Tim Otto’s video Thoughts
on Christian Vocation calls into question the church’s understanding of
vocation in the same way Gary Friesen’s Decision
Making and the will of God did in the 1980s. I suspect Otto’s points, also
preceded by Quentin Schultze’s Here I Am: Now What on Earth Should I Be Doing? will fall on deaf ears as the earlier attempts
appear to have done. All these works require a paradigm shift.
Concern about vocation is evidence
in that people desire to find meaning and significance in their labor. People
are seeking their “calling”. Yet, in scripture we are “called” to follow
Christ, to find our meaning and significance and hope primarily in Christ; not
in our labor. Faithfully following Christ is every Christian’s vocation which
is worked out through one’s occupation or in Schultze’s station in life.
This understanding of vocation
opens up opportunities. Living our shared vocation together involves a shared
commitment to foster faithful Christ following by the entire community. It is
the community’s responsibility to assist a person in identifying and validating
each person’s gifts. It provides a context for wrestling with questions about
which occupations would allow one to faithfully utilize their gifts; to
faithfully labor in light of who they are in Christ.
This approach anchors our
understanding of vocation in the gospel; our calling is to faithful Christ
following. Our shared vocation is then worked out in and through various
occupations where one’s gifts and talents are seen as gifts to one’s employer.
