What Is Your Calling?

Does every Christian have a “special calling” in this life, or does anything we say or do really matter? Is anything beyond confessing Jesus (Yeshua for you purists) as the Christ, that His death and resurrection were on my behalf … that I and you and they may be redeemed from the sin so rampant in this world and in myself … is all that has been done for me to go unnoticed and taken for granted?

Not here.

I say, “Thank you, Lord” often. But there’s no way I could say it often enough. Gratitude for and the acknowledgement of His presence in my life is a function of the “Hineni Principle” that is part of The Someday Plan. Start there.

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Does every believer really have a special calling?

My habit is to never accept any other person’s or denomination’s view of an issue unless I can square it clearly with Scripture — the same trait commended in Acts 17:11. It’s a practice that also serves to get the disciple (student) better acquainted with the Bible. Highly recommended.

Here’s what I found in a search about “calling” tonight:

Ephesians 4:11-12 (NASB)

And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ . . .

1 Corinthians 12:4-7 (NASB)

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

Romans 12:6-8 (NASB)

Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

1 Peter 4:10-11 (NASB)

As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Here are my first-off takeaways from that, albeit limited, research:

1. We are all given certain gifts — not all of us are gifted in the same ways. That’s why it is more important for me to “be like me” instead of trying to be like you. The big tug we all feel towards conformity can be good for society but hazardous for me unless I’ve a firm grip on who I am. (And that’s why the second step on The Someday Plan path helps me remember that critical information daily.)
2. I must remember that my giftings aren’t primarily provided so that I can serve myself. That is just the beginning. Out of my abundance and ability, I can serve others. I can be a point of Good in this sometimes heartwrenching world. I can be a “good steward of the manifold grace of God.”
3. My own calling is to the Church — “to the building up of the body of Christ.” I’m to help build disciples and strengthen believers. Not on my own, but through the gifts given me by God and through the principles described in The Someday Plan. I’m to stick to the basics of the Gospel in my work and do my best to avoid doctrinal divide. Like Paul, I have “decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.”

What Is YOUR Calling?

In my first attempt to describe the core of The Someday Plan, a book titled “The Daily DEEP,” I put considerable emphasis on the importance of defining your “dream.” That concept remains with me today, more than a decade later, but it has changed.

I now see that my most vital of my desires is not the log home by the lake, organic garden, and a woman who loves me and encourages me on the Way … rather, the pivotal decision in front of me always is rugged: Do I. or do I not, eat the apple? Do I trust God or do I insist on my own way? Can I live in peace, knowing the Truth, or must I join the others in their doubt and fear?

Am I willing to stand on the Rock, or do I prefer the feel of shifting sand?