It\u2019s heart breaking to hear people say \u201cI\u2019m only a _______\u201d in relation to their God-given vocations.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m only a mom.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m only a layperson in the church.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m only a waiter.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m only a low-level engineer.\u201d\u00a0 What a pity more Christians don\u2019t see the privilege of their vocations and the impactful contributions they make in the social realm of their lives.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Many believers downplay the importance of social\/vocational development by overemphasizing some realms\/vocations and underemphasizing others.\u00a0 For example, some Christian leaders say, \u201cIf you are going to be a pastor or evangelist, your family or your health need to come second.\u201d\u00a0 Some Christians claim that serving publicly in the church is the \u201chighest calling\u201d and will diminish other vocations by comparison.\u00a0 Some speak of public ministry as a \u201csacred calling\u201d as if other vocations are only \u201csecular callings.\u201d\u00a0 These are all well-intentioned but mistaken\u2014even dangerous\u2014ideas.\u00a0 Martin Luther fought heroically against the idea that certain vocations were more \u201cspiritual\u201d or \u201cgodly\u201d than others.\u00a0 In his treatise \u201cTo the Christian Nobility of the German Nation\u201d he wrote:<\/p>\n
It is pure invention that Pope, bishops, priests, and monks are called the \u201cspiritual estate\u201d while princes, lords, artisans, and farmers are called the \u201ctemporal estate.\u201d This is indeed a piece of deceit and hypocrisy. Yet no one need be intimidated by it, and that for this reason: all Christians are truly of the spiritual estate, and there is no difference among them except that of office\u2026We are all consecrated priests by baptism, as St. Peter says: \u201cYou are a royal priesthood and a priestly realm\u201d (1 Pet. 2:9). The Apocalypse says: \u201cThou hast made us to be kings and priests by thy blood\u201d (Rev. 5:9\u201310).<\/p>\n\n
<\/p><\/a>Photo by Brooke Cagle<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a><\/div>\n God exalts all righteous vocations and works through them to bless the world, as Luther illustrated colorfully:\u00a0 \u201cGod is milking the cows through the vocation of the milkmaid.\u201d\u00a0 A faithful pastor or evangelist is not more spiritual or more important than a faithful butcher, carpenter, homemaker, or businesswoman because God is working through them all to care for his creation in different ways.\u00a0 In his Christmas service homily\u00a0on\u00a0Luke 2, Martin Luther preached:\u00a0 \u201c. . . [All] works are the same to a Christian, no matter what they are. For these shepherds do not run away into the desert, they do not don monk\u2019s garb, they do not shave their heads, neither do they change their clothing, schedule, food, drink, nor any external work. They return to their place in the fields to serve God there!\u201d\u00a0 Gene Vieth adds:\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2026the doctrine of vocation encourages attention to each individual\u2019s uniqueness, talents, and personality. These are valued as gifts of God, who creates and equips each person in a different way for the calling He has in mind for that person\u2019s life. The doctrine of vocation undermines conformity, recognizes the unique value of every person, and celebrates human differences; but it sets these individuals into a community with other individuals, avoiding the privatizing, self-centered narcissism of secular individualism.\u201d[1]<\/a><\/p>\n In light of this, a gospel-centered mentor helps mentees develop wholehearted character by addressing all four realms of their lives<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n