A friend of mine refused to stand up in church one morning when I called on everyone to stand as a way of expressing their desire to serve Christ sacrificially as Christ's servants. He told me afterward that the way I described Christian ministry left out all those folks who were focused on trying to be God's servants in the workplace and marketplace. I had become so intent on building up the local church, seeing it become strong and healthy and active, that I was apparently implying that's all that mattered.....more >
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The Washington Institute is a still-point...connecting knowing and doing, heart and mind, belief and behavior, worldview and way of life...
Vocare: Conversations about Calling
We all long to do work that matters. Young people hope and dream for vocations that require their best, that somehow make money and make meaning at the same time...
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The men sitting two tables over from me in the coffee shop are in the midst of a job counseling session. From the bits of conversation wafting over to me, I gather that the older, accented man with deep rings around his eyes left his former job and is searching for a next step. He's listening politely to the young, soft-voiced counselor as he tries to understand what is supposed to happen next.
As I see it, a Vocare’s purpose of gathering a group together to discuss and explore a shared calling is twofold: to examine and affect the individual heart of each person in attendance and to consider the collective potential of those gathered to take authentic steps towards bringing about the kingdom of God.
We are mostly perennial people. The hopes and dreams, yearnings and worries that belonged so fully to people in the 4th -century B.C., are ours. We don't really change that much. If the prophets and apostles of the Old and New Testaments could hear their poets concluding "Why not eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die...." we should not be surprised to hear one of our best-known contemporary poets, Dave Matthews, make the same argument. Why not? Why not just eat, drink, and be merry? It is really a pretty good answer to a very important question.
A couple times each year I teach a course called Learning to Read the Word and the World, at the Same Time. We spend the first month exploring sexuality. Although the class has a reputation now, in some ways it is always a surprise for the students. Why? Simply, most have never been invited to think seriously about the meaning of sexuality.
