Book review: The Call: Finding and Fulfilling the Central Purpose of Your Life
Are you looking for purpose in life? For a purpose big enough to absorb every ounce of your attention, deep enough to plumb the mystery of your passion, and lasting enough to inspire you to your last breath? This book is about the reason why we are each here on earth.
KEY POINTS IN THE BOOK:
A sense of calling should precede a choice of job and career. Instead of, "You are what you do," calling says: "Do what you are."
No follower of Christ is without a calling, for we all have an original calling even if we do not all have a later, special calling. And, of course, some people have both. Those in modern societies who are middle class or higher can probably find such a fulfilling match between calling and work. But for many others today, and probably for most people in most societies, there is no happy match between work and calling. In many cases a clear sense of calling comes only through a time of searching, including trial and error.
Life is lived forward, but understood backwards.
The Puritans lived as if they had swallowed gyroscopes; we modern Christians live as if we had swallowed Gallup polls. The imitation of Christ that is integral to following Him means that, when he calls us, he enables us to do what he calls us to do. Answering the call by its very nature is a stepping forward to responsibility. Responsibility is obedience by another name. What we do then, when no one sees but God, is the test of our responsibility.
Para-church. The business of "the little church" is to put itself out of business by feeding its wisdom and concern back into "the large church" and so contribute to the reformation of the one body that is central to God's purpose for all time.
The reverse side of calling is the temptation of conceit. People who are called are especially vulnerable to pride because of the very nobility of calling.
When Jesus calls, he calls us one by one. Comparisons are idle, speculations about others a waste of time, and envy as silly as it is evil. We are each called individually, accountable to God alone, to please him alone, and eventually to be approved by him alone. If ever we are tempted to look around, compare notes, and use the progress of others to judge the success of our own calling, we will hear what Peter heard, "What is that to you? Follow me."
Capitalism, having defeated all challenges, such a socialism, now faces its greatest challenge--itself, because it devours the very virtues it needs to thrive. Calling, which played a key role in the rise of modern capitalism, is one of the few truths capable of guiding and restraining it now.
The problem is that money can assume an inordinate place in our lives until it becomes a personal, spiritual, god-like force that rules us--Mammon. When John D Rockefeller was asked how much money it takes a man to become happy, he replied, "Just a little bit more." As such, Mammon is a genuine rival to God. First, calling means that, for followers of Christ, there is a decisive, immediate, and moment-by-moment authority above money and the market. The choice between Masters has been made. Second, we make the choice to do in life because we are called to it rather than because we get paid for it. Ironically, we eventually cannot afford what we most desire--deep relationships. For if "time is money" and people take time, then the "opportunity costs" of relationships (the gain that we would earn by doing something else) will be prohibitive and intimate friendships will be few. "Spending" time with friends is costly; we could "invest" in better elsewhere.
Probably the worst of all combination of a midlife crisis that pivots on failure. For few things are more ignominious than failing at something that was not worth doing in the first place. At that point many people jump to the opposite extreme where another frustration looms. They go wrong in thinking that "success" failed to satisfy because it was secular whereas "significance" will be fulfilling because it is religious. That is actually the "Catholic distortion" again. Careers that express calling are as fulfilling as careers that contradict calling are frustrating.
The modern world has scrambled things so badly that today we worship our work, we work at our play, and we play at our worship. The problem with Western Christians is not that they aren't where they should be but that they aren't what they should be where they are.
Grand Christian movements will rise and fall. Grand campaigns will be mounted and grand coalitions assembled. But all together such coordinated efforts will never match the influence of untold numbers of followers of Christ living out their callings faithfully across the vastness and complexity of modern society.
Once we have been called, we literally "have no choice." As we make our contributions along the line of our gifts and callings, and others do the same, there is both a fruitfulness and a rest in the outcome. Calling is a reminder for followers of Christ that nothing in life should be taken for granted; everything in life must be received with gratitude. Calling is an essential part of the timing that characterizes a successful life. Unlike anyone before or since, Jesus' awareness of his calling from God burst the bounds of human thinking.
THE BIG IDEA
God calls men and women who will be committed to their life tasks with no reservations, no retreats, no regrets. They are therefore free to turn from their own affairs and to center their lives on the priorities of their questing. In pursuit of this quest, no pettiness is so petty that it disturbs their meaning. No task so immense that it daunts the courage of their calling. They engage in the world on the world's terms, yet they are never diverted from their quest because they always have an eye to interests and ideals that are invisible to the eyes of others. Such people are always found "in the gap." They are the ones prepared "for such a time as this." People after God's own heart, they are ready to read the signs of the times and serve his purpose in their generation.
FINISHING WELL
Calling is central to the challenge and privilege of finishing well in life. It is important to finishing well because it helps us with three of the greatest challenges of our last years of life:
KEY POINTS IN THE BOOK:
- Are you serious about looking for such a purpose? How many people do you know who just can't wait to get to work on Monday because they're so fired up about what they're doing? Nobody? When you meet people that are that passionate about their calling, it's contagious. Find your calling.
- There is no call without a Caller.
- Reality reminds us that all the will in the world will not make us what we want to become.
- Calling in the Bible is a central and dynamic theme that becomes a metaphor for the life of faith itself.
- Calling gave to everyday work a dignity and spiritual significance under God that dethroned the primacy of leisure and contemplation.
- Calling gave to humble people and ordinary task an investment of equality that shattered hierarchies and was vital impulse toward democracy.
- Calling gave to such practical things as work, thrift, and long-term planning a reinforcement that made them powerfully influential in the rise of modern capitalism.
- Calling gave to the endeavor to make Christ Lord of every part of life a fresh force that transformed not only churches but also the worldviews and cultures of the Reformation countries.
- Calling gave to the idea of "talents" a new meaning, so that they were no longer seen purely as spiritual gifts and graces but as natural and a matter of giftedness in the modern sense of the term.
A sense of calling should precede a choice of job and career. Instead of, "You are what you do," calling says: "Do what you are."
No follower of Christ is without a calling, for we all have an original calling even if we do not all have a later, special calling. And, of course, some people have both. Those in modern societies who are middle class or higher can probably find such a fulfilling match between calling and work. But for many others today, and probably for most people in most societies, there is no happy match between work and calling. In many cases a clear sense of calling comes only through a time of searching, including trial and error.
Life is lived forward, but understood backwards.
The Puritans lived as if they had swallowed gyroscopes; we modern Christians live as if we had swallowed Gallup polls. The imitation of Christ that is integral to following Him means that, when he calls us, he enables us to do what he calls us to do. Answering the call by its very nature is a stepping forward to responsibility. Responsibility is obedience by another name. What we do then, when no one sees but God, is the test of our responsibility.
Para-church. The business of "the little church" is to put itself out of business by feeding its wisdom and concern back into "the large church" and so contribute to the reformation of the one body that is central to God's purpose for all time.
The reverse side of calling is the temptation of conceit. People who are called are especially vulnerable to pride because of the very nobility of calling.
When Jesus calls, he calls us one by one. Comparisons are idle, speculations about others a waste of time, and envy as silly as it is evil. We are each called individually, accountable to God alone, to please him alone, and eventually to be approved by him alone. If ever we are tempted to look around, compare notes, and use the progress of others to judge the success of our own calling, we will hear what Peter heard, "What is that to you? Follow me."
Capitalism, having defeated all challenges, such a socialism, now faces its greatest challenge--itself, because it devours the very virtues it needs to thrive. Calling, which played a key role in the rise of modern capitalism, is one of the few truths capable of guiding and restraining it now.
The problem is that money can assume an inordinate place in our lives until it becomes a personal, spiritual, god-like force that rules us--Mammon. When John D Rockefeller was asked how much money it takes a man to become happy, he replied, "Just a little bit more." As such, Mammon is a genuine rival to God. First, calling means that, for followers of Christ, there is a decisive, immediate, and moment-by-moment authority above money and the market. The choice between Masters has been made. Second, we make the choice to do in life because we are called to it rather than because we get paid for it. Ironically, we eventually cannot afford what we most desire--deep relationships. For if "time is money" and people take time, then the "opportunity costs" of relationships (the gain that we would earn by doing something else) will be prohibitive and intimate friendships will be few. "Spending" time with friends is costly; we could "invest" in better elsewhere.
Probably the worst of all combination of a midlife crisis that pivots on failure. For few things are more ignominious than failing at something that was not worth doing in the first place. At that point many people jump to the opposite extreme where another frustration looms. They go wrong in thinking that "success" failed to satisfy because it was secular whereas "significance" will be fulfilling because it is religious. That is actually the "Catholic distortion" again. Careers that express calling are as fulfilling as careers that contradict calling are frustrating.
The modern world has scrambled things so badly that today we worship our work, we work at our play, and we play at our worship. The problem with Western Christians is not that they aren't where they should be but that they aren't what they should be where they are.
Grand Christian movements will rise and fall. Grand campaigns will be mounted and grand coalitions assembled. But all together such coordinated efforts will never match the influence of untold numbers of followers of Christ living out their callings faithfully across the vastness and complexity of modern society.
Once we have been called, we literally "have no choice." As we make our contributions along the line of our gifts and callings, and others do the same, there is both a fruitfulness and a rest in the outcome. Calling is a reminder for followers of Christ that nothing in life should be taken for granted; everything in life must be received with gratitude. Calling is an essential part of the timing that characterizes a successful life. Unlike anyone before or since, Jesus' awareness of his calling from God burst the bounds of human thinking.
THE BIG IDEA
God calls men and women who will be committed to their life tasks with no reservations, no retreats, no regrets. They are therefore free to turn from their own affairs and to center their lives on the priorities of their questing. In pursuit of this quest, no pettiness is so petty that it disturbs their meaning. No task so immense that it daunts the courage of their calling. They engage in the world on the world's terms, yet they are never diverted from their quest because they always have an eye to interests and ideals that are invisible to the eyes of others. Such people are always found "in the gap." They are the ones prepared "for such a time as this." People after God's own heart, they are ready to read the signs of the times and serve his purpose in their generation.
FINISHING WELL
Calling is central to the challenge and privilege of finishing well in life. It is important to finishing well because it helps us with three of the greatest challenges of our last years of life:
- It keeps us journeying purposefully to the very end of our lives.
- It prevents us from confusing the termination of our occupations with the termination of our vocation. We may at times be unemployed, but no one ever becomes uncalled.
- It encourages us to leave the entire outcome of our lives to God. If you know you are in God's calling, its up to Him. If you bear the entire brunt of your significance, the results are up to you. Perhaps you are frustrated by the gaps between your vision and your accomplishments. Make no judgments and draw no conclusions until God ultimately judges your work.
