Issue 294
We continue our series on Words That Need Redefining
There is not a day that goes by in the life of most adults in the western world when they don’t make or receive a number of calls.
Many of us know teenagers who appear to have had a mobile phone surgically stitched to their ear, and it is hard to walk around any densely populated city without hearing people talking into pieces of equipment wired to their bodies somehow.
The process of taking a call from someone miles away is now so familiar to us that we take it for granted.
There is a spiritual concept which is also familiar to us but not quite to easy to grasp. People speak of hearing the call of God or being called by God. The idea of a message from an unseen caller is easy to absorb but when the caller is God the taking of this call is a little more complex.
Yet again, however, we have managed to use this term to create an elitism and a separatism in our understanding. Very committed and earnest individuals, by some special connection via a divine telephone exchange, are deemed to have heard the call of God on their lives and then ride off into the sunset as a result, to fulfil their unique and powerful destiny.
The non-elite majority still take calls via the switchboard, mobile phone, ear piece or land line.
There is no doubt that God calls us – in fact He calls everyone everywhere – to turn around and go His way. Having called us to faith he calls us to specialise – apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers and evangelists, often connected to our design (see WAKEUPCALL numbers 196-200 in the Archive ). But beyond that, calling becomes much more of a dance whereby you look for a suitable partner in terms of a career, context, fellow travellers and a lifestyle. Even in this dance our thinking still tends to see calling as more valid if the context is church, missionary or para-church work, and less valuable (although better paid) if it is elsewhere.
But this will not do. The biblical narrative is full of people who did all kinds of trades, professions and businesses. Men and women found themselves working out their lives in every conceivable context.
Suppose calling is eventually about how you do, rather than what you do? Suppose it is about integrity, adventure, faith and honesty whatever your job? Jesus seemed to be much more concerned about people following his way, using his truth and living his life than which particular profession they chose.
Perhaps we would enjoy our work more if we realised that having been called to faith, having been called to discharge our gifts and specialise, the best expression of being true to our calling are now about how we do our job. When the Spirit of God teaches you about the methods of the Son then love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control become the outcomes of your call whatever your day-to-day task.
God cares- but doesn’t seem to mind- whether you do one particular job over another. He does mind about how you do what you do. Keep taking His follow-up calls on how to keep going and the path will be more pleasant. Try to go your own way and ignore the joy He has set before you and you may get another type of call from upstairs. Either way it would be wise not to hang up. Putting God on hold is just a waste of a call.
John 14:5-7
5Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
6Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.
Galatians 5:22-24
22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25Since we live by the Spirit.
In preparation for the next GEOFFSHATTOCKweekly, do feel free to email us your thoughts to wtw@worktalk.gs or leave a comment on our Facebook or Twitter profile. You can also visit our YouTube channel - get inspired and share Worktalk's vision with others.
Work well
Geoff Shattock
© Copyright 2024 Geoff Shattock
All GEOFFSHATTOCKweekly archives are for personal use only. For permission to use for any other purposes please email using the address below thank you.
WORKTALK LEARNING
1 Washington Villas, Hythe Road, Marchwood, Southampton, Hampshire, SO40 4WT United Kingdom
T:+44 (0)23 8086 8543
http://www.geoffshattock.com
comms@worktalk.gs
