In "God at Work: Your Christian Vocation in All of Life", author Gene Veith has done a nice job at addressing an important and challenging
issue concisely and fairly clearly. He shares about the doctrine of
vocation from a distinct viewpoint - that of Martin Luther and the
Protestant Reformation. The 'priesthood' of believers was an important
outcome from the reformation, and Veith takes the view that this message
translates as: "The priesthood of believers did not make everyone into
church workers; rather it turned every kind of work into a sacred
calling." This view was in strong opposition to the previous view of
vocation as something reserved for a chosen few - priests and
missionaries. The thrust of God at Work is that every area of our lives
is a chance to respond to the call to God. "Our vocation is not one
single occupation... we all have callings in different realms - the
workplace, yes, but also the family, the society, and the church."
The
only minor issue with this approach is that it might be bit too much of
a swing in the opposite direction. If everything is a calling, then
nothing is. If the term vocation refers to all we do, is it a useful
term? (The reader interested in this subject may also want to read The Call by Os Guinness.) The teaching of the book will be of great
benefit to many who fail to see how important their work is to God, and
how much they can honor Him by fulfilling their purpose in the
workplace. Hopefully they won't at the same time see a busy job in the
workplace as a reason to ignore the great commission as somebody else's
job. Overall, a good read.
