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Professions and Provisions:
“What if My Job isn’t My Gift?”
“Paul went to see them, and because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them, and they worked together – by trade they were tent makers.”
-Acts 18:2b-3 NRSV
Have you ever caught that little detail about Paul’s “real job” in Luke’s historical account of the formation of the early church? Saul, the Pharisee-turned-former-Pharisee-turned-evangelist, made tents for a living.
This checks out, as Pharisees weren’t scribes, lawyers, or priests. They were lay people who formed a specific sect of Judaism that honored strict obeyance of Torah, to the extent that they were stoning Christians like Stephen in Acts 6 – where Saul himself is holding everyone’s cloaks so they don’t tear a seam while doing “the Lord’s work.” Saul would have needed a way to support himself both as a Pharisee and as the evangelist for Christ around the Mediterranean following his experience with Jesus on the road to Damascus.
Which leads to the questions I was asked on Sunday:
“What if my job isn’t my calling?”
“What if my job matches my spiritual gift…but I’m not THAT passionate about it?”
In one phrase: that’s okay.
Paul didn’t find spiritual meaning in his job as a tent maker. I suppose he could have used his spiritual gift of teaching to mentor other young tent makers, or found purpose through his administrative gift that the organization of materials into tents would house people, animals, crops, etc. to create a better lifestyle; but that doesn’t seem to be Paul’s calling or giftedness. It’s evident to see that Paul was driven to witness and reach out to the world for Christ.
As a society, we have been influenced by quotes such as:
“Choose a job you love and you will never work a day in your life.” – Confucius
“Love what you do and do what you love.” – Ray Bradbury
While I certainly hope both of those are true for you, the truth is that not everyone has the luxury or privilege to “do what they love.” Some just need to put food on the table, and while “work/creation/productivity” is part of who we are designed to be, there are a lot of people who find their creative juices flowing outside of anything pressured by a paycheck.
I was once in ministry with a young man who had been to Juarez, Mexico to build homes more than anyone else that I’ve still ever known. He still continues to go nearly 4-5 times a year, while also adding on drilling clean water wells in other Central American countries. Is he independently wealthy? A professional missionary? Retired?
He’s a banker.
And while he finds joy in the work he does, his spiritual gift is “Helping.” He wants to do physical acts of love and compassion for someone else so that their life is made better. This is what fills him up and drives him. He does banking because his job is flexible, makes good money, provides for his family, and allows him to embark to Juarez to help others he cares deeply about.
Finding your spiritual gift can lead to finding your purpose in Christ’s body, but it might not be what you are paid to do. Often discovering our spiritual gift will help us spiritualize part of what we do in and outside of work, providing just a little more meaning to to it. Have the gift of “administration?” Organizing payroll meticulously both helps others have livelihoods and keeps people out of prison for false accounting practices. Have the gift of “wisdom?” You can keep your organization from making a rash decision today that will affect them negatively tomorrow, therefore saving people’s jobs, etc.
We like to tie everything to our jobs. Or money. It’s our definition of success, which we’re told should drive us. But not every job or version of success matches the success that Christ is after, and therefore not every job or accumulation of money is going to fulfill us the same way serving Christ does.
Where’s God?
God is still with you and working through you…even if you don’t like your job. Keep on the lookout for little ways your gifts might make a difference though. You never know how even the smallest glimmer of Christ can change your entire mind about where you’re at in the moment.
If you didn’t yet take the opportunity, here’s the United Methodist Church’s Spiritual Gift Inventory (or online quiz) that will help you understand what you are gifted with and how that makes a difference in the local church and the community around us.
Peace,
David Lessner
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