A fascinating article over at InsideWork got my attention in the inbox today. Geoff Finch titled it “A High Calling: Are Some Jobs Holier Than Others?” Since I’m Senior Editor for TheHighCalling.org and HighCallingBlogs.com, that got my attention.
Geoff tells the story of his friend “Stephen” who faced a career choice. He could either join an educational publishing company and sell materials into schools (where he had spent the majority of his career) or he could take a position at church.
After talking with Stephen about the situation, Geoff wonders to himself,
…[is] it more in line with [Stephen's] spiritual destiny to accept a job running the business affairs of a church than placing high quality educational material into public school systems? If anything in our society is badly broken, it’s surely education. And Stephen’s family certainly could have used the extra money.
Whoa. I can’t speak to Stephen’s situation in particular, but I can speak from my own experience. I taught in the school system for 10 years before stumbling into a nonprofit publishing job. It doesn’t pay much better than teaching, but I needed a change at the time.
I can honestly say that I haven’t been called to business, at least not yet. Although even that language pins my own career decisions on God. As if God destined me to be a teacher, then destined me to be at my current job.
Sure, God uses me. He can use all of us in our work. Honestly, I believe he can even redeem work that seems unredeemable, but that’s a longer conversation.
Geoff wonders what is the right decision for Stephen, but that is really not the issue for me. Stephen stayed in nonprofit work, so it might be more comfortable for him to go to the church. On the other hand, Stephen has a lot of experience in education.
Part of me, like Geoff, wants to encourage Stephen to go for the educational publishing job. That may or may not be fair to Stephen himself. But his situation (as Geoff explains it) seems too similar to Wilberforce. Remember him? He was a member of the British Parliament who wanted to serve God, but he didn’t know how to do the work of Parliament and the work of God at the same time. (Here’s a short version of Wilberforce’s story and a longer version.)
Both stories remind me of the division and competition between professions. People just can’t seem to trust folks who create profit. You can’t serve God and money, Jesus says. So we put a fence around all wealth. We don’t trust money, and this makes sense on the surface.
But we need money. And God knows we need it. In the parable of the talents, the master rewards the servants who invest wealth and grow their profits. The world needs people who can create financial value where none existed before–because that value turns into jobs and health care and groceries and stability for families. The only profession that creates real financial value is business. In my opinion.
I’m reminded of a story I heard about Bonnie Wurzbacher, the VP of global initiatives for Coca-Cola. At a recent Laity Lodge event, someone asked her how she justified selling sugar water for a living. In response, she asked everyone in the audience to turn to their neighbor.
“Take a minute and tell them what you do for a living,” she said. The room was filled with the low rumble of folks giving their elevator pitches.
Then she interrupted them. “Now tell them how what you do glorifies God.”
No matter what you do, it is a hard question to answer. Frankly, that question should even make pastors stop to think. Am I running on autopilot here? Am I really equipping the people of God to meet the needs of the world? Am I engaging the community in real and deep worship? Am I helping people experience lasting spiritual renewal? Those are the roles of a pastor and the ekklessia as I understand them.
But no one has more worth because of what they do. That’s the real issue here. If I choose a profession because I feel that it adds to my self-worth, I’m engaging in a kind of co-dependency with my work.
Of course, God cares about what we do. He cares about our work. Our work–and all honorable work–has intrinsic value to God and others. But listen, selling sugar water can be just as honorable as helping people understand theology. I really believe that.
My work and your work have value, not because of what we do, but because we are the ones who do it.
So Stephen, be a pastor if you want. Geoff, stay in business (and maybe let me know if you want to write for us at TheHighCalling.org too). I suppose I’ll stick with this crazy online publishing gig. Ultimately, all three of us will have jobs that are equally valuable because Stephen, Geoff, and I are equally valuable. In some ways, this is the good news that Jesus brought. The kingdom of God is near.
What we do is important to God because we are important to God.
