The paradigm of a calling is quite diverse among different sects of Christianity and these different views have led to much confusion amongst young Christians attempting to decipher where God would have them. These variations are not healthy in the least sense of the word. Thus a concrete definition of calling must be brought forth and applied in all aspects of a Christian life. In order to fully understand God’s calling upon my own life I must first understand the idea of a calling.

Os Guinness divides the area of calling into two types of calling. The first is the primary calling and the second in the secondary calling. As Os Guinness states, “Our primary calling as followers of Christ is by him, to him, and for him. First and foremost we are called to Someone (God), not to something (such as motherhood, politics, or teachings) or to somewhere (such as inner city or Outer Mongolia) (Guinness, 31). What this establishes is that there can be no secondary calling unless the primary calling is established. Being created by God we are inherently called to God. God created humans, as well as everything in this world, for His own personal glory. Thus the primary function of humans and creation is to acknowledge their belonging to the Creator and to work from this paradigm. An individual should not only recognize his or her calling to God but should equally acknowledge that others hold the same calling. Likewise, in a calling, the calling is from God not from man. Man cannot go to God unless God has called out to man. This is the primary calling of believers, to acknowledge and accept the calling of God and to let every aspect of their lives reveal this calling.

The secondary calling is, like its title, second to the primary calling. According to Os Guinness, “Our secondary calling, considering who God is as sovereign, is that everyone, everywhere, and in everything should think, speak, live, and act entirely for him (Guinness, 31).” A secondary calling is what God calls one to do after one has answered the primary call. It is the vocation to which each person is called to partake in and how each person interacts with mankind and the rest of God’s creation. Thus, a secondary calling might be for one to reach out to the poor and to help the destitute, however this calling cannot come into a full realization until the primary call is answered, acknowledged, and lived. Furthermore, whilst all secondary callings are unique and specific they are all equal in stature. The pastor and janitor, if both are fulfilling their secondary calling, are equal in job status and stature. Though uniquely different both are instrumental in the harmony of life. There is no “higher calling” to be a pastor but simply a different calling.

Even though the idea of a calling seems easily distinguishable from Biblical exegesis there are still two distinct distortions. The first is what Os Guinness calls the Catholic distortion. “Eusebius argues that Christ gave “two ways of life” to his church. One is the “perfect life”; the other is “permitted.” The perfect life is spiritual, dedicated to contemplation and reserved for priests, monks, and nuns; the permitted life is secular, dedicated to action and open to such tasks as soldiering, governing, farming, trading, and raising families (Guinness, 32).” While this is labeled a Catholic distortion, it is only done so because this distortion rose during the Catholic era. Protestants and Catholics can fall into this trap (such as the Protestant idea of the higher calling of a pastor) however it has been and continues to be primarily a Catholic ideal. The major fallacy within this distortion is that it creates a dualistic mindset. It distinguishes between the sacred (priest, pastors, deacons) and the secular (business owners, truck drivers, CEO’s) and ignores the primary function of a secondary call. It establishes a set paradigm in which the only way one can faithfully serve God is through the local church or a calling into a “church related ministry”. It then seeks to secularize all jobs that do not take part inside of a church building or are not directly linked to a local church building. So long as a believer is faithful to the primary calling and everything a believer does is out of faith, then the dualism of this distortion will fail. God calls each person to be faithful to Him and Him alone, this is the primary calling. He then calls each person to bring glory to Him in every action they do, this is the secondary calling. “Secular” jobs are often not valued because they are viewed as “the world”. As Wittmer states, “For instance, those who take ‘world’ in 1 John 2:15 and ‘earthly things’ in Colossians 3:2 in an ontological sense will mistakenly think that their main problem is their physical environment. So in Gnostic fashion they will continually strive to rise above the material world and meditate on ‘spiritual’ things. In time they may turn themselves into good angels, but they will also become a sorry excuse for human beings. By contrast, if we rightly understand that John and Paul are speaking in ethical categories, then we can freely celebrate every aspect of our humanity, including its extremely important physical side (Wittmer, 65).”

The second distortion is the Protestant distortion. “It severs the secular from the spiritual altogether and reduces vocation to an alternative word for work. In so doing, it completely betrays the purpose of calling and, ironically, activates a counter reaction that swings back to the Catholic distortion again (Guinness, 39).” In other words, it makes a vocation, what is known as the secondary calling from God, into nothing more than work. Under the Protestant distortion a job is the equivalent of a calling. In other words, to gain spirituality one must work as hard as one can. As President Coolidge stated, “The man who builds a factory builds a temple.” Work, it seems under the Protestant distortion, is a calling without a Caller. One can gain a vocation without necessarily being called. Yet the problem with this is that it fails on the most basic philosophical level. Without having a caller there cannot be calling. It would be the equivalent of a child not born of man or woman but simply appeared. It defies logic for such a thing to happen, in order for a child to be brought about, that child has to come from a parent. If there is no parent, then there is no calling. Likewise, if there is no Caller, no primary calling to the Caller, then there is no secondary calling either, just work.

How does this view affect me though? While gaining knowledge of calling as it affected me in anyway? For one it has caused me to change majors entirely. For a while I held that I should be a youth minister or in a church ministry of sorts because I felt a calling from God. I believed it was the more spiritual of callings (I held to the Catholic distortion). Since studying and discovering true callings I feel much more comfortable studying history, philosophy, and English. Under a Biblical Studies major I was stressed, realizing that I did not enjoy what I was doing but decided to continue being spiritual I had to stick to such a major. Finally God brought me to the realization that in order to serve Him, to answer my secondary calling, I did not have to go into a church ministry but merely needed to go where He called me to go and then to be faithful in that calling. Changing my major to History (soon doubling in Philosophy) and working on my minor in English has made me feel complete, as if I finally fit in where God wants me. As to what I was going to do with these majors, I had no idea and I am still blurry on them. Yet God has given me somewhat of a vision of where He wants me, where my secondary calling is found. I happen to believe it is found in being a college professor. Many of my friends were disappointed and considered this a “waste of my talents” due to that being a college professor, especially at a secular university, would somehow mute Christ inside me. Yet, as Cal Thomas so eloquently said, “How are academia, law, filmmaking or journalism improved when not enough believers in God become professors, lawyers, filmmakers or journalist? ‘Hollywood’ does not suddenly begin making movies when it is criticized for making bad ones (Thomas).” God calling me to be a professor of sorts does not ruin my calling as a Christian but merely fulfills it. I have been called to God and have answered that call (primary). I am now called to glorify God in whatever I do, in the vocation He has called me to (secondary), and I fully intend on doing so.

Guinness, Os. The Call. Tennessee; W Publishing Group, 1998 Thomas, Cal. “So light a candle already”. Star Telegram Feb. 10, 2005: 17B Wittmer, Michael. Heaven is a place on Earth; Why everything you do matters to God. Michigan; Zondervan, 2004.