I’m a huge fan of the Christian concept of vocation: that God calls each and all of us to serve God by serving our neighbor in whatever roles we may have. So whether you’re working or volunteering or a parent or sibling or student or friend or citizen – whatever role you have you can serve God by serving others. I’m attracted to this idea because it elevates our daily work and effort. In the middle ages, Christian lives within a spiritual hierarchy. Yes, it was good to be a mother or father or bricklayer or whatever. But it was better to be a priest and even better to be a monk, and so forth. One of the things Martin Luther protested...
Calling and Connecti...
posted by DJL
Some colleagues and I have been doing research on vocation over the last three years with scholars at four other seminaries, each from a different Christian tradition. Vocation, most simply, is the belief that God calls all Christians to share in God’s work to care for, love, and bless the...
Mark 5:14-20
posted by DJL
The swineherds ran off and told it in the city and in the country. Then people came to see what it was that had happened. They came to Jesus and saw the demoniac sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had had the legion; and they were afraid. Those who had seen what had...
Behind the Post: Bey...
posted by DJL
Each week I write a column, actually more of a letter, to preachers. It’s usually on the Gospel reading appointed for the coming Sunday and often offers not just some perspective on the reading but a suggestion or two for how to involve the congregation more directly in the sermon. I won’t...
Rob Bell on Calling ...
posted by DJL
I’ve long thought that if we don’t reclaim a vibrant sense that all Christians are called to serve God by making a difference in the world wherever they are – theologians call this the doctrine of “vocation” – the Church doesn’t have much of a future. One of the great challenges...