Ask what a person’s favorite holiday is, and chances are “Labor Day” won’t come up. However, as Christians, Labor Day should cause us to ponder on the sacredness of work, or vocation. What’s your doctrine of vocation? The word vocation is a Latin term which means “calling”. 1 Corinthians 7:17 says, “Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him.” While Paul was addressing the issue of singleness in this passage, the underlying principle can be applied to various contexts, especially with vocation: God has “assigned” providentially where a person is in life and “calls” each Christian to that assignment.
Now how does that play out practically? I think Martin Luther, the Protestant reformer and pastor, can help here. He has written that every Christian has multiple vocations. He lumped these multiple vocations into four “estates”, or arenas in your life where God has placed you. They are: the church, the household (includes both family and your employment that brings income into the family), the state, and the cultural community (he called this the place where “the common order of Christian love” is displayed). So, God has called the Christian (who has responded to God’s call to repent and believe in the gospel) to a vocational role in the local church (whether as member or pastoral position), as a member of your family (whether parent or child), as an informed participatory citizen (whether as subject or governing authority), and as an ambassador of Christ in word and deed wherever God places you in the day (whether it be at Walmart or at the mailbox in your neighborhood). Do you see that vocation doesn’t juse refer to your “job”?
And do you notice that “calling is not just related to someone feeling led to full-time ministry? There is no “sacred” and “secular” distinction when it comes to vocation. All are sacred to be done for His glory in God’s eyes.
Furthermore, as Christians, God has placed you where you are, not only for the common God done for His glory, but to speak the gospel to those around you, from the workplace to the home. Vocation is a God-ordained sphere for evangelism. It’s no wonder that missionaries today are finding that setting up a solid business in a country is helfpul in gaining a footing to speaking the gospel with someone.
So again, what’s your doctrine of vocation? May God give us the grace to do all for His glory, and for opportunities to speak the gospel.
