God is calling you to a life of deeper purpose, community, and hope. Will you hear and respond to his call?
Paul called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes, To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours. . . God is faithful; by him, you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
The doctrine of calling or vocation is both theologically essential and practically transformational. It can give us a whole new way of living. The fact is that God is calling you to a life of deeper purpose, community, and hope. Will you hear and respond to His call?
We’ll begin our investigation of Paul’s understanding of calling by focusing on the first chapter of 1 Corinthians. In the opening verses, we learn that: 1) Paul is “called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God” (1:1); 2) the Corinthian Christians are “called to be saints” (1:2); and 3) they were also “called into the fellowship of [God’s] Son, Jesus Christ our Lord” (1:9). That’s a lot of calling in just a few verses!
Paul’s emphasis on calling reminds us that it is a crucial theological idea, one that deserves our close attention. But calling isn’t one of those speculative notions that keep theologians busy but has little to say to ordinary Christians. On the contrary, the doctrine of calling is one of the most relevant and transformational of Christian truths. It’s something we all need to understand more deeply, whether we’re theologians or teachers, attorneys or assistants, pastors or presidents, millennials or third thirds.
One reason we need to study the idea of calling – often referred to as vocation – is that what we find in Scripture is strikingly different from the way calling/vocation is talked about in our culture. The Bible knows nothing of the equation we often make between vocation and occupation. My calling may or may not overlap with my job, but they aren’t the same thing according to Scripture. Moreover, my calling, from a biblical point of view, is not necessarily something that aligns perfectly with my personal passion. I don’t discover my true vocation only by paying attention to my own longings, desires, and delights, though these are surely relevant. Paying attention to what Scripture says about calling will correct common misconceptions and open us up to a fresh experience of God’s grace in our lives.
let me encourage you to reflect on your own sense of calling, whatever that may be.
Would you say you have a sense of calling in life?
If so, what is it? Where did you get it? How does your sense of calling make a tangible difference in the way you live?
If you don’t have a sense of calling today, has that always been true in your life?
How do you feel about the idea that you might have a calling from God?
Talk with a wise friend or your small group about calling. What do you learn about calling/vocation from listening to others to their ideas and experiences?
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