Called to Love and Serve​

Calling, vocation, purpose. These are all familiar concepts in Christianity.  As our faithful response to God, they refer to a deep sense of purpose or a strong inner pull to use unique gifts, passions, and experiences to make a difference in the world.  While we often speak of them for our own lives, there is also a sense of purpose, a calling from God, in the life of a church.  We are God’s people, called to spread his story and his love in our communal activities and events.  In our worship we remember who God is and then we go to work outside of church with the call to “love and serve the Lord.”

Calling is more than just what needs to be done, but also is about how individual strengths and motivations align with needs. It is about those gifts from God meant to be used in God’s service.  And, how do we do that?  

Aimee Joseph in her essay “Every Need is not a Call” works through that question by reminding us that we need to look to the gifts and abilities that our abundant God has given us.  Not unlike those early Israelites, it is easy–and human–to forget.  When we read Psalms and the prophets, we hear over and over again those reminders of the abundance God provides his people and God’s longing that we might live out those abilities in the service of the Kingdom.

Aimee Joseph writes: In addition to our passions and priorities, it’s helpful to consider the present opportunities God has providentially placed before us. As believers, we know God sovereignly sets stars in their courses and us in our circumstances. There’s no detail of our days that lies outside of God’s purview. God’s calling is often right in front of our face.

If we’re wondering which needs might be God-given calls, we would do well to be engaged observers. Consider, What people has God set before me? What unique resources, connections, or insights has he given me in this season? What needs or causes have been consistently burdening my heart?

Ivan Mesa, editorial director of The Gospel Coalition, writes about the interactions that God provides for us through calling, we never are working entirely on our own.  Our call for unity in the body of Christ places us with others who share God’s call to serve: 

We’re not called to everything, which means we can joyfully lean on and work with the callings of others. We find our callings with, by, and in serving others. And we fulfill our callings as others fulfill theirs.