I recently attended the Willow Creek Global Leadership Summit and was pleased to hear a message repeated several times during the conference. "God doesn't know the difference between church and politics, between the marketplace and non-profit. We are the ones who build these walls."
When I was a teenager, I didn't have a very clear view of what kind of career I was to have. I was decent in math and science in my studies, so I thought I would study engineering in college. I made the decision because it seemed logical and I needed to choose something to focus on. Over the course of my college years (let's just say it was an extended period of time), I had a number of experiences that began an internal struggle about what my occupation should be. I went on several mission trips in inner cities and in other countries and got more involved in ministry leadership. I felt I needed to either choose a 'normal' career in the marketplace or one in ministry.
This seems to be a common struggle for young people who get more serious about living out their faith. They feel they need to prove their commitment by going into so-called full-time ministry. In 1 Cor 7:17, Paul writes, "Each of you should continue to live in whatever situation the Lord has placed you, and remain as you were when God first called you. I don't know if I would've been a great engineer, but it is comforting to know God would use me in any job that I end up in. Paul also writes in Col 3:23, "Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people."
Sometimes my job feels great and other times it just feels like work. Over the last few years, I am starting to see that wherever God has me is where He wants me to be and He wants me to work for Him. Not for others. Not to prove my faith. Not to fulfill some sense of obligation. He wants me to work with love, integrity and justice out of gratitude for the way He created and gifted me.
