What Is A "Calling"?
Ask Me Anything
Week 19: What Is A “Calling”?
How can I decipher what God is telling me/calling me to do?
Can a person be happy doing something that God didn’t “call” them to do? Who is anyone to claim that someone’s happiness isn’t real?
A person's calling is deeply personal. Right now, calling in terms of vocational calling is a hot topic. Throughout COVID, many people have realized that their job or path was not serving them, including myself. It seems like churches spend a lot of time talking about finding your "calling." That language seems to center around finding a religious calling, but is also used to talk about jobs. Before we really dive in, I think there are some really crucial things to lay out. First, we are existing in a western, capitalistic culture that is highly centered around work. For many people there are barriers around their "dream job" or they may be limited in what they are able to attain. Race, gender, class, culture, orientation, ability, and other identities are met with unjust barriers to employment. Second, among the millennial and Gen Z generations, there is an increase in people choosing vocation, or a job that ties with passion. Both of these things are important to keep in mind. Because of this, I want us to talk about calling in a few different ways. What does someone's calling mean both in regards to, and regardless of employment? Where is the overlap between the two?
It is limiting to equate a calling to a job. I recently had a conversation with a woman who goes to church here. I asked her if she felt like she had a call, and she said no. She entered the work force in the 1970s which was an incredibly limited time for women. You could either be a nurse, teacher, flight attendant or secretary and that was about it. She didn’t feel called to be a teacher, but it is what was available to her. So for her, calling was not her job. She found joy in that, and in being a stay at home mom, but it wasn't like God came to her and proclaimed she should be a teacher. She had limited options. That is true of so many people. So when we think of calling as a job, we discount people who are unable to work, who have limited means or choices, those with little access to education or resources, those who work multiple minimum wage jobs to make ends meet. I would love to live in a world where all people were able to live out their days doing something they love, but it isn’t the reality. My younger brother has developmental disabilities and will never be able to hold a full time job, let alone a job that truly brings him joy. But that doesn't mean Michael doesn’t have a calling. Therefore, I think it's valuable to have a broader vision of calling outside of paying jobs.
With that being said, it is increasingly common our generations to take jobs that align with our passions. That is a wonderful thing, especially since most of our time is at work. There is definitely room for overlap between calling and vocation. For my own calling, I have had the experience of jobs that have aligned with my calling, and jobs that haven't. Each job has made me realize and discern more clearly, and hopefully will continue to do so. But I wouldn't say that any one of those jobs has been my specific all-encompassing calling. My call would be larger picture values such as to teach, talk about justice, ethics and theology. I've worked as a camp counselor and director, after school teacher, Communications Specialist, and now Director of the Neighborhood. This job is my dream in so many ways because I am able to do all of the things I love, and be paid for it. Which is such a privilege. I also recognize that I get to do this because of powerful people who have stood before me and paved the way for me to be leading in a church space. Women make up less than 1% church leadership worldwide. Not to mention being a queer woman. As I have been in the process of coming out, I have recognized that it is incredible I can lead in this space and be supported and affirmed in the work that I am doing. Many women called to ministry have their call delegitimized. So many people are able to hold positions and jobs today that they couldn't even 15-20 years ago. That doesn't mean there isn’t still work to do, but I can’t help feel in awe when I think about the work I am able to do here. Even still, my call is larger than this specific job.
Now that we've talking about calls vs. jobs, I want to talk about Moses's call, and what this story can teach us about how God calls each of us. There are so many call stories in scripture. In those stories we see that identity plays a crucial piece. God calls people who are criminals, marginalized, poor, or uneducated. These key characters are called to leave what they were previously doing and go partner with God's work. Moses was born in Egypt, as an Israelite slave and sentenced to death. Pharoah had ordered all of the Israelite babies to be killed. As the story goes, Moses was placed by his mother and sister into a basket in the Nile river. His sister followed the basket to make sure he stayed safe, and he was found by Pharaoh's daughter. Moses's sister offered to care for the baby until he was weaned and took Moses back home until he was a few years old. He was then raised as Egyptian royalty. When he is older, he witnesses an Egyptian guard beating a slave, and kills the guard. A few days later, after another confrontation, he flees Egypt and winds up in the wilderness. He meets a man named Jethro, and marries his daughter Zipporah. This story in Exodus 3 picks up decades later, when he is watching Jethro's flock in the desert. The Women's Bible Commentary discusses how throughout Moses's story, his ethnic identity is important. Moses was Hebrew by birth, but socialized as an Egyptian, so it is likely that he passed as Egyptian but may have had ethnic characteristics of both. I think this is important to note Moses's ability to identify with both communities and in noting the specific set of struggles that comes with being a person who can identify with multiple ethnicities.
Exodus 3:1-16 (NIV)
Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”
When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.” “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”
Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God. The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering.
So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.
And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.” But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”
And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you[b] will worship God on this mountain.” Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”
God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’
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God called Moses, because they wanted the justice work to be done by the community. Moses questioned his ability, and later goes on to talk with God about how he can’t do what God has asked.
Exodus 4:10-17 (NIV)
Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.” The Lord said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord?
Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.” But Moses said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.” Then the Lord’s anger burned against Moses and he said, “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well.
He is already on his way to meet you, and he will be glad to see you. You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him."
Several things stick out to me about this story:
God got Moses's attention. Seeing a bush on fire, would've been pretty normal in the desert. The thing that caught his attention, is that it kept burning. God captured Moses's attention in something that would've been fairly mundane. That's where God spoke. All of the stories I have heard about discovering a call, has been slow and mundane, with moments of divine revelation sprinkled throughout. In my experience and hearing the stories of others, it is like a tug in a specific direction, or a voice in the back of your head urging you towards something. Those moments of inspiration can drive us in a specific direction, but it may shift, and that's okay too.
Moses had spent 40 years away from Egypt. Meaning he was pushing 80 when this happened. Moses lived decades of life. I don’t want this to be a frustrating thing of "your young and you won't know" but a permission to not have it figured out. Moses lived for decades thinking his life was going in one direction. It is okay for plans to change, and it is okay to not have it figured out. Some people might have specific career goals or a 5-10 year plan mapped out, and some may not. That is OKAY. We place so much pressure on a specific career, major, or plan. Our call may not be tied to a job. Or it may be tied to several jobs. It may take switching majors, or changing jobs 1,000 times. The key is to have the intuition and ability to check in with yourself and ask how that path is fitting for you. It may fit one year, and not the next. There is no pressure to have it figured out.
Moses's identity and abilities were important and recognized to God. According to scripture, it seems that Moses likely had a speech impediment or just hated public speaking. So Aaron, came alongside Moses in his call. God also used the fact that Moses was both Hebrew and Egyptian. Our identity and abilities play an important part in our call.
God calls us to partner in justice work. We partner with God to do work. Liberation theology, which is a theology that believes God is the God of the oppressed, believes that we are to partner with God to bring about liberation. If we are thinking along those lines, I would say our call is how our passions partner with God to bring about liberation and goodness while we are on this earth. I think that jobs can fit into that, but they may not. I believe that God calls us to a big picture, and our passions, identities and desires partner with God's work to bring about a better world.
How can we decipher what God is calling us to do?
This takes evaluation and stillness. We likely won't have a mind blowing revelation. This is a long-haul process of asking ourselves questions about how a position, major or path makes us feel. Is it something we need to do, or is it something we could just as easily do without? What is the thing you can't not do, or can’t avoid no matter how hard you try? We don’t have to have it all figured out, it's more a matter of taking the time to discern and evaluate the next step along the way.
Can a person be happy doing something that God didn’t “call” them to do? Who is anyone to claim that someone’s happiness isn’t real?
I don't believe God would call us into things that would harm ourselves or others. With that being said, I think that there is an infinite number of things that God could call us to, but I don’t think it would be to something that would make us unhappy. I'm of the belief that God wants everyone to thrive, therefore I think our calling should bring joy. Sometimes the best sign that we aren't doing something we are called to is because we are miserable. Think about changing your major or quitting a job that made you miserable. That probably wasn't your calling. We may be pulled towards things that challenge or intimidate us, but I don’t believe God would call us into something that would truly make us miserable. People can play a crucial role in discernment, but I think a major issue is that people have limited each other's opportunities for too long. Like men telling women they can't be pastors. I don't think it is for anybody else to definitively say what any one person's call is. There will hopefully be key people such as parents, family, friends, mentors, employers, who will help you better identify that call.
Discussion Questions:
What is something that makes you happy, makes you feel alive, or is something you are good at?
Have you had previous conceptions of what your calling is? Or do you currently have a conception? Did this discussion change or reinforce that belief in any way?
Have you ever been drained by something you felt was your calling? Did that affect your belief of what your calling was?