing the good news of the gospel, and caring for the needs of those to whom the good news is shared. By the same token, the best teachers and doctors and plumbers I have ever been involved with were called to that career as well. The teachers and doctors and plumbers who did the job for any reason other than a calling were ineffective at best.
I am just a lay person, or everyday christian to use your words David, but I do indeed feel the call of the Lord to do the work he has laid out for me to do. I also feel sure that the call to do this work may as quickly end, and I may be called to enjoy my retirement, but the choice is His, and He will let me know if and when that time comes. He may let me know the call is ended by calling me home. Until that time, I will stay in close contact with Him and do His bidding as He gives it to me.
I also feel that the people I preach to on Sundays have a calling as well, but in talking to them, they do not feel that they have a calling. They more or less feel that they have a commitment to the church because it is ‘their church’, but usually they struggle to find the connection from Sunday to Monday in their lives.
I look forward to hearing the rest of what you have to say on this question. Thank you for the wonderful blog.
As an “everyday Christian”, I definitely feel called. This calling, for me, is the lens through which I understand and live out my day to day life, interacting with and in relationship with others and creation. It can be in the small things, in the normal daily discourse with those we meet. It can be in the larger things too, such as how we run a business. I relate this sense of call as seeking to live in balance with the notion, the kingdom of heaven is like… .
Earlier in my career, I was lucky to work in church ministry where I had specific skill sets, gifts if you will, that related directly to my work. I definitely felt called to this work. I was passionate about what I was doing and felt it made a difference. I also had volunteer experiences that felt like a calling in which I used favorite skills/gifts. In an ideal world, the day in and day out work we do to pay the bills would be centered upon our best gifts. However, that is not the reality many people live with.
I feel called to be good to the people around me. I used to feel pressured to do big things, to change the world, now I see little things as more valuable and an accessible way to make a difference. To be there when people need me.To listen and observe more than to talk and promote. It’s working too.
I feel called to be working where I work. I’ve worked 31 years for the same Federal Government agency — Farm Service Agency, USDA — since I graduated from college. After working two years in our field offices and realizing that my personality was not a good fit for that I started looking for another job outside of the agency. Not too soon after I started looking for another job, I was asked by our State Executive Director (SED) to move to the agency’s central office. I turned down his offer because I was looking for “another job,” although I didn’t tell him that. Almost immediately after talking with him, I felt like I had made a huge mistake in turning down his offer. I said to myself, that if God wants me to go to the central office, the SED would call be back. The following week, the SED called me back and asked me to reconsider. I accepted his offer and have worked in the position for 29 years. Over the years, I came to understand that the position I was being offered was not only “another job” but it was the only job in the agency for which I was a good fit. Through my job, I’ve helped many people fulfill their dreams of becoming successful farmers. I turly feel that I’m here because this is where God wanted me to be.
Wow! I don’t think this is a coincidence that you are writing about our ‘calling or our vocation’ at this particular time! I was asked by our Pastor to give a reflection (sermon) on Aug. 24th. This is exactly what I want to talk about in my reflection! In my diakonia studies, we had a course that helped us see the connection between Sunday and Monday, etc. I want to help my congregation see that connection within their lives; that what we do does matter; that the way we interact with others; the way we treat each other; how honest we are when nobody is looking; these are all ways that we can and do live out our ‘calling’ each day! I look forward to hearing more from you David! Thank you for your help and guidance each day!
David –
For 27 years, I knew my call. I knew God had directed me to my job as a public librarian. A year ago I knew it was time for me to be somewhere else. I have not heard clearly where to go, but my year has been good, so I know I made the right decision.
Part of the year was spent with a group called Vocare. Your colleague was right “participants – largely everyday Christians – learn the most from each other”. There were 15 of us in this group and our year of looking at call together was amazing, God-filled and very useful. I would not have learned so much if I had looked at call by myself.
I could fill your blog with anecdotes from our study at Richmond Hill, but instead I look forward to hearing more from you. Thank you for all your words of wisdom on so many things.
Yes I do feel called. I am a Synodically Authorized Minister for a small church in mn and I do the exact same thing for an even smaller church in sd, with out the title. This past summer I was offered a chance to leave both small churches, and be the TEEM minister for another. It would have meant my husband (who has Leukemia) could retire a year early and I could quit working nights. Full salary and benefits. I would be on a faster track to become a “real” pastor. It would also mean leaving two churches, struggling to find someone to fill a pulpit and serve communion. No one to teach Sunday School or confirmation or reach out to the new people struggling to find a place… In other words, to become a pastor (my bulletin prints every week that I am not a pastor)I would have to quit being a ….pastor. I could not do it.
I would love to hear more about the workshops this other person puts on because I totally agree, my people do not see their roles as a call from God, though I have often tried to help them see it as such. So I am very interested I the “more” coming!!!
Also, I did not respond to last message about can Jesus learn new things. I have heard that suggested before, long ago, and I cannot remember by whom… Challenging passage to lift up, and i am slways intrigued by how the Holy Spirit will highlight different aspects. Was wondering if you would like to read what I will be lifting up this Sunday on this passage?
Like you, I have spent at least parts of summers at a lake in the Catskills where I feel closest to God. Because of this message, I have sent it and yesterday’s message on to family and friends. Your messages are so inspiring and the Holy Spirit is helping me to reach out in this way regarding my Christian faith. Thank you for sharing God’s word.
The question “do you feel called” haunts me and I hope in a good way. The succinct answer: No. Perhaps not yet. Sometimes I worry Not ever. I have had an abiding ‘sense’ since childhood that I wanted to bring some sort of gift into other people’s lives. I just never figured out “exactly” how (to my satisfaction). Perhaps the stunner in all of this is that I am a rostered clergy person. Maybe Rilke’s line about feelings not being permanent would be a nice route to cognitive overlap. Then again, perhaps I truly need to rethink this whole call, vocation, occupation constellation of questions. I am happy for those who feel called, who find their call, and who have, as Buechner suggests, found the confluence of their greatest happiness and the world’s greatest need. Yes, the questions do matter. Thanks for asking. Thanks for listening for the reply.