Vocation: Discerning Our Callings in Life

by Douglas J. Schuurman

The Protestant doctrine of vocation has had a profound influence on American culture, buThe Protestant doctrine of vocation has had a profound influence on American culture, but in recent years central tenets of this doctrine have come under assault. Discerning Our Callings in Life explores current responses to the classic view of vocation and offers a revised statement and application of this doctrine for contemporary North American Christians. According to Douglas Schuurman, many Christians today find it both strange and difficult to interpret their social, economic, political, and cultural lives as responses to God's calling. To renew this biblical perspective, Schuurman argues, Christians must recover the language, meaning, and reality of life as vocation, and his book helps do just that. Developed in dialogue with audiences as diverse as college students, industrial workers, business leaders, church leaders, and professional theologians and ethicists, the book examines the theological and ethical dimensions of vocation as these have been understood historically and in relation to our modern social setting.

Genres: Theology, Nonfiction, Academic, Religion

Paperback

First published December 1, 2003

Reviews

[Bill Pence · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author, who taught in the Religion Department at St. Olaf College for thirty-four years, and died in 2020, states that his primary aim in this book about the theological and ethical aspects of vocation, is to develop a contemporary articulation of the classic Protestant doctrine of vocation. He tells us that churches and church-related colleges should lead the way in a recovery of life as vocation. He writes that for the vast majority of Christians, God's callings are discerned quietly, when the heart of faith joins opportunities and gifts with the needs of others.
The author liberally quotes from Martin Luther and John Calvin, stating that the development of the doctrine of vocation was a distinctive and influential feature of the Lutheran and Reformed wings of the Protestant Reformation. He tells us that we need to think again about vocation in the tradition of Luther and Calvin, as he believes it is imperative for Christians to regain key elements of their views.
The term "vocation" comes from the Latin vocare, meaning "to call." This call sanctifies all of life, inviting Christians to offer every aspect of life as their divine worship. The author tells us that for those who remain committed to Christ and the church, vocation has more and more come to refer to church-related professions, or to extraordinary, heroic forms of Christian service. This is the view of vocation Luther and Calvin thundered against, because in it, vocation applies less and less to the day-to-day activities that constitute the lion's portion of most people's lives.
In the Bible, vocation has two primary meanings. The first, and by far more prevalent, meaning is the call to become a member of the people of God and to take up the duties that pertain to that membership. The second meaning is God's diverse and particular callings -- special tasks, offices, or places of responsibility within the covenant community and in the broader society. Though the New Testament does not provide a formula for discerning God's callings, it does indicate key elements often present in this process. They are gifts, needs, obligations, discussion, and prayer. Whatever the particular calling may be, the activities undertaken within it must contribute in some way to God's mission, to the care and redemption of all God has made.
The author does a good job of communicating Luther and Calvin’s views of vocation and applying them to our current day.
Here are some of my favorite quotes from the book:
• The doctrine of vocation encourages us to connect all aspects of our present, past, and future to God's plans and purposes. In doing so it provides a solid, integrative center for all of life.
• Prayer and meditation can spark and sustain a sense of life as calling.
• Lawful callings serve the common good.
• In all their callings - home and extended family, friendships, paid work, cultural activity, and political life - Christians must strive to establish justice, contribute to the common good, and promote enjoyment of life in creation under God's reign.
• Callings are places for self-sacrifice in faithful service to the neighbors God's providence brings near.
• Vocation encourages Christians to live out their calling in and through the special relations in which they have been placed by God's design.
• God's will is that in all our callings we serve the least of these, for in serving them we serve Christ.
• We need to recover the sense that our lives are in many ways "given" to us by forces beyond our control but ultimately in the loving hands of a provident God.
• The modern association of vocation and self-fulfillment runs against the main thrust of the Protestant tradition on this point.
• A Christian's deepest satisfaction comes from serving the neighbor, and serving God by serving the neighbor.
• God's callings and leading are for the most part quietly and gently received, mediated by prayerful individual and communal discernment of gifts and needs.
• Paid work creating products or services that harm the neighbor cannot be vocations.
• So long as an occupation respects human dignity and contributes to the common good, the word of Protestant vocation for career choices is one of freedom.
• Vocation encourages periodic revision of priorities. The goal of this reassessment is to discern which needs should be emphasized at a given time, or for a given period of time.
• To view one's work as divinely given vocation makes it meaningful work.
• The central idea of vocation is to use one's God-given gifts to be of use to the broader community.
• Knowing that fruit of one's labor is meeting the genuine needs of others creates meaning and adds joy to work.
• The deepest integration of faith and life occurs when essential needs are met through one's products, and when they are met for the most vulnerable and needy of the world.

[Ryan and Sara Wendt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book on vocational calling!

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a serviceable introduction to the classical Protestant (Lutheran and Reformed) conception of vocation and an attempt to apply it in a late modern Western context. Readers already familiar with the theology can likely skip to chapter 5, "Vocation, Decisions, and the Moral Life," for Schuurman's keenest observations. As it turns out, these were ably summed up in a sermon by our interim pastor a year and a half ago. Basically, an "ascriptivist" position, focused on discovering one's calling within one's providentially ordered circumstances (context, relationships, need, personal gifting, etc.), with the accent on glorification of God and service of neighbor, not primarily self-fulfillment; calling is for the Church, not the self. I appreciate his comments on how constrained most of our choices in this area really are--both because of relative privileges and because of the limits of our given abilities. Mostly, it's a heavy dose of sanctified common sense, which is surprisingly difficult to receive and trust after growing up on less theologically grounded views of calling. For a more popular-level take, see DeYoung's Just Do Something.

[Christopher Raffa · Rating 3 out of 5]

What this book is about and what it is not about. In the words of the author, "In its classical Protestant form, the doctrine of vocation is not concerned with how to make choices between this and that career path, though it does have deep concerns that may have implications for such choices. But it is more about how to relate Christian faith to the totality of one's life than it is about "vocational" guidance counseling" (xi)

[ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very well written and articulate summary and defense of a Protestant view of vocation. It helps introduce the terminology used in both secular and religious field for discovering and finding one niche in life. Sadly, nothing new has been written on "calling" since the Reformation and I believe it is a much needed discussion for Christians and nonbelievers alike for the modern era.

[Courtney Carlson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most of what he had to say about the doctrine of vocation was sound, biblical, and succinct. I would have given it more stars if he didn't have a few peculiar ideas about discerning God's will/call and some sympathy for the idea that God's call may sometimes contradict His command...

[Chris Wheatley · Rating 1 out of 5]

could have said it all in 5 pages.