Vocation and the Kingdom

"The homeliest service that we do in an honest calling though it be but to plow, or dig, if done in obedience, and conscience of God's commandment, is crowned with an ample reward; whereas the best works for their kind (preaching, praying, offering evangelical sacrifices) if without respect of God's injunction and glory, are loaded with curses. God loveth adverbs; and cares not how good, but how well." - Puritan Joseph Hall

As a citizen of the Kingdom, vocation is something I think about often. I find myself in a job role that I believe the Lord called me to do, but I continue to find myself frustrated and in doubt. Earlier this year, in search of guidance and Biblical insight, I re-read a book I first discovered in college, Engaging God's World. Cornelius Plantinga Jr directs the text to students, explaining that an understanding of big themes- creation, fall, redemption, vocation, the Kingdom of God, and the hope of shalom - should be the framework of your education.

Plantinga begins, "The point of all this learning is to prepare to add one's own contribution to the supreme reformation project, by which is God's restoration of all thats that have been corrupted by evil. The Old Testament word for this restoration of peace, justice, and harmony is shalom; the New Testament phrase for it is "the coming of the Kingdom."" He continues to explain that God accomplishes this project through Christ, who makes "all things new" and who will come again to finish what He started. In the meantime, our invitation is to join this mission of God, striving to make God's purposes our own and think, pray, study, and work towards the Kingdom coming in our own hearts, as well as the whole world.

I love how Plantinga begins the chapter on Vocation and the Kingdom, highlighting the passionate hope in redemption possessed by people in the Bible. To them God's redemption meant freedom and righteousness. After all, they are Exodus people, Passover people, people with a long history of being oppressed by the hand of the Egyptians, Babylonians, and Romans. In their eyes, God's redemption meant the coming of justice, the coming of liberation, and better yet, the coming of the King of the earth! Plantinga challenges us: Do contemporary Christians bring the same passion to their hope of redemption? Do we long, pray, and work for the Kingdom "on earth as it is in heaven?"

He continues:

"A good citizen likes the kingdom of God just fine, but a prime citizen passionately yearns for the Kingdom. A prime citizen has been redeemed far down in her spirit, way down in her heart, so that she deeply loves God and the things of God. She relishes in God's Word. She rejoices in God her Savior. She finds that the things of faith - repentance, forgiveness, hope in God - seem sweet to her.... Because of her enthusiasm for the Kingdom, she doesn't merely endorse justice in the world, she hungers and works for it. She doesn't merely reject cruelty; she hates and fights it. She wants God to make things right in the world, and she wants to enroll in God's project as if it were her own. She "strives first for the Kingdom" on order to act on her passion. In short, she is a person with a calling. She has been elected to serve the Kingdom of God. A Christian's main vocation is to become a prime citizen of God - this is true for artists, engineers, and evangelists. All are called to mesh their kingdoms with those other citizens in order to work together inside the Kingdom of God."

"To strive first for the Kingdom" in choosing a career, Plantinga urges us to make the following considerations.

• Where in the Kingdom does God want me to work?
• Where are the needs great?
• Where are the workers few?
• Where are the temptations manageable?
• With whom would I work?
• How honest is the work I'm thinking of doing?
• How necessary and how healthy are the goods and services I would help provide?
• How smoothly can I combine my career with family?
• How close would I be to a church in which I can give and take nourishment?
• Is my proposed career inside a system so corrupt that, even with the bets intentions, I would end up absorbing more evil than I can conquer?
• What can I do for "the least of these?"

Plantinga reminds us at the end of the chapter that "ordinary occupation done conscientiously builds the kingdom of God."