I am becoming increasingly convinced that man has two callings. The first calling is a general calling that is issued to each of us. The second calling is particular to the individual. We can call them general and specific callings. Each of these callings is divine.
To believe in divine callings, one must have a couple further beliefs. The first of these is that the divine exists to do the calling. The second is that this divinity is interested enough to have a will for our lives. These are both beliefs that I hold, and believe are based upon solid truth and not shifting emotions. Because I believe in the God of the Bible so firmly, the logical follow up question to answer is: what do I do with my life as result? Scripture presents two things that we must do in response to God: we must 1) believe and 2) obey. The believe involves believing God is who the Bible says He is, and He has done and will continue to do what the Bible says He has and will do. The obedience is a little broad, but can roughly be condensed to the Ten Commandments, and even further into the two commandments Jesus said are the greatest. Jesus summarized all of the Law and Prophets (the Old Testament) into two commandments: love God and love others. This is the general calling of man: to follow these two commandments. Figuring out what they mean and how to live them out is a lifelong endeavor, but we know that it revolves around love.
The second calling, the specific one, is just as it sounds, more specific. Logically, I reach the specific gifts conclusion by observing how uniquely gifted each person is. Lebron James should stick to dunking basketballs and my mother should keep teaching elementary school because that is what they are gifted to do. I suppose Lebron could teach a decent addition lesson, but I do not think he could match my mother's perseverance and love for her students.
Scripturally, I come to this belief in specific callings through all of the talk about spiritual gifts in Scripture. Often the talk about these gifts is linked to an analogy about the church having one body but many parts. Just as an ear is designed a specific way, very differently from a foot, so is one person from another. If my ears started trying to do the work of my feet, I would not be a happy camper, nor a good walker or listener. Likewise, when the leaders of the world try to be followers, and the followers try to be leaders, neither are happy and humanity does not reach its potential. One of the most concise and powerful verses about gifts in Scripture is 1 Peter 4:10, "Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms." This verse tells us that we have received gifts, the gifts are an outpouring of God's grace, they have been given to us to serve others, and by doing so we are making good use of (stewarding) them. This is all very cool.
Scripturally, I come to this belief in specific callings through all of the talk about spiritual gifts in Scripture. Often the talk about these gifts is linked to an analogy about the church having one body but many parts. Just as an ear is designed a specific way, very differently from a foot, so is one person from another. If my ears started trying to do the work of my feet, I would not be a happy camper, nor a good walker or listener. Likewise, when the leaders of the world try to be followers, and the followers try to be leaders, neither are happy and humanity does not reach its potential. One of the most concise and powerful verses about gifts in Scripture is 1 Peter 4:10, "Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms." This verse tells us that we have received gifts, the gifts are an outpouring of God's grace, they have been given to us to serve others, and by doing so we are making good use of (stewarding) them. This is all very cool.
I write all of this in my introductory blog post because I believe writing is part of my specific calling. The trail I have followed to this conclusion has been windy, but the guiding light is my unquenchable desire to fully understand the world, and then change it. This is not to say that my changes would always be beneficial, but I have found that I am nearly powerless to turning off this desire to figure out how society fits together and then tinkering with it. When I open the newspaper I gravitate to the op-ed pieces. When given enough time, I read The Economist cover to cover. When I am sick of reading I watch 60 Minutes, TED talks, or lectures from Q ideas. A quick look around informs me that not everyone enjoys these things quite as much as me. Of course there are others, if not I wouldn't have any essays to read or talks to watch. Society needs these type of people. An open and populated public forum leads to thoughtful governance and living. Thoughtful governance and living leads to better living, and better living is synonymous with maximizing our God-given potential. Slightly depressing is how small of an impact one seems to have in such a global society. It is easy to feel like just a number in such a big interconnected world. This is an even greater reason to focus on our specific calling, because our impact will not necessarily be measurable or seem significant, but it is important to God that we use our gifts to contribute to the greater good. It is my hope that I do not write into a vacuum, but even if I do, I believe this blog will be a vehicle for me carrying out a component of my specific calling.
You are a great writer, Bo!
ReplyDeleteThis is pretty cool. I like how we can take our desires/talents and use them! When I was in an in-between stage of my life, and searching for my next step, I read a book that really freed me. The book was "Found: God's Will" by John MacArthur. Basically MacArthur boiled it down to genuine salvation and obedient living, after that we are free to do whatever we want to do. Up until that point in my life I was doing everything, but what I wanted to do. Definitely a happy memory/turning point in my life.
ReplyDelete