Barnabas File

As we begin a new year, perhaps it is a good time to reflect on what we are about and what difference it makes in the coming year. Do you consider your profession a job, a career, or a calling?   In  Tomorrowmind: Thriving at Work with Resilience, Creativity, and Connection , the authors [i] cite a 1997 study of workplace attitudes by psychologists Amy Wrzesniewski, Clark McCauley, Paul Rozin, and Barry Schwartz that showed that people view their work as either a job, a career, or a calling.   A job is focused on financial rewards and necessity. Jobs are means to the end of enjoying life outside of work. You quit when you find better pay.    A career is focused on professional advancement. Those of us with careers feel pride in our professional accomplishments and elevated social standing. You quit when the promotions stop, or you retire.    A calling is focused on fulfilling work. You feel called to do socially or morally valuable work. You keep at it...

For each person in the ministry, there was a point where she or he received a sense of calling.     God worked with each of us in a unique way in calling.     Perhaps it was a friend or mentor who challenged you to consider the possibility of Christian service. Maybe it was a sermon or Bible study on a particular verse of scripture that caught your imagination.     It may have come because of a life-changing event.    Whatever the precipitating experience, you started down that path of Christian ministry.   During the past two years, some of us may have questioned that calling.  Perhaps you have even said, “This is not what I signed up for.”  The sense of calling may have become less clear, motivating, or empowering.   Often coaches help clients define their vision for the future, their calling.  This is true for both laity and clergy.  In these days, however, a coach may help someone not to discov...

Early in the history of the Christian church, believers were divided into two groups--the clergy and the laity.  Clergy were those called to a full-time Christian vocation.  Laity were the men and women who pursued secular vocations and supported the ministry of the clergy. Of course, these categories were not always hard and fast.  The Baptist movement in frontier America prospered through people who pursued a secular job (like farming) during the week and preached on Sundays. Denominations have spent significant energy in differentiating between clergy and laity, and investing significant resources in the training of the former.  With declining resources and membership, however, judicatories are adopting flexible models of ministry that take advantage of the gifts of both biprofessional and lay leaders.  This certainly makes sense as many lay church members have not only spiritual gifts to serve but educational and professional skills as well. At ...

Angela Duckworth, in her book Grit:   The Power and Passion of Perseverance , shares this story: “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...

I n a recent interview in Report from the Capital, a publication of the Baptist Joint Committee, the interviewer asked Dr. Molly Marshall, the president of Central Baptist Theological Seminary, this question:   “You’ve spent more than 30 years dedicated to theological education.   Why did you choose this path rather than a full-time career in ministry and preaching?” In response, Dr. Marshall said, “Actually, I believe I have chosen the path of full-time ministry!”  She went on to discuss the value to the church of the ministry of theological education and the joy of forming students for ministry.  She had responded to “the unique call of God” for her life. I spent most of my ministry working with college students and their leaders and was often asked, “When you are going to ‘get’ a church?”   I believe in the church in its many expressions and activities.  Jesus created the church and gave his life for it.  We are called to be part of the chu...

Mary was in a difficult situation.   A Christian since her youth, she felt the leadership of God to become a minister, perhaps a hospital chaplain.   She knew that this required further education.   There were many challenges for her to face, however.   First, she was a member of a rather conservative church that did not encourage women to pursue ordained ministry. Second, she was in her mid-forties and already trained and employed as a nurse.   Third, her husband was an established professional himself with a good practice.   While supportive of her call, he did not want to relocate or for them to be separated for long periods of time.   Fourth, her children were becoming young adults, but she still wanted to be involved in their lives. Fifth, there was no program of theological education geographically close to her that could accommodate all of these challenges! Mary sought the counsel of friends in ministry.   She tried commuting to ...

“What’s in it for me?” is a question asked in business.   What is the return on investment?   Although it may not be verbalized, people in the church often ask the same question.   Whenever we engage in ministry with the marginalized, step outside the doors of the church or offer help to the impoverished, or take off to some other part of the country or world to serve, someone is thinking, “What’s in it for us?” One answer can be found in one of my favorite passages in the Book of Acts.   The church at Antioch is doing well. God is blessing.   People of varying ethnic and social backgrounds are responding to the Gospel, they are involved in spirited worship of God, and they are impacting their community.   In Acts 13, we read these words. “Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a member of the court of Herod the ruler, and Saul.   While they were wor...