A Theology of Calling Part Two

It is clear from both practice and theological underpinnings that the Salvation Army’s view of calling is one that encourages many to “Come, join our Army, to battle we go” (Salvation Army Songbook, # 681, William James Pearson), and expects lifelong service, as William Thomas Giffe writes:

So we’ll lift up the banner on high,
The Salvation banner of love.
We’ll fight beneath its colors till we die,
Then go to our home above.
(Salvation Army Songbook # 782)

Are there other ways of considering this question of calling? Contemporary voices from various Christian traditions bring other insight to the question. Gratton lays the foundation: “Vocation is a matter primarily of being. It encompasses the totality of our response to God’s call” (Gratton 1992, 157). She suggests that:
Human beings have a deep need to embody the desires of their heart by using their uniquely human power of giving and receiving form in the real
world. . . . We want our lives freely to fulfill a unique, intrinsic purpose; we have vocational hunger. (Ibid., 15)

Barbara Brown Taylor writes:
Sometimes I think that those spectacular call stories in the Bible do more harm than good. At the very least, I suppose, they are good reminders that the call of God tends to take you apart before it puts you back together again, but they also set the bar on divine calling so high that most people walk around feeling short . . . The lives God is calling us to are the ones that we are living right here, right now, under these present circumstances . . .You have already been called, both to live and to magnify the abundant life of God. (Taylor 2001, 30)

William Willimon comments: “We are in ministry in service to God and God’s world, because we have been called and put here by a God who just loves to make something out of nothing” (Willimon 2001, 7). Walter Brueggerman describes vocation as, “finding a purpose for being in the world that is related to the purposes of God” (Gratton 1992, 157). Oswald Chambers, a morning companion of many, suggests that, “Our Lord calls to no special work: He calls to Himself” (Chambers 1931, October 16). And my preferred description of the call of God is that of Frederick Buechner, who likens the call to “the place where the world’s deep hunger and my deep gladness meet” (Buechner 1973, 95).

There is also the consideration that a call to ministry must be confirmed in some way by the church. Vogel speaks of vocation as seen “as a call from God, not an impetus from human beings” (Vogel 1976, 42). When it is considered in the light of a sending by Christ, rather than a personal choice, there is need for the church to speak. “Even when a person has felt called by God, the church has judged (as best it could) whether or not the call be genuine” (Ibid.).

In one last description from the standpoint of biblical counseling, Allender uses the metaphor of story to speak to calling, encouraging the reading of patterns that reveal themes and that connect dots, while at the same time stressing that our calling is not a to-do list for God, a job offer, or a wish list. It is, instead, a way of living that is open to be found by a calling. He writes: “You are gifted. You are called. You are telling a story. The clearer you can be about yourself, the further you will be on the journey of catching and being caught by your calling” (Allender 2005, 6). As the purpose of God is revealed to us in our personality and in our life path, it confirms Elizabeth O’Connor’s observation that, “We ask to know the will of God without guessing that his will is written into our very beings” (O’Connor 1971, 14-15).

“Called by God,” the officer covenant proclaims – might his direction be confirmed in our hearts as we walk in the steps of Jesus.

Major JoAnn Shade
Major JoAnn Shade ministers with her husband Larry as the corps officers and Directors of the Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center. She received a B.A. in sociology from S.U.N.Y. at Binghamton, a M.A. in Pastoral Counseling, and a Doctor of Ministry degree from Ashland Theological Seminary in June, 2006. She is a prolific writer, lecturer, and busy counselor and has contributed to this blog since its inception.