Celebrating A Calling…Not Just Settling For A Career
by: Bob Reccord
I just finished speaking to a group of business leaders in Dallas and challenged them to not settle for a “career” but to seek to celebrate a calling.
For too long in the church we have unintentionally cordoned off the idea of divine calling to the vocational minister or missionary.
And thank God for those who are called to such a special role in the building of the church and the expansion of God’s Kingdom. BUT…they are not the only ones who experience God’s call to impact their world.
In fact, when you look at Hebrews 11 where the Scripture lists people who have been used to impact the world as they followed God in faith you find a very interesting and engaging fact….almost every name listed is from the work place of their day. They were not vocational priests, prophets, preachers, etc.
Perhaps that is why Billy Graham said, “I believe one of the next great movements of God is going to be thru believers in the workplace.”
My friend Os Guiness made some interesting ovservations…
Of 132 public appearances of Christ 122 took place in the workplace
Of the 52 parables of Christ 45 had a context of the workplace
39 of 40 major encounters in the book of Acts were in a workplace context
Jesus spent a majority of his life around a carpenter’s shop—in the workplace
Jesus didn’t go to the Temple to find disciples…he went to the workplace
Maybe that’s why they gave a standing ovation when I finished…much to my surprise. (Or maybe they just wanted to stand up and stretch). I think it was because so many in the workplace are dying to know they can make an eternal difference there…and that God is at work in that context every bit as much as He is in the church building. You just have to be looking.