Abstract
This short article argues from the unique text in Mark 3.13–15 that all Christian vocation is about being called by Jesus to ‘be with him’ and to ‘be sent out by him’, so is about who God has called us to be as well as what God has called us to do (or to give up doing). It also draws on the Baptismal Liturgy of the Scottish Episcopal Church and the Methodist Covenant Prayer.
In the Church ‘vocation’ is a word that is often seen as being about being called to do something specific, often to offer oneself for ordained ministry. And this is part of what is meant by ‘vocation’. The Church certainly does need more people to offer themselves to be clergy. But if we only view vocation in this way, we go astray, for it is about very much more and we must rediscover a broader understanding of vocation. One way we can do this is by looking at the difficult (certainly unique) text in Mark 3.13–15, where Jesus calls (the root meaning of the word ‘vocation’) the twelve ‘to be with him and to be sent out to preach’. This suggests that vocation/calling has two aspects to it – the relationship with Christ (being ‘with him’) and doing something on his behalf (being ‘sent out’ by him).
This is reflected in the Baptismal liturgy of the Scottish Episcopal Church. In the ‘Commitment to Christian Life’, the candidates are asked if they will ‘continue in the Apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and in the prayers’, and if they will ‘proclaim the good news by word and deed, serving Christ in all people’, and ‘work for justice and peace, honouring God in all creation’. Ways of understanding the questions is that the first is about ‘being with Jesus and that the second and third are about being sent out by Christ into the world to do whatever he calls us to do. The vocation of each Christian (not just clergy) is to precisely these things, to be with Jesus and to be sent out by him, in terms of Mark 3.13–15.
If vocation is about who God has called us to be as much as about what God has called us to do, then the starting point for thinking about vocation lies precisely in who God has made us to be, before we think about what it is that God has called us to do. Discovering who it is that God has called us to be is not an easy task. It can take a long time to discover – and then to accept – how it is that God has made us. We are all unique. Personality Type Indicators are a part of that journey of self-discovery, but only as tools. The test has to be undertaken as honestly as possible. I can remember, as an ordinand in the late 1980s, doing the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, but feeling pressured to be seen as an extrovert and, as someone who was already sensing that he was an introvert, to ‘massage’ the answers.
These days people are more sensitive to the fact that no combination of the Indicators is ‘better’ than any other. By and large a person’s combination is how they have been made, so is God-given, to be accepted and rejoiced in, not looked down on. I am ISTJ (Introvert–Sensing–Thinking–Judging, but have had to work hard to accept myself as being so, particularly when I have ‘feelers’ criticizing me for being a ‘thinker’.
Of course, once we know what our fundamental character is, we then need to learn how to use it. There are times when I have to extrovert myself for the sake of others and for the sake of God.
When we come to thinking about what it is that God has called us to do then, once again, we need to take a broad view of things. A ‘vocation’ does not necessarily need be to something Churchy. It can as equally be ‘world-focused’. Anything that is not actually sinful can be vocational. Further, it is true that all of us have numerous vocations, in the various aspects of our lives. It is not just about a ‘job’. To be a spouse, to be a parent or a child, is a vocation. Sometimes, one or more of our vocations enliven and fulfil us, but equally we may have vocations imposed upon us, for example if we suddenly find we have to become the carer for an elderly relative. Sometimes, we can start to do something – a new job, say – and then discover in the doing of it a very real sense that it is what God has called us to do, even though we did not initially sense it. Equally, a calling to do something can come from within or from something external – it can come from an inner feeling or from noticing an advert for someone to do something.
Finally, I have become convinced that vocation is not always about ‘taking things on’. It can also be about giving things up. Sometimes we have to shed things in order to take on new things, but there are also occasions when we are led to give things up without ‘new’ things to take on. That’s a hard aspect of vocation! It emphasizes again the ‘being with Jesus’ from Mark 3.13–15.
This demonstrates that at the heart of vocation is not calling, but obedience. It is not what we do or don’t do per se. It is about discerning what we are called to do or not do (alongside who we are called to be) and then obeying that call. No vocation is any more exalted than any other. There is no ‘hierarchy of vocations’.
For me, alongside the ‘Commitment to Christian Life’, a key resource for understanding vocation(s) is the Covenant Prayer, now often used in Anglican as well as Methodist churches at New Year or in early January: Christ has many services to be done: some are easy, others are difficult; some bring honour, others bring reproach; some are suitable to our natural inclinations and material interests, others are contrary to both; in some we may please Christ and please ourselves; in others we cannot please Christ except by denying ourselves. Yet the power to do all these things is given to us in Christ, who strengthens us. … we take upon ourselves with joy the yoke of obedience and, for love of you, engage ourselves to seek and do your perfect will. We are no longer our own, but yours.