Summary: <p> What is a theology of vocation? Why do we need a theology of vocation? In this episode, Melinda Schmidt talks with Skye Jethani about what he says is the church's lost theology of vocation. How does the postmodern generation think about “work,” and what are the new ways the church can provide thought-leadership as young adults sort through the traditional secular/sacred divide of “work?”</p><div id="showNotes"> <h2>Calling All Christians </h2> <p>by Skye Jethani</p> <p>For years I served as a teaching pastor at my church, but then left the pastoral team to pursue a calling outside the institutional church. For the first time since graduating from seminary, I found myself in the pews more often than in the pulpit. It changed my perspective. Working as a writer and editor, traveling more often, and juggling a young family left very little discretionary time in my schedule. There was simply no way I could participate in everything the church was asking me to do while also fulfilling the calling God had given me to pursue outside the church.</p> <p>Within a few months, I understood how most of my congregation felt. And I realized how insensitive and guilt-inducing many of my past sermons had been. In sermon after sermon I had called them to give more time, more money, more energy to the work of the church. Little did I understand or affirm their callings in the world.</p> <p>I had inadvertently created a secular/sacred divide in which the “sacred” calling of the church was pitted against their “secular” callings in the world. I never said this explicitly, of course, but it was implied.</p> <p>Later I was invited to preach again. This time my message included an apology for my failure to understand the value of their work outside the church. The sermon was met with shouts of “Amen!”—not a common occurrence in our predominantly Anglo suburban congregation. Why did it take me so long to see my error, and why did I have to leave pastoral ministry to recognize it? Part of the problem is history.</p> <p>Centuries ago the word vocation, meaning literally “a calling,” applied only to bishops, priests, and monks—those occupying offices within the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church. It was believed that the clergy had been called by God. They alone had a vocation while everyone else merely worked.</p> <p>The idea dates back to Eusebius, the bishop of Caesarea in the fourth century. He wrote that Christ had established two ways of life, the “perfect life” and the “permitted life.” The perfect life was the one God called the clergy to—a life of prayer, worship, and service to Christ through the church. Other occupations, while necessary, carried less dignity. The labor of farmers, artists, merchants, and homemakers was not evil, but neither was it blessed, nor were these roles callings from God. After all, they were concerned with the things of earth, while the clergy were occupied with the things of heaven.</p> <p><a href="http://www.skyejethani.com/calling-all-christians/1543/" title="Continue reading Calling All Christians at Skye's website..." target="_blank">Continue reading Calling All Christians at Skye's website...</a></p> <h2>Additional Resources</h2> <p><a href="http://www.christianitytoday.com/thisisourcity/" title="This is Our City" target="_blank">This is Our City</a></p> <p><a href="http://vimeo.com/65391445">Redefining Work - Tim Keller (TGC13 Faith at Work Post-Conference)</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/gospelcoalition">The Gospel Coalition</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p> <p><a href="http://vimeo.com/61032793">"Calling All Christians" - Skye Jethani [03.03.2013 | Newsong Irvine]</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/newsong">Newsong Church</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p> </div>
