How do we discern and follow God’s call?

Last week we talked about how we found ourselves in our current jobs. Some of us picked our jobs because that’s what we are good at. Some of us picked our jobs because of what they would do for us (income, education, etc.). Some of us aren’t really sure how we got into our current job…it just fell into our laps. So how should we go about the process of figuring out where we should be, what we should do?

I think the way we look at “picking” a job changes significantly if we see work not as a choice or a career but as a “calling.” One serves us, the other serves God. And a calling from God certainly seems to limit the jobs that line up with His character.

Maybe we’re willing to do whatever God wants as long as it pays a certain salary. Maybe we’ll go wherever God leads after we make enough money to fund that next step or get enough education to enable it. Maybe we are content with starting a Bible study at a company that does unGodly work, justifying the things we do during the day so we can be a “light.”

As I have thought about this week’s question and discussed it with some of you, these scriptures have come to mind. I’m not 100% sure how they all intersect when it comes to discerning and following God’s call, but they should certainly inform our beliefs:

• Genesis 22:1-18 – God tells Abraham to sacrifice his only son, the son he has longed for and that was finally given to him when he was 100. Abraham is clear on the what and how of God’s calling, but the why was not clear at all (at the time of the call)…in fact, it seems to contradict God’s character.
• Matthew 14:22-33 – Peter walks on water out to Jesus. Peter initiated the call and Jesus responded, “Come.” The what and the why were clear (Peter just wanted to come to Jesus), but the how was not clear at all…there was absolutely no scientific explanation for the ability to walk on water and, as a fisherman, Peter had to know that the safest place in the middle of a storm was on a boat, not stepping out into the middle of the sea.
• John 10:1-18 – Jesus talks about the sheep following the shepherd when he calls out to them because “they know his voice.” He also says the sheep will run away from strangers because they do not recognize the stranger’s voice. There certainly seems to be a relationship between discerning the voice of the shepherd and the action of following.
• Matthew 25:14-30 – the parable of the talents. I’ve always been confused about whether it is just a coincidence that this ancient currency shares a name with our modern word for natural ability, but regardless, it seems to suggest we are to invest what God has given us for the purpose of bringing a return to Him.
• Romans 12:3-8 – last week, JB talked about verses 1-2, seeing ourselves as living sacrifices to God. Verses 3-8 go on to say that we have to humble ourselves, realizing we are members in a body, each being gifted uniquely and having an individual role to play for the sake of something bigger than ourselves.

So do you need to be 100% certain of the what of God’s call before you act? How important are the why or the how?

Are you actively working to discern the Good Shepherd’s voice? How? Is it possible that He will lead you into an unGodly job to be a light or to learn or make money to provide for your family or support your local church? Is it possible that God is/has been calling you out of your current job because the work that you do is not Godly?

How important is it to understand what your talents are and to find a job that utilizes them?

What changes when you realize God does not exist for your glory but you for His? How do you follow God’s call knowing that you are but a member of a larger body and you may just be the toenail?

Feel free to comment on one or more of these questions – we’re not in a rush. If we need to keep talking about how to follow His call for a few more weeks, we’ll do that.

Why did you choose your current job?

Hello all,
It has been a blessing to be a part of this online fellowship. Though I haven't contributed till now, I will assure you that the comments and discussion posted has intrigued many, reaching far past those visible on this blog.

Last week, Matt asked the question of how we can use creatively use business to do God's work. The story of Muhammad Yunus caught my eye that week as well. What a great living witness to our efforts here. To understand where he came from and what he has established for impoverished people throughout Bangladesh brings hope in my eyes to our efforts here.

The past few weeks we have discussed where we think we should be as Christian businessmen, as well as where we believe we can go (by Yunus' example). This week, I think it's important to discuss how we got here. As Christians, what inspired us to be where we are in the business world? Did we go directly into ministry in the traditional sense of the word? Or were we directed by what we can't seem to get a grasp on; the modern business/socio-economic culture that we were raised?

Last week, Matt brought up several points in which God seemed to directly appoint people to positions of servitude. Whether it be Adam tending the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:15) or Paul as a tentmaker (Acts 18:2-4), we get the sense that these men were commissioned by God to perform these duties to glorify Him.

How do we translate that to today? Surely, I wasn't commissioned by God to be an accountant. Somewhere along the way, I felt purpose to provide for my future and put God on the back burner for the time being. Surely if I could only get into a position of influence, I could then instill God's will through as a witness to His glory. But is that really His will? At what point did each of you "decide" where and what would you do? Did you take the ultimate glorification of God into consideration when doing so? Did it concern you at all that your job might not serve God's will? I know for myself, I created a very bifurcated world in which how I made my living, would greatly differ from how I lived. What makes us do this?

Paul sheds a little light on this topic in Romans 12:1-8. He first and foremost urges the Roman people to offer themselves as spiritual sacrifices to God in view of His mercy. I know I've discussed this with Matt and KC at great length. To fully submit to God's will, you must offer your body as a holy sacrifice to Him to prepare your mind for what His will would be. For instance, if you are an accountant but feel God is pulling you elsewhere, you must first offer yourself to Him COMPLETELY before you can, in sound mind, accept what His will is for you. If it was God's will for you to remain in a job that you didn't particularly like but was where God's will is fulfilled, would you be willing to stay there?

I apologize for the length of this post. It's quite easy to get carried away. Hopefully this will be a good point to discern where we've come from to more clearly see where we can go. It is my hope that each of us would take an honest look at our own life and ask ourselves if we are living sacrifices for God.

What are ways we can creatively use business to do God's work?

Last week, our discussion focused on one of the roles of work in Creation: to serve as a reflection of God's creativity. This week, I wonder if we can come up with some ideas as to how we can actually do this.

I saw an amazing example of this creativity at work last Thursday when Muhammad Yunus, an entrepreneur from Bangladesh, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for the success he has had in using business to pull people out of poverty.

Yunus got the idea when he saw 42 women struggling to live off of their meager wages so he loaned them $27 (yes, $0.64/each) to buy straw to start their own stool-making business. Soon after, Yunus started the Grameen Bank to offer these small loans (microcredit) to poor entrepreneurs in Bangladesh. (Link to the Washington Post article about Yunus and the Grameen Bank: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/13/AR2006101300211.html)

The Noble Committee's citation had some amazing quotes (link to full text: http://today.reuters.com/news/articleinvesting.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=2006-10-13T092143Z_01_L12831304_RTRIDST_0_NOBEL-PEACE-TEXT.XML) but the one that struck me most was: "Loans to poor people without any financial security had appeared to be an impossible idea..." And now: "Microcredit has proved to be an important liberating force in societies where women in particular have to struggle against repressive social and economic conditions."

This ought to be a quote we carry around with us for anyone who says Godly business is impossible. It appeared impossible but the Grameen Bank has successfully pulled thousands of people out of poverty and, by the way, it happens to be good business: the bank has 6.6 million customers and a 98% repayment rate.

I believe we have a responsibility as Christians to find ways to conduct business like this. But how?

It seems to me the first question we have to ask is "What is God's work?" Some answers to that might be serving the poor, caring for orphans and widows, and sharing the Gospel. Here are some examples of professions/jobs that seem to be Godly based on scripture:

1) Tending -- God has created some amazing systems that He asks us to tend. We can see this in Adam tending the Garden (Genesis 2:15), David tending his flock (1 Samuel 16:11), the Levites tending the tabernacle (Numbers 1:50-54), and Peter tending the Church (John 21:15-19).
2) Reaping -- the fishermen disciples (Matthew 4:18-20) simply reaped the bounty of God's creation.
3) Resolving -- We have created some real problems that now must be resolved. We can see an example of God commissioning Moses to resolve problems through Jethro in Exodus 18:19-23. The Bible also has countless passages encouraging us to serve the poor through work (Exodus 23:11; Leviticus 19:10, 23:22; Deuteronomy 15:11, 24:12-15; Proverbs 22; Luke 4:18, 14:13; etc.; etc.).
4) Teaching -- Moses was to teach the decrees and laws (Exodus 18:20), Belazel and Oholiab were to teach their skills in Exodus 35:34, and Aaron and the priests were called to teach in Leviticus 10:11.
5) Creating -- Both Jesus and Paul created goods, Jesus as a carpenter (Mark 6:3) and Paul as a tentmaker (Acts 18:2-4). God also commissioned "master craftsmen and designers" in Exodus 35:30-35.

I'm sure there are many more, so post them if you have them.

Now we have to realize that each of these can be done in a way that is not Godly. If we are not intentional about keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, we will create products that shouldn't exist, teach things that shouldn't be taught, and end up create more problems that need to be resolved.

So how do we do God's work in today's economy? I think we have to get creative.

Yunus was a finance guy -- he could have used his expertise to start a bank that offered traditional banking products like home equity loans to upper-middle class Americans. Instead, according to their website, "Grameen Bank has reversed conventional banking practice by removing the need for collateral and created a banking system based on mutual trust, accountability, participation and creativity."

An example of that creativity: "The Grameen Bank is based on the voluntary formation of small groups of five people to provide mutual, morally binding group guarantees in lieu of the collateral required by conventional banks. At first only two members of a group are allowed to apply for a loan. Depending on their performance in repayment the next two borrowers can then apply and, subsequently, the fifth member as well. The assumption is that if individual borrowers are given access to credit, they will be able to identify and engage in viable income-generating activities - simple processing such as paddy husking, lime-making, manufacturing such as pottery, weaving, and garment sewing, storage and marketing and transport services."

So what are ways you have or could creatively do God's work? How can we use business to serve the poor or protect/preserve the environment?

This isn't quite the philosophical discussion we've had over the past weeks (unless you want to chime in on the types of Godly work), but rather more of the practical application. Maybe it's starting a business like a coffee shop that uses the "community globalization" model discussed a couple of weeks ago to sell all fair-trade coffee and lift Guatemalan coffee farmers out of poverty. Maybe inventing something like a device that enables customers to recycle and reuse the plastic bags they get from the grocery store. Maybe it's getting your current employer to channel their expertise into the community to provide discounted or free products or services. What are some more ideas?


For more information on Yunus and the Grameen Bank:
http://www.grameenfoundation.org/welcome/muhammad_yunus/
http://www.grameen-info.org/

What is the purpose/role of work in Creation?

Our last discussion brought up a lot of interesting issues and generated some ideas that we will continue to explore in the weeks to come. But last week definitely has not been resolved. Just because we talked about local economies and communities already doesn't mean that line of thought has no role or no voice in all conversations both now and the ones to come. My hope is that we will continue to look back to where we have come from to help us shape where we are going.
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What is the purpose or role of work in Creation? All of us must work, but how do we make decisions about what are we to do? if we can't answer why must we do what we are to do?

The idea of work is firmly rooted in the creation account from Genesis.

Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."

So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.

God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground. (Genesis 1:26-28)

From Genesis 2:15, "The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it."

Is there a connection between being made in the image of God and the fact that God put us in the garden to 'work it and take care of it'? Is the fact that we are put in the garden to work a part of being made in the image of God?

In Genesis 3 we even see God curse the ground because Adam ate the fruit which God commanded them not to eat. The obvious connection here is that work will now be hard(er?) for man.

So what are we do to with these texts (and many others) in 2006? Reading the Bible Christologically (Christ-centered) how are we to discern what it means to work? What is good work? Is there bad work? Why did God create work in the first place? What might it mean for us that we are created in the image of God as we discern what work we are to do?

To make sure we remember our roots, I will again (get used to it!) quote from the lovable Wendell Berry:

"Good human work honors God's work. Good work uses no thing without respect, both for what it is in itself and for its origin. It uses neither tool nor material that it does not respect and that it does not love. It honors Nature as a great mystery and power, as an indispensable teacher, and as the inescapable judge of all work of human hands. It does not dissociate life and work, or pleasure and work, or love and work, or usefulness and beauty. To work without pleasure or affection, to make a product that is not both useful and beautiful, is to dishonor God, nature, the thing that is made, and whomever it is made for. This is blasphemy: to make shoddy work of the work of God. And such blasphemy is not possible so long as the entire Creation is understood as holy, and so long as the works of God are understood as embodying and so revealing God's spirit."
"Christianity and the Survival of Creation," from Sex, Economy, Freedom, and Community.