Words and concepts matter.  Because of this we are a bit ‘rigid’ in my family regarding how we talk about things.  If we sin against each other we say, ‘Will you forgive me for…”  If do harm by accident, we offer our regrets.  We still enforce the difference between ‘May I’ (asking permission) and ‘Can I’ (asking about ability).  We are even so ‘rigid’ that we talk about going to corporate worship, to worship as a church.  We do not talk about going to church, instead, we speak of going to the church building.  Why?  Because the people are the Church not the building.  We want to be reminded and to communicate to our boys that the Church is the people, not the structure.  Why?  Because if they grow up thinking that the building is the church and that church is something that one attends or goes to, then they will misread Paul and all his discussion of the Church.  For example, Jesus did not give himself up for the building at 777 Carmichael Road (Eph 5:25), rather he gave himself up for those who gather at 777 Carmichael and all over the whole world, for all those who call upon the name of God.

It is because of this desire not to confuse biblical terms, so that Bible reading, which is difficult in and of itself is not made more difficult by our modern use of terms, even within the church.  It is because of this that I still have a great deal of difficulty adopting the word ‘call’ or ‘calling’ for what a Christian ‘discovers’ about himself and his gifts, etc.  This is what happens in this entry by Groothuis.  The reason I do not like this is because ‘called’ regarding a task in Scripture is not discovered it is what the word says, it is God calling with a voice to do something.  If this calling is disobeyed as with Jonah, then it is a punishable offense.

With calling our vocation, etc. ‘calling’ we are creating a problem we don’t want in the church.  That is, people trying to discover their ‘calling’ where should I work, what should I do, etc., because if they don’t they will be disobeying God.  But is this really accurate?  I have no ‘calling’ to be at Faith Community or anywhere else.  I have been given to the Church as a teacher, so I must give that gift, but where and how have not been determined.  I would not be disobeying God if I did teaching full-time or part-time, in the context of the local church or in the Academy. 

Is it just me or does the whole ‘calling’ thing confuse things, and make life more difficult than it needs to be, while also trying to make life significant?  In my view it is this simple, give your gifts (which the church affirms are yours) and do whatever your hand finds to do. 

HT: Burton