Proverbs 28.6
“Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity than a rich man who is crooked in his ways.”
Ephesians 4.1
“I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called.”
There is a primary calling of Christ, and there is secondary calling. The primary calling is to Him. The secondary calling is for Him. We must make sure that the primary calling leads without fail to the secondary calling.
There are two mistakes to be avoided.
The first mistake is a spiritualized form of dualism that elevates the “spiritual” at the expense of the “physical.” This error emphasizes the primary calling and de-emphasizes the secondary calling. It operates from the belief that being saved is the only thing that really matters, and doing your daily job is simply not a priority. Working is necessary in order to put food on the table, but it is not a point of focus, and not really part of God’s kingdom plan.
Having integrity means fully embracing our daily work as integral to the call of Christ.
Martin Luther spoke out strongly against the tendency to de-emphasize daily work. “The works of monks and priests, however holy and arduous they be, do not differ one whit in the sight of God from the works of the rustic laborer in the field or the woman going about her household tasks, but that all works are measured before God by faith alone. . . . Indeed, the menial housework of a manservant or maidservant is often more acceptable to God than all the fastings and other works of a monk or priest, because the monk or priest lacks faith.”
The second mistake is a secularized form of dualism that elevates the “physical” at the expense of the “spiritual.” This error emphasizes the secondary calling and de-emphasizes the primary calling. It separates daily work from faith in Christ. It severs work from faith altogether. With this error, work itself becomes the calling, and people do daily work with no consideration for the principles and standards and disciplines of the kingdom of God.
The secularization of calling is revealed in how the word vocation has changed over the years. “Vocation” is actually the Latin word for “calling,” and originally it had a deeply spiritual meaning. It referred to the work someone did as called by God. Today, however, it is simply used to describe work with no connection to God. In other words, slowly but surely secondary callings swallowed up the primary calling.
The result is that many people go to work every day, but they have forgotten why and for Whom.
The reality is that there can be no real vocation or calling without a Caller. First God calls us to Himself, and then He calls us into the world. We must keep the primary calling just that — primary. Only then can we truly understand and respond to our secondary calling. We must do our jobs and pursue excellence in our daily work because we are working for the Audience of One.
“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.” (Colossians 3.23-24)
The great British army officer General Charles Gordon was a man who responded to God’s call. A friend once described Gordon this way: “What at once and always struck me was the way in which his oneness with God ruled all his actions and his mode of seeing things. I never knew one who seemed so much to ‘endure as seeing Him who is invisible.’” Gordon, the friend concluded, seemed “to live with God, and for God.”
May this be what our friends say about us when they observe our lives and our daily work.
