“When three bricklayers were
asked what they were doing, they responded with the following answers: The
first replied that he was laying bricks. The second replied that he was building a church. The third
replied that he was building the house of God. The different responses given by the bricklayers show that
the first bricklayer saw his occupation as a job, the second saw it as a
career, whereas the third saw it as a calling. People who describe their
occupation as a calling are grittier than those who consider their work a
career or job."
According to Duckworth, “grit”
is the ability to stay with something and develop a high level of competence in
that activity. Those who are “grittier”
stay with the activity or position even when the going gets rough.
Those of us in the church don’t
talk about calling as much as we once did.
Part of the problem is that we often connected “calling” exclusively
with a leading into vocational ministry.
If one was called, he or she was going to become a minister, missionary,
or Christian worker. We never talked
about calling to a secular vocation or service to people outside the walls of
the church.
Unfortunately, I have talked
with ministry leaders on rare occasions who thought of their work simply as a job
or a career rather than a calling. They
had lost the spark of their calling and were just putting in the hours. The more self-aware people in this group
often returned to the core of their calling and identified those values that
led them to ministry in the first place, finding a way to live out their authentic
calling in another role such as not-for-profit work, counseling, health care,
or some other people helping profession.
If we take Duckworth’s
comments seriously, we must find ways to align our values with our calling in
such a way that we will have both the power and the passion to persevere in our
work. God has wired each of us up in such
a way that when values, gifts, and passion are aligned, we will see what we do
as a true calling and not just a job or career.
Perhaps this is a good day to
think about which bricklayer you tend to be.
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