The Link, Vol 4 October, 1946 Classic Reprint

Excerpt from The Link, Vol. 4: October, 1946

You've probably used that weasel term, "full-time Christian work" - as most of us have - to mean employed church work. I shouldn't: Because it's the heart of our religion that every Christian must be full-time, and not a person who's Christian just outside of working hours, or just on Sundays.

In fact, it's a cornerstone of the Christian faith that every person really has a "call" to his lifework. Many of us think such a divine call is for ministers only or others going into church vocations. We suspect it involves a heavenly vision, or a dramatic sudden voice in the night. But isn't this saying that Almighty God is interested in the life-plans of persons, but not of businessmen, teachers, carpenters, garbage collectors, mechanics? Surely the message of Christianity at heart is that God calls each person to the particular field of work for which He intends him - and for which He equips him with certain skills and opportunities. There's an intention for every human life, a universe where all things have their purpose to follow out.

This means that every man, whatever his job, is called to be "a minister" in that job. In the original meaning of the term, that's his "calling." Jesus said that God is concerned with everything His children do - that even "the hairs of our heads are numbered," and that God knows our minutest needs. He declared that we'll do best if we "seek first the Kingdom of God," following out God's will, so that everything else will fit into that effort.

Does this seem pretty far beyond what most Christians demonstrate in their everyday activities? It is. The truth is most of us just neglect this source of power. For the more a man feels he is following the plan of God for his life, the greater power he has. Long ago a rueful non-Christian said, "I had rather meet in battle an army with drawn swords, than one Calvinist convinced he is doing the will of God!" When a man feels God has designed his career for him, he is "hard to beat" - even amid discouragements and difficulties which bowl others over on every side. There is practical wisdom about discovering Gods will for your life, hearing Gods call to you for your career.

What Makes a Job "Christian"?

What we have said complicates the question as to just what a Christian job is.

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