Come Alive: Discovering Christian Vocation

Posted on Jan 22, 2012 in Spirituality | 2 comments

“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” 

Howard Thurman

This week I spent three days in New Orleans with the wonderful folks from The Fund for Theological Education (FTE) at their VocationCARE training.  I had no idea what to expect from this training but I was pleasantly surprised how much I got out of this particular experience.

I used to think “vocation” was equivalent to career.  However, over the past eight years as I have walked with folks who may never move into what we would call “employment”, my definition of vocation has changed, expanded and grown.  Recently a disabled chronically unemployed man came to one of our conversations and said, “I just want to know my purposes.  Why I am even on this earth?”  He touched on a richer, fuller understanding of vocation.  For me vocation has come to mean purpose, call, reason for existence.  However, it is deeper than our common “purpose” as humans or our “call” as Christians; it is deeply personal and unique to each individual.  When we discover our “vocation” we discover our life – we come alive.  We become more fully who we were created to be.  In a sense, we discover ourselves.

Through this conference the folks at FTE are training pastors and Christian leaders in practices that aid people in vocational discovery.  While the conference was developed to help Christian leaders guide young people in unlocking their vocational call, I truly believe discovery of our vocational call is an on-going process.

Reverend D is a 70+ year old lively soul who was one of our co-participants in this training.  She was a continual reminder that we are to follow God by taking the next faithful step but the ultimate destination is never fully revealed this side of heaven.  If we are breathing, God is still writing our story. The journey and the destination are one.

There were many revelations that came during the three days of largely inner work.  The first came through a young man who asked me, “What cages have you been set free from?”  I was actually speechless at first.  I spend so much time thinking of myself as someone who opens the cages of others, I have never taken the time to think about the cages I myself have had to break free of.

As I reflected on this question, I wrote these reflections in my journal:

• As a young girl growing up outside the church in the heart of the Bible belt, I was told that only church people could go to heaven.  I remember being told that my uncle, who had committed suicide, would burn in hell.  It all made me feel “less than” – rejected. I felt cut off from the creator – held in bondage by bad theology.  Judged and not at all loved by those who called themselves Christians.
• I thought of the fact that I am a female called to vocational ministry and the barriers that I face that my male counter parts do not face.  Again seen as “less than” – cut off from opportunities. Judged and not fully accepted.
• I reflected on my call and how God has called me to create alternative ways of being the body of Christ that honor and give voice to all – especially those who have felt cut off from the Christian tradition by those who claim to love like Christ.
• I thought of the young man who was asking me this question – a young gay man who senses a call to vocational ministry and is creating space for others who feel cut off from the church.  I had a revelation that I was participating in the construction of his cage through my silence and complacency with the way our tradition has treated our gay and lesbian sisters and brothers.
• While I have known for a while that an essential part of my vocational call involves writing, I realized in that moment that the call to write is not about words – it is about voice.  It is about giving voice to those who have little or no voice in our existing church structures.  It is about exposing the invisible cages we as the church are constructing.  Cages that are keeping people from becoming fully who they were created to be.  A part of my vocational call involves creating more room at the table for those who have been told they don’t belong.  It involves resisting attitudes of judgment that wound and sever parts of the body. It involves embracing all, even when it could mean that I will experience the same judgment as those I seek to bring to the table.

I expected to come and learn how to help others be more fully who they are called to be.  I left having found the boldness to be more fully who God called me to be.  What a beautiful gift.   No one preached at me.  No one told me which way I was to go.   They simply provided a safe place for me to explore what the spirit was already doing in my life.

VocationCARE practices are summed up by Dori Baker in her book “Greenhouses of Hope” this way:

C – Create hospitable space to explore Christian vocation

A – Ask self-awakening questions

R – Reflect theologically on self and community

E – Explore, enact and establish ministry opportunities

Over the past few months, my Embrace Richmond team has been asking the question, “How do we help people grow?”  We all know that true transformative growth happens at the core of our being.  It is an inner work that is facilitated and advanced through the work of the Holy Spirit as we come into contact with the Christ spirit that dwells in us.  This kind of inner work requires intentionality, safe space and stillness.

I was reminded of Margret Gunther’s book “Holy Listening.”  Gunther compares our work as ministers to that of “mid-wives” who simply help people bring forth what has been conceived within them.  It is a delicate process that requires immense patience and a respect for God’s timing.

I pray God uses me and Embrace Richmond to pass this gift of vocational discovery along to others.  I am very thankful to FTE for the work they are doing and for the hospitality they extended us all.

So when was the last time you felt fully alive?

What practices have helped you connect to the inner work of the Spirit?

What role has Christian community played in helping you discover your vocational call?