You Are Called To New Work
You Are Called To New Work
You Are Called To New Work
You Are Called To New Work
Whether you are looking for a new job or not, God is calling you to new work. This is as true for the experienced executive as it is for those just starting full time work.
You are called to new work. Executives and educators, managers and masons, builders and biotechnologists, salespeople and sommeliers, career coaches and custodians, doctors and dog groomers, attorneys and assistants, politicians and pastors — we are all called to new work.
We all have the opportunity to do new work every day. Many of us miss our opportunity for new work because we confuse our calling, vocation, and our job. Timothy Butler, author and Harvard’s senior adviser to its Career and Professional Development, clarifies the difference between calling, vocation, and job this way.
“There are three words that tend to be used interchangeably-and shouldn’t be. They are ‘vocation,’ ‘career,’ and ‘job.’ Vocation is the most profound of the three, and it has to do with your calling. It’s what you’re doing in life that makes a difference for you, that builds meaning for you, that you can look back on in your later years to see the impact you’ve made on the world. A calling is something you have to listen for. You don’t hear it once and then immediately recognize it. You’ve got to attune yourself to the message.
Career is the term you hear most often today. A career is a line of work. You can say that your career is to be a lawyer or a securities analyst-but usually it’s not the same as your calling. You can have different careers at different points in your life.
A job is the most specific and immediate of the three terms. It has to do with who’s employing you at the moment and what your job description is for the next 6 months or so.”
Hugh Whelchel in his book, How Then Should We Work states, “The Christian community today has difficulty understanding the differences between vocation, career, and job.” Welchel clarifies for us that vocation comes from the Latin verb vocare, which means ‘to call,’ and explains “The definition suggests that a person listens for something which calls.”
Welchel also gives us the root word for career, which is a medieval Latin noun carraria, which means ‘a road for vehicles.’ A career is how to think about your path in a specific occupation which is not the same as calling. A calling or vocation can be done across all occupations and jobs which are much more temporary.
You see, whether you are looking for a new job or not, God is calling you to new work. This is as true for the experienced executive as it is for those just starting full time work.
The Call
Jesus is always making everything new, and He calls us to do the same. In the Gospel of John, Jesus calls His followers in a three stage command by first saying, “What do you want”, then “Come and you will see,” and finally, “Follow me.”
Jesus’ call on someone's life is never partial, limited, or fragmented. The call of Jesus demands total obedience and produces completely new life and work. To this end, Paul, in his second letter to the Corinthians, wrote,
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” – 2 Corinthians 5:17
Made New For New Work
In the Gospel of Matthew we see that the call (vocation) to some of Jesus’ first followers changes their occupation and job immediately.
“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed him. – Matthew 4:19
Of course, everyone does not need to change careers or jobs to fulfill their calling. If we love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and love our neighbor as ourselves, (Mark 12:30-31), we can’t help but to do new work.
Go and Do Likewise
Jesus is a reconciler of all things (Colossians 1:20) and is making everything new (Revelation 21:5). Jesus tells His followers the same things over and over, and He says them in different ways so we can understand. Here are some of the ways He commands us to follow Him and do the same work He did.
Do New Work Now
You might be thinking, “how is doing this new work practical in my current job or even in a new job? Thankfully, God has shown us His grand design for our work through the example of Jesus — practically revealing how to follow Him in our daily work.
Jesus often blessed people and met their physical and psychological needs before meeting their spiritual needs. He was a carpenter before He was a rabbi. He healed lame, the blind, the deaf, and those with deep mental and emotional burdens. Jesus modeled excellent work and blessed people by meeting their presenting needs before fully revealing Himself as their Savior.
We can follow the same pattern in our work as we follow Jesus and work to make all things new.
Excellent work — means to do our very best. We aim for our work to be high quality and error free, whether we are creating something or communicating something. We seek to be effective and efficient in tasks and in our leadership. The goal of our work is to focus on the customer, so we ask how we are doing and appreciate feedback. We are not satisfied with the status quo; so we adapt and innovate, continuously learning so we can improve all that we do.
Blesses others — means our work improves the lives of those we serve. This includes not only customers but also fellow coworkers, employees, vendors, board members, investors, bosses, and even our neighbors in the communities where we work. We serve all people we come in contact with at work to over-deliver and give them what they need. To put it simply, work that blesses others confirms their dignity and value as a person and leaves them with more peace, hope, joy and assurance.
Leads to Jesus — means we serve others to the best of our abilities with excellent work that blesses them. As we let the people at our work know they matter, the door is opened for much more. When we commit to making the lives of others better, we find opportunities for meaningful relationships become clear. People we are serving will start to ask questions, they will start to wonder why we care about them so much, they will ask why we have so much hope (1 Peter 3:15) and they will want to know how they can have the same joy.
You see, when we do our work in the name of Jesus (Colossians 3:17) people can’t help but feel loved and cared for. People want to know our source of faith, hope, and love. All people need to know Jesus!
Resources
Article: A Good Job For Life
Article: Ask, “What is God Up To? And How Does This Inform My Life And Work?”
Article: Timothy Butlers, Is Your Job Your Calling?
Book: Timothy Butlers, Getting Unstuck: A Guide to Discovering Your Next Career Path
Book: Hugh Welchel, How Then Should We Work?
Book: Os Guinness, The Call
You are called to new work. Executives and educators, managers and masons, builders and biotechnologists, salespeople and sommeliers, career coaches and custodians, doctors and dog groomers, attorneys and assistants, politicians and pastors — we are all called to new work.
We all have the opportunity to do new work every day. Many of us miss our opportunity for new work because we confuse our calling, vocation, and our job. Timothy Butler, author and Harvard’s senior adviser to its Career and Professional Development, clarifies the difference between calling, vocation, and job this way.
“There are three words that tend to be used interchangeably-and shouldn’t be. They are ‘vocation,’ ‘career,’ and ‘job.’ Vocation is the most profound of the three, and it has to do with your calling. It’s what you’re doing in life that makes a difference for you, that builds meaning for you, that you can look back on in your later years to see the impact you’ve made on the world. A calling is something you have to listen for. You don’t hear it once and then immediately recognize it. You’ve got to attune yourself to the message.
Career is the term you hear most often today. A career is a line of work. You can say that your career is to be a lawyer or a securities analyst-but usually it’s not the same as your calling. You can have different careers at different points in your life.
A job is the most specific and immediate of the three terms. It has to do with who’s employing you at the moment and what your job description is for the next 6 months or so.”
Hugh Whelchel in his book, How Then Should We Work states, “The Christian community today has difficulty understanding the differences between vocation, career, and job.” Welchel clarifies for us that vocation comes from the Latin verb vocare, which means ‘to call,’ and explains “The definition suggests that a person listens for something which calls.”
Welchel also gives us the root word for career, which is a medieval Latin noun carraria, which means ‘a road for vehicles.’ A career is how to think about your path in a specific occupation which is not the same as calling. A calling or vocation can be done across all occupations and jobs which are much more temporary.
You see, whether you are looking for a new job or not, God is calling you to new work. This is as true for the experienced executive as it is for those just starting full time work.
The Call
Jesus is always making everything new, and He calls us to do the same. In the Gospel of John, Jesus calls His followers in a three stage command by first saying, “What do you want”, then “Come and you will see,” and finally, “Follow me.”
Jesus’ call on someone's life is never partial, limited, or fragmented. The call of Jesus demands total obedience and produces completely new life and work. To this end, Paul, in his second letter to the Corinthians, wrote,
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” – 2 Corinthians 5:17
Made New For New Work
In the Gospel of Matthew we see that the call (vocation) to some of Jesus’ first followers changes their occupation and job immediately.
“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed him. – Matthew 4:19
Of course, everyone does not need to change careers or jobs to fulfill their calling. If we love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and love our neighbor as ourselves, (Mark 12:30-31), we can’t help but to do new work.
Go and Do Likewise
Jesus is a reconciler of all things (Colossians 1:20) and is making everything new (Revelation 21:5). Jesus tells His followers the same things over and over, and He says them in different ways so we can understand. Here are some of the ways He commands us to follow Him and do the same work He did.
Do New Work Now
You might be thinking, “how is doing this new work practical in my current job or even in a new job? Thankfully, God has shown us His grand design for our work through the example of Jesus — practically revealing how to follow Him in our daily work.
Jesus often blessed people and met their physical and psychological needs before meeting their spiritual needs. He was a carpenter before He was a rabbi. He healed lame, the blind, the deaf, and those with deep mental and emotional burdens. Jesus modeled excellent work and blessed people by meeting their presenting needs before fully revealing Himself as their Savior.
We can follow the same pattern in our work as we follow Jesus and work to make all things new.
Excellent work — means to do our very best. We aim for our work to be high quality and error free, whether we are creating something or communicating something. We seek to be effective and efficient in tasks and in our leadership. The goal of our work is to focus on the customer, so we ask how we are doing and appreciate feedback. We are not satisfied with the status quo; so we adapt and innovate, continuously learning so we can improve all that we do.
Blesses others — means our work improves the lives of those we serve. This includes not only customers but also fellow coworkers, employees, vendors, board members, investors, bosses, and even our neighbors in the communities where we work. We serve all people we come in contact with at work to over-deliver and give them what they need. To put it simply, work that blesses others confirms their dignity and value as a person and leaves them with more peace, hope, joy and assurance.
Leads to Jesus — means we serve others to the best of our abilities with excellent work that blesses them. As we let the people at our work know they matter, the door is opened for much more. When we commit to making the lives of others better, we find opportunities for meaningful relationships become clear. People we are serving will start to ask questions, they will start to wonder why we care about them so much, they will ask why we have so much hope (1 Peter 3:15) and they will want to know how they can have the same joy.
You see, when we do our work in the name of Jesus (Colossians 3:17) people can’t help but feel loved and cared for. People want to know our source of faith, hope, and love. All people need to know Jesus!
Resources
Article: A Good Job For Life
Article: Ask, “What is God Up To? And How Does This Inform My Life And Work?”
Article: Timothy Butlers, Is Your Job Your Calling?
Book: Timothy Butlers, Getting Unstuck: A Guide to Discovering Your Next Career Path
Book: Hugh Welchel, How Then Should We Work?
Book: Os Guinness, The Call