Christian Vocation?  What does that mean?

Vocation — that’s related to our career, right? After all, we are familiar with the vocational high school downtown where the students learn a trade. So, why are we using this word in the church?

Vocation actually refers to a calling, a word packed with religious significance. Basically, God has given each of us gifts and “calls” us to use them in a way that pleases and glorifies God. Our vocation is the way in which we respond to the many gifts God has given us; how we live our life.

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Book of Order says it in this way:        

God calls a people

• to believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior;
• to follow Jesus Christ in obedient discipleship;
• to use the gifts and abilities God has given, honoring and serving God
  • in personal life
  • in household and families
  • in daily occupations
  • in community, nation and the world.

A person responds to God’s call to faith in Jesus Christ through baptism and through life and worship in a community of faith.

Persons respond to God’s call to discipleship through the ministries of God’s people in and for the world.

Persons respond to God’s call to honor and serve God in every aspect of human life

• in their work and in their play,
• in their thought and in their action,
• in their private and in their public relationships.
  (W-5.6001 and W-5.6002)

As we participate in the community of faith, it may be helpful to think of it this way: in baptism we receive our traveling orders; in the Lord’s Supper we receive our food for the journey. Christian Vocation is about living into our baptismal identity, answering the call to demonstrate the gospel in all that we do and say.

Come and meet other travelers and find resources for the journey.