The Vocational Fog

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/not-all-vocational-pursuits-are-equal/

Though I disagree with the foundational premise of the article I am appreciative of the fact that the author is at least willing to admit that all jobs are not equal and that some occupations in fact contribute little to the Kingdom of Christ... even to the Dominionist view of the Kingdom advocated by The Gospel Coalition.

This is a helpful break with the utilitarian ethics that seem to dominate most forms of Classically Liberal and Capitalist thought. While Christian Rightists and Dominionists have usually avoided endorsing these thought trajectories carte blanche, this article suggests some are finally willing to offer a viable and substantial challenge to the assumption.

I was also pleased to note the author's admission that in reality the doctrine of Vocation is really a concern of the middle class, or as I would put it, the rich and usurious West.

That said, I think some other things should be mentioned.

First, and this is perhaps a quibble. I wish Christians would drop the 'sweet spot' language. For those of us of another generation, it's an obscene expression (not to be used in polite company) that has been seemingly appropriated by the wider culture and while admittedly used in innocent enough terms, I cannot help but cringe every time I see it in print or hear it on the radio. Enough said on that point.

Now for a major criticism. Aside from the few positive points raised, the article overall rests on feminist assumptions. This assertion will raise some eyebrows but at this point Evangelicalism is so entrenched with feminist thought, the average member of the larger movement can't even see it anymore. The Gospel Coalition is no exception.

There's no counter-cultural imperative, no serious reflection on what the New Testament teaches regarding the Church versus the world. And thus it's hardly surprising that what the New Testament has to say about femininity and the woman's role is simply passed by. Once again claims of Sola Scriptura become almost meaningless unless the Sola includes Sufficiency.

Once again, the New Testament conceptualisation of calling or vocation is restricted to the sense that we are called to be Christians. And though the author recognises the problem of middle class perspective, she then reiterates it in assuming (contrary to the Apostolic teaching) that wives work and pursue careers.

Once again I'm sorry to admit it but in many respects the Jehovah's Witnesses put Evangelicals to shame on this larger point. I'm not speaking specifically of women working outside the home but rather the question of the Church's place in society at large and vis-à-vis the values of the middle class. The New Testament places no stock in a secure and respectable place for Christians in society. As pilgrims and exiles we are not invested in the culture but in bearing witness to the Truth and thus by implication we bear witness against the world. As pilgrims we not only care little for the money and treasures that Rome and Babylon offer us, but our pilgrim status should drive to reconsider the whole question of 'career'.

Maybe some will be further affected by this line of thought if the discussion is cast in these terms. Our 'career' (so to speak) is to be a Christian. Our 'job' is a means to an end. It has little to do with our identity or at least it shouldn't. Find something morally acceptable, which itself is difficult and do it to your utmost, but never place it above Church or family. A serious wrestling with ethics will immediately close many doors for the Christian and so relegated to second-class citizenship (which is intrinsic to pilgrim status anyway) the whole question of 'career' and finding identity in one's job, all but evaporates.

The career mentality is in the end an abandonment of the pilgrim ethos and the acceptance of a rival calling and one deeply wedded to the world at that.

This is not to say that one can't find employment, and even employment that one enjoys. But a true Biblical worldview as opposed to the assumptions and assertions of Dominionism will lay up treasure in heaven and its adherent lives knowing that this world and all its works shall burn up.

Work is in the end, just work. It's not a career. It's not a calling. Why else would Paul tell slaves to be content? Additionally he is happy to call himself a slave of Christ. A slave does not seek his own, does not seek prestige and expects no earthly reward. It's a very different way of thinking when compared to the sensibilities of the middle class.

Christ is your calling and it's a sad irony that for all the Dominionist talk of glorifying Christ and expanding His Kingdom, they (The Gospel Coalition in this case) in fact represents a doctrine and vision that functionally is a denial of Christ's Holy Realm and what is the true Christian calling.

But the glittering cross they offer is far more appealing than the 'shame' of being rejected by the world. And so they will always find hearers.