toward simplicity

calling

another way of talking about it is the word vocation

mostly people think of their work as their vocation

but it isn’t necessarily

the root voca comes from the latin vocare

it’s the root for voice and vocal

it is, in essence, our calling

so many of us wonder about our calling in life

some people think the proverb “train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it” is talking about helping a child to find their calling.

how is it that so many people are confused, or down right clueless about their calling?  i mean don’t most people seem to just pick a career essentially at random, thinking they might be good at it.  some people get help from a high school counselor, others from aptitude tests…

why do kids change their college major an average of three times in their college career?

why does the average worker change careers seven times?

i mean, think about it

you work for what 45 years and change careers seven times?

that’s a career change every 6.5 years!

it just doesn’t sound like we know what our calling is!

i think about my dad.  he stayed in his career for a long time… but i’m not sure he’d found his calling!

so how do we really find our calling?

Paul says i am “of God’s making, created in union with the Messiah Yeshua for a life of good actions already prepared by God for us to do.”

now some will say that these good works are just general good works that all christians are to perform…

but when you think about this…

“The word of the Lord came to me, saying, ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.’”

it sounds like “good actions” were specifically designed for this specific individual to live into…

is this only for Jeremiah?

or is it for each of us?

well

i have to believe that Paul would say “yes, it is for each of you”

so, assuming this is true…

then each and every one of us was intentionally designed for a unique purpose!

if so, then finding our purpose

our calling

is a function of discovering how we’re designed

our design is essentially who we are

thus

calling flows from our identity

which in turn flows from intimate relationship with Father

when we know God as he wants us to know him

then we learn who we really are

and we discover more profoundly how we’re made

how we’re made reveals to us what our purpose is

it really is that simple

alone, there remains much doubt

however, in a community that is itself being shaped by who i am and how i was made

we gain a confidence born of affirmation from those who are also intimate with our Father

fulfillment is coming

community

for the sake of this discussion, community will mean a group of people with whom you have more than mere cursory relationship… from your spouse to your good friends.

my belief is that while the diagram i shared in the first post of this series may lead one to believe that my identity will determine the who of my community… i’m convinced it is  more the character and quality of my community that is affected.

Jesus said “no one can come to me unless my Father draws them”

the who of Jesus’ community was not determined by his identity, it was determined by Father.  i believe this is true for us as well when we are in intimate relationship with Father as Jesus was.

the character and quality of his community was undeniably and irrevocably defined by his knowledge of and confidence in his own identity.

the same is true of any community, it is defined by the people who comprise it.

therefore, if our own identity is primarily defined by intimacy with God, and in the same way our community is defined in part by our participation in it… doesn’t it follow that said community would express some of the unique character of God present in you and me?

seems like a no-brainer…

but think about this

each and every individual in the community to which i belong also belongs to a community.  the community of which they are a part is not the same as the one to which i belong.  so, the ways in which i define my community has influence that reaches beyond my immediate circle of relationship!

it was true for Jesus and it is true for each and every one of his siblings

my intimacy with Father, merely because it exists, has the potential to draw my community, and indeed the world into deeper fellowship with Father.

that this is true is undeniable and in fact not very profound or original!  however, it would seem to be poorly understood.  it seems that most people totally underestimate their own importance in the grand scheme of things.  the impact we have on the world can be quite profound… however, there is a malicious lie floating around that

this

is

not

true.

i am absolutely convinced that we cannot come into the fullness of our own identity apart from intimacy with Father and that our community can never come into the fullness of it’s true identity apart from my personal knowledge of and confidence in my own identity.

who i am in the Lord affects the character and quality of my life and, more importantly, the life of my community.

i say “more importantly” because of the far reaching implications of my existence on the face of the planet and my relationship with it’s creator!

i matter

you matter

and more,

we matter!

believe it!