2010年10月30日 · Introduction. When Christians ask about vocation (or "calling"), we usually mean, “Is God calling me to a particular job, profession or type of work?”

Through our vocations we are called to meet and serve our neighbours’ needs in ever new and creative ways. However as part of the Reformed reaction to the rather static and conservative German Christian overemphasis on ‘law’ and ‘order’ in the 1920s and 30s Karl Barth shied away from this emphasis on God the Creator and instead ...

Calling begins with the call to follow Christ. All other callings, including the call to work and particular types of work, flow from this primary calling. The Bible has much to say about each of these types of calling.

Godwin’s phrase helps orient us toward vocations that encourage a flourishing of life. But Godwin’s phrase ‘more of you’ can be co-opted by a seductive culture of self-fulfillment… It needs to be placed next to Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s claim in The Cost of Discipleship that when Christ calls [someone] he bids him come and die.” [53]

The encyclical states that in the field of a ‘commonly shared’ lay vocation ‘special’ lay vocations flourish. Thus within the lay state diverse ‘vocations’ are given, that is, there are different paths in the spiritual life and the apostolate which are taken by individual members of the lay faithful (John Paul II 1989: 56).

Socialism spoke more directly to their aspirations and anguish. Furthermore, Catholic theologians have only recently begun to demonstrate interest in Reformed and Puritan developments, while many Protestants appear to still elevate the status of ordained pastoral ministry and missionary service above other vocations.

The professional ministry has been elevated as the vocation of vocations and the primary work to which a person should give evidence of a call. Martin Luther was eloquent on the tragic results of this two-level view of vocation, stemming as it did from medieval monasticism, though now extending into modern Christianity:

John Calvin further developed this idea of daily work as Christian calling. However, it wasn’t long before particular jobs (like farming and law) became specially identified as Christian vocations. Soon the concept that our calling is primarily about belonging to …

Luther’s counsel for people to ‘remain’ and ‘be satisfied’ in their vocations is the logical consequence of a static view of a single and permanent vocation. For reasons similar to those referred to in 4, the Lutheran view of vocation is not helpful in contexts where people are increasingly taking on more than one job at the same time.

For the most part, the Church all over the world teaches the reverse, that vocation is incidental, not integral, to the mission of God. In most places the Church fosters a distinction between sacred vocations and secular work by implying that some work matters more to God, work like overseas missions, and pastoral ministry."