Vocation

Definition and Meaning

Vocation is a theological concept that understands the work by which Christians earn their living, and the settings of their lives, as a calling entrusted to them by God. The Korean term somyeong (召命) means "a mission entrusted by calling" and corresponds to the Latin vocatio and the German Beruf. Today the German word Beruf means "occupation." Luther's Bible translation is said to have influenced how the word came to mean both "calling" and "occupation."

Theologians sometimes distinguish two senses of calling. One is God's call of people to salvation; the other is God's call of those who have been saved to their particular stations and work. Vocation refers to the latter.

Biblical and Historical Background

The following passages are frequently cited as biblical grounds:

• Genesis 2:15: God placed the man in the garden "to dress it and to keep it"
• 1 Corinthians 7:20: "Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called."
• Colossians 3:23: "And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord"

In the medieval church, calling referred chiefly to the path of monastics and clergy. Martin Luther criticized this distinction and taught that the work of farmers, craftsmen, and parents is also a calling entrusted by God for the service of one's neighbor. This teaching is closely tied to the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers, which holds that every believer is a priest before God. John Calvin and the later Puritans likewise emphasized faithfully carrying out one's occupation as a way of living before God. In the early twentieth century, the German sociologist Max Weber argued that this work ethic was connected with the spirit of modern capitalism. His thesis remains a subject of scholarly debate.

Practice in the Korean Church

In the Korean church, the word "calling" has long been used chiefly to mean the call to become a pastor or missionary. One example is the practice of examining applicants' "sense of calling" during admission to a graduate school of theology or in ordination examinations. Critics within the church have argued that this usage reflects a dualism dividing the sacred from the secular, which leads laypeople's occupations to be regarded as little more than a means of giving offerings and evangelizing. In recent years, as the Christian worldview movement and the workplace ministry movement have spread, there has been growth in lectures, small groups, and workplace Christian fellowships that treat the workplace and everyday work as a calling.

Denominations differ little in official doctrine; the differences lie in emphasis.

• Presbyterian and other Reformed denominations: These connect vocation with the cultural mandate and with Abraham Kuyper's idea of sphere sovereignty. Accordingly, they tend to emphasize callings carried out in the various spheres of society.
• Methodist, Holiness, and other denominations in the Wesleyan tradition: Citing the principle that John Wesley set forth in his sermon "The Use of Money"—"Gain all you can, save all you can, give all you can"—these emphasize both occupational activity and giving.

Across denominational lines, the view that occupational success is itself God's blessing has drawn criticism in debates over prosperity theology. The concept of vocation is also invoked by both supporters and opponents in discussions of bivocational ministry, in which pastors also hold secular jobs.