All of life is worship. This is something that true regardless of one’s religious affiliation or faith commitment. Whatever is thought about the most, whatever is worried about the most, and whatever costs the most time is what is worshipped. When one becomes a Christ follower, then those things that were once worshipped are unseated by the Savior. On the seat of one’s heart, Jesus unseats the idols of money, food, power, and even career. A transformation takes place changing those things form areas of worship, to areas of grace.
As a Christ follower, my career can no longer be just what I do for a living. Jesus turns my job into a vocation. This vocation has meaning because it is God’s calling for me to engage in work to build His kingdom. No matter what job I may have, my career is my calling. As Dr. Flynn points out in his lecture, vocational calling breaks down the secular / sacred wall. My job, in the secular world, is utterly sacred. This is because I, as a Christ follower, bring the Holy Spirit with me to work.
My vocations have taken many twists and turns over the years. I started out as a direct care assistant for 4 elderly developmentally delayed gentlemen. I then entered the retail world managing a store in a mall. After that, I entered the healthcare field starting out as a Nurse Assistant and then becoming an RN in a drug and alcohol detox. Finally, I entered the technology world and have been working in that area for 18 years. Each of my career stops were vocational calls upon my life. I didn’t always know it. I didn’t always like it (especially retail during Christmas time). However, that does not diminish the fact that God called me to these workplaces in order to be light and salt.
The 7 mountain revelation as interpreted by Bill Johnson in his contribution to Invading Babylon: The 7 Mountain Mandate, specifies that Christians are to permeate the areas of business, education, church, family, arts & entertainment, and science & medicine.[1] My career has taken me to 2 of these areas. When I was a nurse, my vocation as a Christ follower was pretty easy to discern. My caring for people who were in need had a direct correlation to Jesus work in caring for the sick. However, when I entered the world of technology and software, I was and still am challenged.
Entering the world of software and technology, I am surrounded by a very secular world. I work in an environment that can be hostile to Biblical values and to people of faith. Speaking up on matters of human sexuality and lifestyle has the potential for job termination. As Johnson continues in his section of the book, jobs are more than just making money. It is about being excellent at work and being Christ in an environment that needs to hear and see hope.[2]
The enemy would have us worship our work. but Jesus calls us to vocation which is a call to worship at work. As Dr. Flynn further points out, we have a cultural mandate from God to provide redemption to areas of life that are devoid of the Gospel. My workplace is the kind of place Jesus would visit. It is a hostile environment, held by the enemy, and ripe for the spiritually transformational power of grace.
[1] Lance Wallnau, Invading Babylon: The 7 Mountain Mandate (Shippensburg: Destiny Image, Inc., 2013), 28.
[2] Ibid, 31.
The Wandering Wesleyan 